“Who’s left? Who’s left to go? I mean, there’s no one. It’s dead in the water in my opinion. I just can’t any reason why anyone would go.”
Rory McIlroy, circa February 2022, on plans for Saudi Arabia to bankroll a golf league to rival the PGA Tour. He was referring to claims from Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau they wouldn’t leave the United States-based monolith, which has lorded over world golf for decades. No amount of money would be enough, they said.
A little over a year on and Greg Norman’s vision for a rival world tour has materialised, and LIV Golf will roll into town for the richest golf tournament ever played in Australia … featuring Johnson and DeChambeau.
It’s been a long and bumpy road for Norman, who has used more than $1 billion of Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund to sign some of the world’s best golfers to his new league, which will make its Australian debut in Adelaide on Friday.
He’s fended off accusations LIV is just a sportswashing exercise to mask the kingdom’s human rights record, launched lawsuits against the PGA Tour and DP World Tour who indefinitely banned his defectors, butted heads with Tiger Woods and McIlroy, stood frustrated as his players fell down the world rankings with no official recognition for LIV results, watched executives walk out the door, been brushed from attending golf’s biggest events.
LIV Golf stars (l-r): Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith, chief executive Greg Norman, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia.
And he’s had to do it while keeping his clothes on.
Is it really a sportswashing exercise?
It’s the issue which has dogged Norman since the concept launched. Saudi Arabia’s involvement in sport has stepped up significantly in recent years with the takeover of Newcastle in the Premier League and cash-rich tennis exhibitions, but nowhere else have they splurged such vast sums of money to lure professional athletes to their own league.
Norman has faced questions about the kingdom’s regime and the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and golfers have been interrogated on the issue. Most prominently, the United States has been the home of critics of LIV’s paymasters, with small protests outside several events. Norman says LIV is in it for the long haul to grow the game of golf with a true world tour. How many believe him?
How does it work?
Differently.
For starters, all LIV events are limited to just 48 players. If you’re not a contracted player, you’re not playing.
Unlike traditional 72-hole individual strokeplay events which have been the bedrock of golf forever, LIV’s events only start on Fridays and are played across 54 holes over three rounds. Essentially, golfers are getting paid more to play less.
And instead of the slow burn of a golf tournament when groups either tee off the first or 10th tee with times which vary right throughout the day, LIV events have a shotgun start. That means all golfers start at exactly the same time on various holes throughout the course.
Sihwan Kim has pocketed more than half a million dollars for coming last in three LIV events this year.Credit: AP
Where it really gets funky is even the worst performing golfers in LIV are guaranteed a cheque and don’t miss the cut (ie. get sent home after two rounds without pay because you’re going no good). Hello, Sihwan Kim. The American has finished dead last in all three LIV events this year and has pocketed almost $540,000 in individual prizemoney alone because every Norman disciple gets paid no matter how well — or badly — they perform.
Lastly, Norman’s roster is split up into 12 teams of four players brandishing weird names such as Ripper (the Australians), Cleeks, Torque, Crusher and Fireballs. They’re all using aggregate scores to compete for team prize money at every event.
Who are Norman’s biggest stars?
None bigger than Australia’s Cameron Smith, the mulleted one who won the British Open last year. Norman snared his signature in the days after his momentous triumph at St Andrews, on a reported $140 million deal. World No.6 Smith is still LIV’s highest ranked player.
But apart from that, Norman has a wealth of big-name major winners in Americans Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bubba Watson and Bryson DeChambeau, plus European veterans Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter. It’s more than many thought Norman would be able to sign.
Brooks Koepka speaks to the media on Wednesday.Credit: Getty
Unlike their previous existence as sole traders, picking and choosing when and where to play, LIV players are legally obliged to compete in all 14 of the league’s worldwide events.
Many haven’t been to Australia before, or not for a long time, and in the case of Watson he couldn’t wait to get back because his favourite animal is the wombat.
Money, money, money …
… must be funny, in the rich man’s world.
But this is no laughing matter. The individual winner of LIV Golf Adelaide will pocket a smidgen under $6 million — double what the men’s and women’s singles winner earns for slogging it out for two weeks at the Australian Open tennis. It’s eye watering, and that’s before factoring in a likely boost from the teams component, which splits $7.45 million. In total, almost $37 million will be spread across 48 golfers at the end of the week in Adelaide.
Adelaide will be the biggest event LIV has hosted. Really?
Hot on the heels of the AFL’s Gather Round, LIV shapes as an even bigger event for the city. And the South Australian government paid for it, too, forking out a multimillion-dollar incentive for LIV to come to The Grange Golf Club in Adelaide.
But they’ve been rewarded. The initial allocation of 20,000 tickets was sold out for each of the three days, prompting LIV to add a few more for sale, as well as opening up the Pro-Am event on Thursday to fans (it has been closed to spectators at previous events).
It will certainly be a welcome change from other LIV events, which have had moderate attendances and miniscule audiences on the United States’ CW Network, who signed on as a broadcast partner in 2023. LIV also attracted a small viewership on YouTube in its inaugural season last year.
But this week? You can watch all the action on course from, wait for it, The Shark Shack.
How can I watch?
Quietly, Seven Network snapped up the Australian rights to LIV Golf’s 2023 season, but there’s been little or no promotion for the first three overseas-based events with coverage buried on its streaming platform.
But the broadcaster will put the Adelaide event on its main channel on Friday from 12pm (AEST) with the action all wrapped up by 5pm.
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