LIV Golf has seemingly answered the questions of its critics after general admission for this week's tournament in Adelaide sold out across the three days of play.
Since forming last summer, the breakaway circuit has faced a whole host of criticism. Not only for seemingly breaking the status quo in the world of professional golf, but also thanks to its controversial funding from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
When the idea was put forward over 12 months ago, a number of golf's biggest names were quick to rubbish the plans, including Rory McIlroy who claimed the so-called 'Saudi Golf League' was 'dead in the water'.
Four months after McIlroy's slamming, the breakaway circuit officially announced itself to the world as 'LIV Golf', and managed to lure in a whole host of big names including Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson ahead of its inaugural in London last June.
Whilst CEO Greg Norman has been able to add a number of other marquee players to his roster, LIV has still struggled to generate the popularity and the interest of its rivals over at the PGA Tour. The breakaway circuit finally secured a TV broadcasting deal earlier this year with the CW Network - a channel better known for its showing of dramas and reality shows, rather than sporting events.
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And after it was notoriously reported that LIV's opening event of the campaign in Mexico was beaten in the TV ratings by CW's 'World's Funniest Animals', question marks over the breakaway circuit's support were once again raised. Ahead of its first trip to Australia for LIV Adelaide this weekend, Norman and co have been given a huge boost.
After it was announced that the Saudi-funded series would head down under as part of its 2023 season, it was always expected to be a popular destination with Norman himself arguably Australia's greatest ever golfer, whilst fellow Aussie, LIV member and Open champion Cam Smith also a fan-favourite.
So much so the breakaway circuit reportedly sold 25,000 tickets in the space of just 48 hours following their release last October. And with tournament week now here, LIV has since confirmed that all general admission ground passes have been sold out across all three days of the Adelaide event.
One man who the crowd will undoubtedly be cheering on is local boy Smith, and it seems the former world No. 2 is more than looking forward to his homecoming event. He told 7News: "I think all of us have been looking forward to this week for a fair while now. It is good to be here, and it is good to see it come to life."
