Was LIV Golf a Failure or Success: Here are 5 Intricating Factors That It Failed to Master in Its 2 Years of Existence

It was 2022 when LIV Golf was introduced, and its inaugural season took the entire golf world by storm, a storm that still has not been set yet. When the news about LIV Gofl surfaced, it attracted a lot of attention from the entire golf world, but not in a good way. The Saudi-funded league and the defected golfers, such as Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, and Bryson DeChambeau, amongst others, attracted a lot of backlash and derogatory comments from the golf fraternity. Well, the backlash, threats, warnings, badmouthing, and other derogatory remarks could not bring down the former rival league, as it successfully closed the drapes on its second season and would be returning in 2024 for the third season.

It is tough to put a tag on the Saudi league and mark it as a success or a failure just based on two seasons. A return for the 2024 season does not mean anything, as there is still a large fraction of people who need help accepting LIV Golf as a legitimate golf league. Many things did work in LIV Golf’s favor and ensured its 2024 return. However, despite the return, some things just did not work out for the Rebel League.

Five Things That Didn’t Work for LIV Golf After 2 Years

Many things did work in LIV Golf’s favor, such as LIV golfers getting a chance to compete in major tournaments, American players getting a chance to be considered for the Ryder Cup, the Adelaide event, a multi-year deal with Sentosa Golf Club, a merger with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, and so on, but certain things did not work at all for the backway league.

Here is the list of things that did not pan out the way they were expected to after two good years:

• Healthy Competition

The entire concept of LIV Golf was based on the team element that tried to enforce the feeling of all the players in the league being one big family. Even LIV Golf’s boss, Greg Norman, said at the beginning of 2023 that if any one of the LIV players wins in the major tournament, all the other golfers will be there on the 18th hole to celebrate the win with him. But things turned to ashes as the rumors of the internal brawl between Brooks Koepka and Matthew Wolff came to light. The competition, especially between the Smash GC, soon turned unhealthy, and things even spiked during the Jeddah Individual Championship when Koepka said that there were just three players in his team and excluded Wolff altogether.

The team aspect was introduced in the league to inculcate healthy feelings amongst the competitors and ensure that competition does not turn ugly, but as time went down, it did!

• Official World Golf Rankings

In 2022, during the first season itself, LIV Golf applied to OWGR for it to be considered in the world rankings. After 1.5 years of waiting, the decision was declared that LIV Golf would not be in the standings in OWGR as it did not meet the criteria. As a result of LIV golfers not getting points for the LIV events they compete in, their rankings have plummeted down the list. LIV golfers only get points for any major tournament that they compete in if they qualify. LIV’s battle against OWGR has been making headlines for quite some time, and it did become very intense at moments. LIV’s loudest advocate, Mickelson, his compatriot, Mr. 58, and many other golfers expressed their displeasure over the OWGR snub.

• Poor coverage

LIV Golf events’ coverage has been less as compared to the PGA Tour events. It is relatively easier for fans to spectate the PGA Tour events from the comfort of their homes, as many established network channels and media houses do the live coverage of its events as compared to LIV Golf’s limited TV coverage.

This year, LIV Golf cracked a deal with CW Network to air its 14 events, but even that broadcasting was poorly done, as reported by various enthusiasts who said that the coverage would randomly stop at any moment, especially the crucial ones. The overall viewership of the LIV Golf events is far less than that of the PGA Tour events. For instance, LIV’s audience stretches up to 300,000, whereas PGAT’s viewership crosses nearly 3 million.

• American venues

One of the key elements of LIV Golf was to go international as well and organize some of its events on soil outside of America. To do so, the Saudi-funded league organized a few events outside of America, such as in Singapore and Australia. The LIV event that was organized in Adelaide, Australia, has been one of the most successful events of the league in almost 2 years, with fans coming out in large numbers to enjoy the live thrills of the event.

Read More: After LIV Golf’s Recent Success, Saudi PIF Comes Up With Another Major Announcement

On the contrary, American venues have been underwhelming for the Saudi League, especially as compared to Australia’s fervor. American courses have been uninspiring in attracting an audience to the course, and overall, the crowd turned out in small, unattractive numbers.

• Messed-up system: Captains and relegations 

LIV golf has a rule where non-captain players who finish at the 45th rank or lower after the season’s last individual event get relegated. This year, four players—Chase Koepka, James Piot, Jed Morgan, and Sihwah Kim—are on the relegated list, and at the year’s end, one of these four players will find their way back to the Saudi league if they qualify via a promotional event.

The relegation rule as stated is only applicable to non-captain players, and a captain can play more poorly as compared to any of the players and still won’t have a chance of being disqualified from the league. This rule hints that LIV Golf’s system is a bit messed up and favors the skippers more as compared to other players.

What are some of the things you think did not work well for LIV Golf in the past two years, or what are the things they could have done better? Let us know what you think in the comment section below!

Watch This Story: Phil Mickelson Once Made an Honest Confession About Tiger Woods