Ahead of LIV Golf Chicago, Influential Golf Figure Deciphers PGA Tour Counterpart’s Landscape After the Massive Smear Campaign

The shift of the LIV defectors from the PGA Tour to the PIF-backed LIV Golf Series has been a hot topic of discussion. Joining a notable list of golfers, many players and people from the golfing community moved from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour last summer to align with the LIV Golf project.

An American former golfer and renowned Golf Channel announcer departed the network and aligned with LIV Golf last year. Recently, he took in a moment. After the wave of adverse coverage towards LIV Golf, there’s finally clarity on the evolving situation within the division.

Veteran announcer sheds light on the new dynamics of LIV Golf

Jerry Foltz, an influential voice in the golf community, recently shed light on LIV Golf’s journey through a turbulent time. Reflecting on the controversies and targeted campaigns against LIV Golf, Foltz emphasized a discernible transformation in the public’s viewpoint towards the entity.

Foltz stated, “The biggest story, quite honestly, is that people don’t have to apologize to be LIV fans anymore. I think that’s the biggest storyline of the year. Because all of that vitriol, all of that negative publicity that, as Graeme McDowell once called it, ‘a smear campaign against us’, for the reasons of protecting a monopoly.”

On the other side in a candid revelation on The Thing About Golf Podcast, Graeme McDowell admitted that his comments regarding LIV Golf’s association with Saudi Arabia were not entirely spontaneous. He mentioned, “I was a paid ambassador for a golf tour. You start answering questions that can’t be answered. I regret those answers, not that they were necessarily wrong; that was what we had been prepped to say by this golf tour that’s paying me.”

Foltz continued talking about the change in the dynamics and added, ” All of that seems to have diminished in one day. Obviously, those wounds are slow to heal for a lot of people, including the players, including the broadcasters and the fans. But that’s done. So, now people don’t have to apologize for wearing a LIV hat going through the airport, or show up to an event, or tell their friends they’re buying tickets to come to a LIV event because it looks like fun.”

Read More: “We Have Seen It Fractured”- Hours Before $25 Million Valderrama Event, LIV Golf Defector Sheds a Positive Light on the $3B PGA Tour Merger

Eagerly anticipating what the future has in store

Foltz further credits this change to the evident growth in LIV’s outreach. While the series received constant flak for its inability to find a streaming partner in its early days, the viewership count has risen over the past few months.

With the evolving golf landscape marked by LIV’s emergence and the significant LIV Golf-PGA Tour collaboration in rounds, the future holds much anticipation. With the Ryder Cup on one side, LIV Chicago is all set to go on grounds from 22-24 September.

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