Perhaps rumours of LIV’s demise were slightly exaggerated. LIV has faced some significant headwinds in recent times, with the likes of Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed jumping ship with the fervour of North Korean defectors.
The American events have struggled to make any ratings impression while DeChambeau- one of the tour’s key protagonists- has been coy about signing any new deals. Yet despite all this, LIV has produced some of this season’s most exciting golf. Anthony Kim captured hearts and minds with his magnificent success in Adelaide. And this weekend was yet another undisputed winner, with Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm serving up a duel for the ages in the inaugural staging of the LIV South Africa. The event was a humongous success, awakening a severely undernourished segment of golfing fandom.
A victory for the Rainbow Nation
Speaking as a South African golfing enthusiast, we have been deprived of elite-level golfing action for some time. The Nedbank Golf Challenge- once the crown jewel of African golf- has faded somewhat in significance. Even when it was briefly a Rolex Series event, few of the European big dogs made the trip to Gary Player Country Club. The last time that the country felt truly connected to the broader golfing community was the 2003 President’s Cup, where Tiger and Ernie traded blows in conditions that required night-vision goggles. But LIV Golf South Africa may have resurrected the country as a premier golfing destination. 100 000 people went through the turnstiles last weekend, rivalling the runaway success of the Adelaide event. It encapsulated what LIV is capable of, injecting somewhere between R750- 800-million into the Gauteng coffers.
A blueprint for sustained success
The success of the event reaffirms my belief that the LIV Tour should focus on areas generally deprived of these types of star-studded lineups. The American events- which make up about half of the schedule- leave absolutely zero cultural footprint in a market saturated by PGA Tour excess. In that sense, LIV’s best chance of long-term success would be as a sort of World Tour, where they travel to earmarked locations and, ideally, work in conjunction with the local golfing establishment. The one slight blotch against last week’s Steyn City frolics is the fact that there was no coordination with the Sunshine Tour. The lack of coordination with the local golfing establishment only helps to solidify the caricature version of LIV (you know, self-interested bandits who pillage and plunder).
Low-scoring leads to high drama
Of course, it certainly helped that the golf was fantastic (albeit that the much-vaunted kikuyu grass didn’t offer too much security). The low-scoring birdie-fest reached fever pitch on Sunday, with Singapore champ Jon Rahm hunting down Hong Kong champ Bryson DeChambeau down the stretch (it also didn’t hurt that South Africans Branden Grace and Dean Burmester were there and thereabouts). Rahm ended up shooting 63 on Sunday, tying DeChambeau at 26-under-par (the brash American failed to get up and down on the 18th to win in regulation play). DeChambeau then produced a wonderful Hail Mary shot on the first playoff hole, setting up a two-putt birdie to beat the burly Spaniard by one stroke. DeChambeau was uncharacteristically emotional in victory, hinting at some recent, undisclosed personal development. He even proclaimed the event the best in the history of LIV golf (though he can be a bit of a hype merchant).
Masters backdrop
LIV’s South African success is amplified by the fact that Augusta National is a mere two weeks away. That was the final chance for the LIV guys to get some on-course preparation ahead of the trip down Magnolia Lane (LIV returns to Mexico City the week after Augusta). That lent the proceedings an added level of significance. I said it in a recent article, DeChambeau and Rahm are probably the two most in-form players in world golf right now. With Rory injured and Scheffler going through a mini-slump, the PGA Tour has coughed up a chaotic assortment of champions this season. None of them come close to matching the consistent brilliance of LIV’’s big draws. Rahm is a past Augusta champ while DeChambeau blew it in the final round last year. Imagine what it would do for LIV if these two were duking it out for the coveted jacket on Sunday. And we just got a little preview of what that would look like (it looked pretty exciting).
