This story was originally published on Oct. 26, 2022. It was included in a year-end list of SI’s best stories of 2022.
The noise thundered loud enough to occasionally reverberate through the press room, where Charl Schwartzel tried to sum up his victory in the first-ever LIV Golf Invitational Series event outside of London.
The South African golfer, who won the Masters in 2011, was among a surprisingly high number of past major champions to sign up for the controversial new circuit. He was reveling in the fact that the $4.75 million he had just earned for his individual and team victories was more money than he had accumulated in official earnings over the past four seasons combined.
