BEDMINSTER, NEW JERSEY | If you’re wondering what the revolution looks like – the LIV Golf revolution – it looks a lot like any other big-time golf event, only not as crowded.
That’s a compliment, not a criticism.
But it is different, and that is what LIV Golf is all about. That and paying players crazy money to come play in a new league that is reveling in its distinctive and disruptive ways.
Walk into Trump National Bedminster – there was a Secret Service checkpoint for those parking near the clubhouse, requiring passengers to get out of their cars, pop up the hood and trunk and get wanded because former President Donald Trump is hanging out here – and there are grandstands, video boards and spectator ropes just as at any other event.
If you’re uncertain of where you are, just find a structure and it is wrapped in the LIV Golf logo.
This week there are plenty of “Make America Great Again” hats, too.
If you’re uncertain of where you are, just find a structure and it is wrapped in the LIV Golf logo. Subtlety is not part of the messaging, hence the “Golf, Only Louder” slogan, which explains the thumping music pulsing through summer air around the practice areas and clubhouse. It’s the kind of music that’s played in the lobbies of hip hotels.
Other tournaments don’t fire T-shirts to the fans like they do at basketball games, but LIV is giving it a try.
No one is confusing it with the Masters, and LIV Golf wouldn’t have it any other way.
A parachute team landed on one of the fairways just before the 1:15 p.m. shotgun start kicked off the tournament Friday, the thumping soundtrack replaced by heavy metal for a few minutes. Playlists are adjusted day to day, event to event.
Speaking of the shotgun start, it remains one of the curiosities of the new concept. The idea is to fit the golf into a five-hour window for broadcast purposes, but it would be better if they broke the 48 players into threesomes starting on Nos. 1 and 10, something that would take less than 90 minutes or so and give the rounds more rhythm.
It’s a different scene watching Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed hop into a cart, each with his caddie and driver, and head off to various tees at the same time, as happens at clubs around the country on Saturday mornings.
There is a first-tee announcer. There is not a sixth-tee announcer.
The Friday gallery was modest, but it did afford a better spectator experience. Put it this way: There was no need to walk ahead to get a better view of Phil Mickelson or Bryson DeChambeau.
This is the third of eight LIV events this year, and there is a sense of momentum around what’s happening. It’s not a tsunami, but for something that has been criticized and will continue to be, there is an air of optimism among people associated with the new league.
“We are doing our best to showcase a great entertainment product,” DeChambeau said.
To this point, it seems as if entertainment comes first and competition comes second with LIV. Players will say otherwise, but it’s a perception that won’t be easy to overcome, at least initially.
The PGA Tour sells drama, admittedly overselling it at times, but it’s a real thing. LIV lacks that so far.
You may know Charl Schwartzel won the inaugural LIV event, but do you remember who won in Portland?
Take your time.
Branden Grace.
Two good players but not exactly needle movers, which is why having Johnson or Sergio Garcia or Ian Poulter win would likely draw more attention.
“We’re playing for something,” DeChambeau said.
They’re playing for even more money – $25 million purses, including $4 million to the winner and $5 million for the team game – is the easy response. It’s too soon to know whether the team aspect will work, but LIV loyalists believe it is a game changer. Team merchandise is said to be outselling LIV merch to the point some of it is sold out, a LIV executive said.
A player manager who has several clients on the LIV circuit said the difference in the players is noticeable. His guys lingered over breakfast together Friday morning, something they likely wouldn’t do at a PGA Tour event where there is a 36-hole cut to be made to earn a paycheck.
If the pressure isn’t entirely off, it’s reduced. As a high-ranking golf executive who has skin in the game said privately, it’s easy to understand why past-their-prime players such as Lee Westwood, Poulter and others seized this opportunity. It makes sense for them, if they can make peace with the political and human-rights aspects of LIV Golf’s Saudi funding.
There was a small but emotional protest outside Trump Bedminster Friday morning with family members of 9/11 victims, the golf course located roughly 30 miles west of where the Twin Towers stood. It’s not the first such protest and likely won’t be the last.
The Saudi connection is an inescapable element to what’s happening.
Is there an agreement between the warring organizations in the future? No one seems to know.
So, too, is the polarizing presence of CEO Greg Norman, whose resentment of the PGA Tour has fueled some of what’s happening. Norman is committed to this tour, but there are many who believe there will be no discussions between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour as long as Norman remains the front man. Critics of the PGA Tour say the same about commissioner Jay Monahan.
This is just the beginning. LIV Golf has five more events this year and has bumped the 2023 schedule to 14 events (four more than planned) and expects to have a 48-player field locked in for next season.
Is there an agreement between the warring organizations in the future?
No one seems to know.
Leave it to the sage Charles Barkley to add a measure of perspective. He was courted by LIV Golf to join its broadcast team (there is still no television/streaming deal) but will stay with his basketball duties instead.
“They look like they have a great thing going,” Barkley said. “They’re trying to attract a younger demographic. I’ve got friends on both tours. I’m not trying to be no good guy or no bad guy. I don’t see anything wrong with what these guys are doing. I wish them the best and I wish the PGA Tour the best.”
Meanwhile, the LIV beat goes on. Just listen.