LIV Golf will celebrate a significant milestone at this week’s tournament with the first round at the Old White Course at The Greenbrier, West Virginia, marking the 100th since the big-money circuit’s first on 9 June 2022 at London’s Centurion Club.
Even at that early stage, one of its ambitions was to become a global entity, and it has certainly achieved that, with events taking place in nine countries in different parts of the world, including the US, Mexico, Australia and Saudi Arabia.
LIV Golf has also visited 22 cities and 13 US states since its inception, with 85 players from 21 countries having played at least one of its 99 rounds so far. Meanwhile, three of those players, Richard Bland, Matt Jones and Peter Uihlein, have played in every round.
When LIV Golf launched, it was shrouded in controversy, with questions over its viability amid a bitter stand-off with rival the PGA Tour.
While that hasn’t been entirely resolved, with talks still taking place between the Saudi Public Investment Fund behind LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, the fact it has emerged from those tumultuous early days not only intact but with far stronger fields and the chance to embed itself at the top of men’s game suggests it’s here to stay.
Majasticks GC co-captain Ian Poulter is one player who has no doubt it will be here for the long term. He said: “I think every team has been tasked with a go-forward plan; what does three, five, 10 years look like, and it’s definitely in that window of ‘Don’t think small, think big.’”
Hy Flyers GC captain Phil Mickelson has been with LIV Golf since the start, and he acknowledged that, while there is still work to do, the circuit is beginning to establish itself. He said: “We’ve come a long ways the last two years, and we’re building momentum. We are not where we want to be. But we are on our way, and we’ve come a long way.”
For Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau, the venue for the 100th round will be all the sweeter, given he was responsible for delivering arguably the circuit’s greatest highlight there last year when he produced an historic final round of 58 to claim the title.
He admitted he is also looking forward to what the future holds. “I couldn’t be more excited,” he said. “These 100 days have been incredible. The journey has been awesome and I’m excited to continue this progress and see what we can provide for the world of golf.”
As LIV Golf nears the end of its third season, it is hard to predict what it will look like in another 100 rounds, but regardless of how it evolves, as each round is played it seems increasingly likely that, for all the uncertainty and hostility that greeted its launch, it will still have a big presence in the men’s elite game.
