EDITOR’S LETTER E LIV Golf had its merits
T he news that LIV Golf is on life support and may not continue in 2027 – at least not with its full complement of stars – will have been received very differently in South Africa and Australia, or South Korea, compared to how it has gone down in the United States, where they are celebrating. Our country is one of the losers if this proves to be the demise of LIV, because many golf fans here were looking forward to LIV’s return to Steyn City in April next year. Those who have bought tickets will be devastated. And if this is the end for LIV, there also goes our Southern Guards team which has created a strong fanbase locally. The Americans, on the other hand, are extremely pleased. They weren’t ex- pecting LIV to fold this soon. Less than four years since their first event in July 2022. For American traditionalists, this has always been about a battle between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, rather than another sporting outlet taking the pro- fessional game globally to a new audi- ence. It stung many Americans to see their tour’s biggest assets lured away to a rival organisation. What they have never considered is LIV’s popularity in the many countries which the PGA Tour fails to visit. LIV was filling a void. South Africa came late to the LIV schedule, and fortunately we did get to host a tournament before the news broke of Saudi Arabia’s Public Invest- ment Fund ending its financial back- ing. One of the best golf events we’ve experienced. Now we might have nothing going forward other than the co-sanctioned status quo with the DP World Tour. Although I guess the
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Americans won’t sympathise. Perhaps we might be given a consolatory Presi- dents Cup match in 20 years’ time. It’s instructive to read some of the comment pieces by American writers, who have been scathing about LIV’s impact on the game. Joel Beall wrote on the Golf Digest.Com website that “LIV Golf was not, at its core, a golf league. It was a geopolitical instrument. The LIV product was mediocre, and existential- ly dangerous due to its bottomlessness, and the greed that bottomlessness un- leashed. There is no conventional com- petitive response to an opponent who has decided that losses are acceptable. The PGA Tour spent a century building a system of merit. LIV walked in and wrote cheques that made that system feel like a prank.” Ask the fans who were at Steyn City if they thought the product mediocre, and they are unlikely to concur. LIV also engaged a new demographic. You cannot dispute that the prize- money for LIV events has been absurd, and to further increase it this year seemed egregious, especially consider- ing the financial losses LIV were incur- ring and chose to ignore. The biggest beneficiaries of all this largesse have not just been the players – they were mostly wealthy to begin with – but the caddies. Summed up by Jon Rahm’s caddie Adam Hayes recently listing his North Carolina mansion and estate for sale at $14 million. LIV has been hugely rewarding for the four South African members who make up the Southern Guards team. Three of them were among the first to sign up. Each loved the format and
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the 14-event schedule, as it suited their middle-age lifestyles. Where they go from here if LIV ceases to exist is some- thing that must be worrying them. Not so much the loss of income, but the comfortable setup and competitive rounds they had become used to. Will Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, both in their 40s, retire prematurely from tour life? They are unlikely to return to the PGA Tour, as they have relinquished their cards there, while the grind of the DP World Tour might not appeal to them. Bran- den Grace has rejuvenated his career at LIV and looks as if he still has good years ahead of him. He and Dean Bur- mester would most likely continue their careers on the DP World Tour stage where they began. Middle East expert and Golf Digest contributing editor Thomas Friedman breaks down the LIV situation in a Q&A beginning on Page 29. Stuart McLean stuartm@morecorp.co.za
GOLF DIGEST USA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF JERRY TARDE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR MAX ADLER EXECUTIVE EDITOR PETER MORRICE INTERNATIONAL EDITOR JU KUANG TAN
TEACHING PROFESSIONALS: TODD ANDERSON, MARK BLACKBURN, CHUCK COOK, HANK HANEY, BUTCH HARMON, ERIKA LARKIN, DAVID LEADBETTER, CAMERON MCCORMICK, JIM MCLEAN, MICHAEL NEFF, RENEE POWELL, RANDY SMITH, RICK SMITH, DAVE STOCKTON, JOSH ZANDER PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS: AMY ALCOTT, RANDY MYERS, NICK PRICE, JUDY RANKIN, LUCIUS RICCIO, BOB ROTELLA, BEN SHEAR, RALPH SIMPSON, DR ARA SUPPIAH PLAYING EDITORS: COLLIN MORIKAWA, JORDAN SPIETH
EDITOR STUART MCLEAN DESIGN ELINORE DE LISLE MEDIA SALES DANIEL EGDES (daniele@morecorp.co.za)
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