The 2025 LIV season kicked off in Saudi Arabia this week, sparking plenty of buzz and excitement. With big changes in the air, including a leadership shift from Greg Norman to Scott O’Neil as CEO and a fresh TV deal with FOX Sports, LIV was ready to turn a new page. Thursday marked a milestone with the first FOX broadcast of a LIV event, and to make it more accessible to U.S. fans, the start time was adjusted to 6:15 p.m. local time, meaning players would compete under the lights in Riyadh.

Despite these efforts, viewership seemed limited, with only about 12,000 tuning in on FOX Sports 2 during mid-morning and into the afternoon, according to Nielsen. After all, it’s no secret that golf’s TV ratings across all Tours have declined, including on the PGA Tour, which has seen a steady drop. But LIV Golf’s condition seems to be worse, and there are reminders of that.

One of the reasons could be Phil Mickelson’s absence from the field. On February 3, he announced his withdrawal, saying “While preparing for the season, I suffered a minor shoulder injury in the gym last week. I’m definitely disappointed that I will miss the season opener, but I look forward to playing in Adelaide. Ollie Schniederjans will tee it up for me this week and I will be pulling for my teammates from home.” Now coming to reminder LIV got.

Colt Knost and Amanda Balionis from CBS Golf were stationed inside the stadium at the 16th hole during the broadcasting of the penultimate round for the WM Phoenix Open. One could easily witness thousands of fans all jammed around the Coliseum stands on the 16th hole. And well, given the humor that he has, Knost could not help but mock LIV Golf’s season opener. “There are 24,000 people around the 16th hole today,” Knost remarked, adding with a grin, “That’s 12,000 times two if I’m not mistaken.”

When has the golf world ever shied away from showing their divide during a comparison round between the two leagues? This time was no different.

The golf community labels LIV Golf dead

To begin with, while Adrian Meronk did steal the show by defeating Jon Rahm on Saturday, clinching LIV Golf’s first trophy, it is safe to say that both the leagues are more about star players. And while players like the Spaniard, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and Tyrell Hatton were all part of the field, Phil Mickelson’s absence sure did strike a chord plummeting the viewership. Taking this, one of them wrote, “LIV is all but dead.”

Ahead of the 2023 Adelaide, LIV Golf introduced the party hole. There were DJs, several bars, and an exceptionally lively atmosphere. This brought in a lot of criticism, as fans said that most of the spectators would be there only to have fun, and not watch golf. Well, that continues. As one of them commented, “Yeah, and probably 85% of them are there to drink and party. They could care less about the golf.” One commented, “Nobody cares about @LIV nobody!”

Agreeing with Knost, one fan commented, “He’s not wrong.” Another loved the jab, commenting, “Lmao love it!”

The WM Phoenix Open is undoubtedly one of the rowdiest crowds. Remember all the scenes from the 2024 edition? It surely is impossible to compete with a fanbase like that, and of course, not to forget the star players that make it all the more exciting. Taking to this one of them even said, “If only every tour stop had 2% of the energy WMO provides.”  However, it was not all good publicity. Not even the zero-tolerance policy could change things this year. 

In an unexpected turn of events, police stepped in to prevent a “beer snake” from forming on the iconic 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale. For those unfamiliar, a beer snake is a long chain of stacked beer cups, often created by fans. As the crowd began to build one, a police officer intervened, removing the growing beer snake, which was met with a chorus of boos from the disappointed spectators. Taking to that, one even complained, “Whatever. I watched LIV. Better players more exciting. WM is a shit show.”

What event did you watch this weekend? For which one will you be tuning in on Sunday?