While the battle for the future of men’s professional golf continues to rage between rival tours and Saudi Arabian paymasters, British golf fans are already feeling consequences from the most tumultuous period in the sport’s history.
For the first time there is a genuine sense of competition for the attention of UK golf enthusiasts. Last week it was a decent show at the Belfry for the Betfred British Masters where New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier made his breakthrough win.
Now it is LIV’s turn with their latest event at the venue where it all started a year ago, the Centurion Club in Hertfordshire. Or London – as LIV like to say with a firmer eye on marketing than their shaky grasp on geography.
Last week’s event in the English midlands brought out the diehard fans. It was a strikingly informed crowd who knew their players despite only eight in the field from the world’s top 100.
This was a refreshing change from the previous fortnight in the United States where, especially at the US Open, the galleries were sparse and corporate. Something similar could be said of the women’s PGA at Baltusrol the following week.
Those that tramped alongside the fairways of the Brabazon Course were rewarded with a packed leaderboard of DP World Tour stalwarts but not many were household names and there is no doubt the shortage of stardust was palpable.
By signing for LIV, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell ultimately sacrificed their membership of the European tour. The loyal Belfry fans would, surely, have preferred it if those former Ryder Cup stars could have been present.
But tour bosses regarded LIV as an existential threat and took disciplinary action against those who signed for Saudi money. Heavy fines and suspensions were upheld by an independent arbitration panel.
Westwood, Poulter and McDowell were among the 48 LIV players who competed last week alongside winner Taylor Gooch at Valderrama – a former European Tour stronghold – in direct competition to the British Masters.
At the Belfry there were modest efforts to emulate LIV’s push to attract younger crowds. A DJ played music on the iconic par-four 10th, although the incongruous noise did not seem to impress too many hardcore golf fans.
They were more concerned about Oliver Wilson’s tactics to escape a treacherous lie from a back bunker and give himself his best chance of avoiding water at the front, trying to save par at a crucial time in his third round.
That is the essence of golf watching and it was interesting enough for the true aficionados surrounding the green.
LIV creates a more vibrant setting. A big grandstand by the first tee at Valderrama, the like of which was never seen in the years that it was a European tour venue, gave the venue an instant and deservedly big-time feel.
To no one’s surprise, LIV have very deep pockets. A DP World Tour official claimed to me that their rivals enjoy a staging budget seven times that of a standard tournament on his schedule.
“Golf but louder” is the LIV catch phrase. It will be interesting to see the size and demographic of the crowds for this week’s tournament at Centurion.
People now have a genuine choice regarding the sort of golf they want to watch. Are 54-hole shotgun starts a more attractive proposition than the conventional four rounds played by the established tours?
This week’s tournament will have more household names, with reigning major champions Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith teeing it up alongside Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and co.
How many tickets will they sell? Will we find out? They are expecting 10,000 spectators each day.
Last year the fans I spoke to loved the three-round tournament but I could not find any who had paid for the experience. Most seemed to be there on freebies.
Refreshingly LIV are getting hotter on the curse of slow play and docked Richard Bland a shot during the second round in Spain last week.
Off the course, the breakaway tour have announced award winning acts DJ Snake and Alesso will entertain fans at the end of play on Friday and Saturday. Last year it was Craig David.
He certainly brought a younger crowd to the course, but many turned up only towards the end of the day.
Jax Jones has been booked by the BMW PGA Championship when that rolls around in September – an event being marketed by the DP World Tour as “London’s Festival of Golf”.
Such initiatives are not new and have not been prompted by LIV’s arrival, but the competition has intensified. Is this to the fan’s benefit?
That will be one of the key questions considered by regulatory bodies on both sides of the Atlantic when they look into the proposed merger between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
In recent weeks, both sides, the established tours and LIV, have used the phrase “full steam ahead” as each claims that the new deal emboldens their position. But both are navigating choppy waters and uncertain futures.
The framework agreement between the three parties has to clear a number of obstacles before it has any chance of shaping the future of the pro game.
In the meantime the majors take on even greater significance and that includes those in the women’s game. The recent KPMG Women’s PGA at Baltusrol felt a much worthier tournament than the $20m PGA Tour offering that same week.
The female stars were playing for half that money, but it was a hard earned figure that represented value for money to the sponsors. The golfers were grateful for the backing and playing for life changing sums which enhanced the spectacle.
And now we do know the elevated big bucks on the men’s tour are unsustainable, hence their agreement to the proposed PIF merger.
There will be another big purse at Pebble Beach this week for the Women’s US Open which last year was worth $10m.
For the first time the players can showcase their skills on this iconic Californian stage and many will consider them worthy of the setting and every cent they receive.
Source – BBC Sport
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