The LIV Golf Series should be approaching fever pitch as we head into this final American leg.
Instead, the whole enterprise is starting to feel like a hastily organized cosplay without any real enthusiasm behind it. And for good reason. The LIV experiment is falling apart at the seams, haemorrhaging money at every turn. CEO Scott O’Neill appears to be rearranging the deckchairs on the titanic, trying to entice investors while the ship is sinking. And we all know how that movie finished (though it is funny to picture Bryson and Jon Rahm fighting over who would float on the random doorframe). Let’s have a look at how precarious things have become.
LIV succumbs to global pressures
I find it rather amusing that Donald Trump- an avowed champion of the LIV cause- could end up destroying the breakaway tour. His protracted Middle East conflicts caused the Saudi-backed Public Investment Fund to baulk a few months back, as they announced the end of their funding as they sought to reinvest in other areas. The Saudis pumped upwards of $5 billion into the rebel cause, adding glitzy polish to a product that has struggled to capture the imagination of anyone other than those involved. Scott O’Neill was left with a conundrum on his hands: how do you convince investors to pump money into a project after the Saudis couldn’t really get it going after spending $5 billion? The answer: you can’t. O’Neill is apparently working furiously behind the scenes, creating a firestorm of rumours about potential investment, etc. But let’s just examine how things look on the ground.
Cancellations abound
In April, it was announced that LIV’s Louisiana event- schedule for June- was to be cancelled. The organizers cited heat concerns and scheduling conflicts with the World Cup as reasons for cancellation. Now it appears obvious that it was all about austerity measures. But the real death-knell surrounds the fate of this year’s season-ending team championship in Michigan (which seemed to be a big hit last year). The season-ending event had already lost a bit of its pizzaz, with total prize money dropping to $40 million (it was $50 million last year). But now, multiple outlets are saying that the Michigan finale-which still features the biggest purse in professional golf- is cancelled. This is a crippling blow that undermines the entire team-based ethos that LIV have been prattling on about for years. I think many of the players saw this coming as there was very little infrastructure in place just weeks away from the event. Apparently multiple contractors have been told that their travel and accommodation have been cancelled outright.
More hurdles
More embarrassing reports suggest that the Championship rings haven’t been paid for yet. There is also legal action afoot, as Mobil Systems Group filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against LIV Golf for abruptly cancelling their Any Shot, Any Time feature. And that lawsuit is for a relatively tiny figure of $1.13 million in unpaid fees and lost revenue. It’s rather disturbing to see this wannabe behemoth taken to court for little more than what 4th place would earn at a standard LIV event. I also don’t think that last week’s events at JCB helped matters much. LIV could have done with Bryson and Rahm having an epic duel that would attract potential investors to the damaged product. Instead, they got a procession, with relatively low-key Aussie Lucas Herbert dominating the tournament from beginning to end. You can blast the Chainsmokers as loud as you want out of the speakers, but you can’t change how dull that golf tournament became.
Plenty of dry eyes in the house
I’m not going to sit here and act like I’m heartbroken about all this public humiliation. LIV flashed their cash around with the subtlety of the Kardashians, delighting in shaking the foundations of the golfing establishment. This feels like some good old-fashioned karmic retribution.
