LIV Golf Miami will kick off at the infamous Blue Monster Course at Trump National Doral, starting April 4. A palm-shaded, 7,608-yard course featuring strategically placed bunkers and lush Bermuda rough awaits our LIV Golf roster! It includes intricately contoured greens and numerous lakes. Additionally, it culminates with the renowned 473-yard, par-4 18th hole, which GOLF Magazine called one of the Top 100 Holes in the World! Certainly exciting! And, as we slowly count down the days leading to this final Team Championship in Miami, let’s take a moment to understand its history. It’s fun, we promise!

The course previously hosted the PGA Tour for 55 consecutive years from 1962 to 2006. Additionally, it features four uniquely designed courses, including the Blue Monster. The Blue Monster is known for its challenging 18th hole. It is also traditionally ranked among the toughest on the PGA Tour. And the most interesting part? Many golf legends, including Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, and Tiger Woods, have celebrated wins on this world-class course!

Tracing back to its origins, in 1959, Alfred Kaskel purchased 2,400 acres of swampland that would later become the Doral Hotel and Country Club, now Trump National Doral. Dick Wilson designed the course. Dolar opened its doors on January 12, 1962, featuring the Blue Course, Red Course, and a par-three Green Course. That same year, the first PGA Tour event, the Doral Country Club Open Invitational, was held. What was the most dramatic moment from there? A duel between veteran Billy Casper and rookie Paul Bondeson, with Casper winning by a single stroke at 5-under par. Kaskel initially set the purse at $35,000; however, he later increased it to $50,000 to attract top golfers. And it did well for the course.

The increased purse resulted in a lineup that included Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Sammy Snead, and Jimmy Demaret. Additionally, in 1964, Billy Casper became Doral’s first repeat winner. He finished one shot ahead of Jack Nicklaus! However, Nicklaus won the 1972 and 1975 Doral Eastern Open by participating in 39 of the first 40 tournaments hosted at Doral. From 1979  to 1984, Seve Ballesteros served as the PGA Touring Professional at Doral. Here’s the interesting part: having won 90 tournaments, including 5 majors, he made history in 1980 by becoming the youngest Masters winner. Interestingly, he was wearing his Doral sweater during the win. Now, Ballesteros is behind Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth as the third youngest Masters winner in history.

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Additionally, Greg Norman made headlines at the 1990 Doral Ryder Open by shooting a course-record 62. However, having seen so many brilliant moments, the Blue Monster underwent its first major renovations in 1996. Consequently, it increased the number of bunkers from 106 to 117. However, three years later, several bunkers were removed after negative reviews from pros. Then, Tiger Woods dominated the course from 2005 to 2007. He won three consecutive tournaments, including the ‘Duel at Doral’ against Phil Mickelson in 2005.

However, 2007 was the end of the Doral Open era. After that came the World Golf Championship, which spanned the next 10 years. In 2012, the Trump Organization purchased the Doral Golf Resort & Spa. It brought several changes, including renovations at the Blue Monster. In 2018, the resort hosted the PGA Tour Latinoamerica Tour Championship – Shell Championship. And what about now? Well, now it hosts the LIV Golf Miami’s Team Championship. So, now, let’s take a look at that!

LIV Golf’s history with the Blue Monster Course

The Blue Monster Course’s history with LIV Golf is recent but strong. Like every other LIV tournament, the Team Championship Miami has a three-day stroke play. It started in 2022 with the Saudi-backed league’s LIV Golf Team Championship.

The star-studded event was held at the course and featured multi-Grammy-winning artists. Additionally, in case you don’t remember, it culminated in an H2H match between team captains Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith. How? Well, Johnson easily secured the title for the 4 Aces GC by making par on the 18th hole. This win made the team a whopping $16 million! It followed in the 2023 season.

Once again, LIV Golf returned to the Blue Monster course for its second season-ending Team Championship. Once again, a flawless tournament, it finished with Bryson DeChambeau leading his team, The Crushers GC, to a solid win. Similarly, LIV Golf returned to the course for a third consecutive year, just days before the Masters Tournament. Elite players played in the tournament, however, it was Dean Burmester who took home his first LIV Golf individual win. Additionally, Jon Rahm‘s Legion XIII claimed the title of Team Champions!

And, now, LIV Golf Miami is returning to the same course for this season. What do you think will happen? Let us know!

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