“THERE’S DEFINITELY A VISION, BUT I’M NOT GOING TO SAY IT . . . COME FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF WHAT WE ARE.”
BROOKS KOEPKA
money for weaker fields. The TV networks that broadcast golf are suffering lower ratings. The charities are being squeezed as flows of money are redirected. The rank- and-file are frustrated by narrower paths to the signature events and other special rewards designed to placate the stars. The stars are ever vigilant that justice for loyalty and disloyalty be correctly meted. The players who signed with LIV Golf feel unfairly vilified in the public forum, and at least a handful aren’t playing in the majors who should be, which completes a kind of circle of dissatisfaction. To a man, LIV Golf captains bemoan the lack of imagi- nation and resistance to change they’ve faced. The Ryder Cup is one of the most-watched events, so why shouldn’t there be regular teams like the other major sports? Any an- swer must include that they’ve yet to convince fans they care. The same criticism could be lobbed at the golfers of TGL, who, understandably, can come across as more pre- occupied with delivering snappy repartee into their mics than the outcomes of the matches. Creating a new league or sport from scratch is hard. What can team golfers do to truly capture the fans? “One of my favourite sayings is that a team always beats a roster,” says Dr Bhrett McCabe, a leading sports psychol- ogist, alluding to how cohesion will trump a sampling of all-star talent. An idea that could apply to attracting fans as much as scoring points. “A group of people becomes a team when each individual is truly less important than the team,” McCabe says. In 2025, you will see the full marketing power of an ambitious organisation unleashed. Their new slogan, “Long LIV Golf,” frames their efforts as saving our great game by pushing it forward into global modernity. Scott O’Neil, the new CEO, and several of his lieutenants have backgrounds working at the highest levels of professional team sports and stadiums. With business acumen, not to mention sophisticated data-tracking technologies enabled by yourticket, might they achieve in years what took most sports franchises decades upon decades? A genuine following. The captains all remind it’s early – 2025 will be just LIV Golf’s third full season. Smith says he’s already hearing “Go Rippers” more than his name, especially among Aus- tralian galleries. He foresees a day when Rippers recruits are the cream that rise in a feeder system co-sanctioned with Golf Australia. Rahm’s Legion XIII may set up some- thing similar with his alma mater, ASU. Rahm also says he’s not entirely opposed to flipping the purses to make the team prize the more lucrative, if that’s what it takes. Money can be pushed aside only for so long.
114 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JULY/AUGUST 2025
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