Golf’s renegade circus came to an underwhelming end on Saturday at Centurion as Charl Schwartzel hoisted aloft a gaudy trophy that carried no great significance. The South African had taken a three-shot lead into the final day of the inaugural LIV Golf event and the gimmicks of a team format and a shotgun start failed to spark any added twists or turns through the trees in Hemel Hempstead as he coasted to victory by one shot.
It was a day that lacked drama and offered few highlights that will live long in sporting memory, with nobody able to mount a challenge even as Schwartzel faltered on the back nine. That will not stop it from being deemed a resounding success by LIV Golf’s Saudi backers, though. The eye-watering prize money on offer was a greater subject of fascination than any sporting merit and its pull on the golfing world only grows stronger as Patrick Reed and Pat Perez were announced as the latest established PGA Tour names to jump ship.
