In two days, LIV Golf’s 2024 season will end, and the league will take a short break before launching its promotions event. However, even after scheduling fourteen events, the breakaway league still faces criticism. It’s not about their dropping TV ratings or low fan attendance on the course, but about their innovative format. Currently, the 54-player league is at Maridoe Golf Club for the season-ending Team Championship event.

As in all its events, this time as well, the Saudi-backed league started with a shotgun format, with every player starting together but on different holes. Due to this, golfers usually don’t finish their rounds on the 18th hole of the club, leading to nearly no fans at the last hole. Something similar happened when Jason Kokrak and Graeme McDowell were playing against Jinichiro Kozuma and Scott Vincent on the playoff hole, and only a few fans were there to watch.

Taking the issue to X, Flushing It Golf highlighted that although LIV Golf’s team championship playing format was “brilliant entertainment,” they need to remove the shotgun start. They posted a photo showing the lack of crowd around the playoff hole and said, “Having virtually no fans on the playoff hole kills the atmosphere and comes across awful on TV. Get them all to finish on 18 where the fans congregate so there’s some buzz.” Furthermore, they shared that fans would not have time to walk to the 3rd hole if the playoff occurred there.

It was a good suggestion by Flushing It Golf, but it is uncertain if LIV Golf would change the shotgun format, as it is one of the things that makes the league innovative and unique. Nonetheless, after the post went somewhat viral on X, the golf world started critiquing the breakaway circuit once again for its one-of-a-kind format.

Golf fans criticize the shotgun start of LIV Golf

LIV Golf makes the game different from what is usually portrayed. It isn’t traditional 72-hole golf, there are no cuts after two days, the field doesn’t change for every tournament, and there’s a shotgun start. For some, this is a refreshing change amidst traditional golf, but for many, this is not the way to play, leading to criticism. One user harshly disparaged the LIV format, asking, “You just figuring out that their format is horse bleep?” Another dismissed the suggestion that the Team Championship should not have a shotgun start and instead criticized the entire league, saying, “LIV is a joke already. This just tops the cake.”

Starting at the 5th hole means that a golfer will finish the round not at the clubhouse on the 18th hole but at the 4th. Realistically, no golf fan would buy a ticket for the 4th hole expecting their favorite golfer to finish there. Thus, the shotgun start created issues, and one user agreed, saying, “The shotgun start does have draw backs.” Another user was pissed at the format which had all the players start at the same time and the league as they commented, “Better yet just put a bullet in this useless nonsense and bring golf back together.”

But is it also affecting LIV Golf’s TV ratings? As recently as LIV Golf Greenbrier, the last event before the individual championship in Chicago, the breakaway circuit drew only 136K viewers on Saturday and 165K on Sunday of the event. It is drastically lower compared to the PGA Tour’s millions of viewers. One fan suggested the shotgun start might be to blame, saying, “Of course you are right. Shotgun start is a disaster for TV coverage. It’s going to sabotage the entire LIV “experiment” unless corrected.” 

Does LIV Golf get Official World Ranking Points? No. Does winning any event give the players an exemption category in the majors, as they can’t get in through OWGR? That, too, is a no. Because of these reasons, combined with the different format, many people in the golf world don’t share the excitement for LIV Golf and consider it an exhibition. One user echoed this sentiment, commenting, “Does anyone really care? These guys are all getting paid no matter where they finish. It’s exhibition golf. DeChembeau/Daly was way more entertaining.”

As this is the last event of the year for LIV Golf, the shotgun start isn’t going anywhere. But will the disruptive league start the 2025 season with a slightly different format? That remains to be seen.