So What Has LIV Golf done for them?

Thought for the Day
If love is the answer, could you please rephrase the question?

So What Has LIV Golf done for them?
Now that LIV Golf has, sadly, been part of our golfing landscape for over two years, it is perhaps time to look at the fortunes of those golfers who jumped ship for the Saudi millions. In most cases, it seems, they have disappeared into their lucrative backwater, hoovering up money but achieving little else other than relative anonymity.

One might be tempted to think: ‘Serves them bloody well right,’ but that would be uncharitable, even if it is merited.

In truth, and in a reflection of BBC impartiality, it is necessary to report that the fortunes of those golfers who defected are mixed. Of course, unless you are a dedicated freak, watching them perform in their chosen field of endeavour takes considerable time and effort. For most of us, our only opportunity to measure their form is to view the ever-dwindling number who qualify for the majors. In most cases, that qualification process is reduced to those who gain exemption as a result of having won a major in recent years, and their numbers get smaller with every passing year.

Brooks Koepka, of course, stands out, being the only LIV golfer so far to have won a major since leaving the PGA Tour, which he did so impressively at last year’s PGA Championship. Such was his form coming into this year’s event that he was one of the short-odds favourites, a view supported by his opening rounds of 67, 68 but then a third day 74 did for him, although he still finished in a creditable tie for 26th. Nevertheless, he remains one of the few LIV golfers to maintain a top-50 world ranking.

The real champion from the breakaway circuit was Bryson DeChambeau, who kept the pressure on Xander Schauffele throughout a thrilling last round and once again demonstrated, for anyone who doubted it, that he is so much more than a bomb and gouge merchant. His iron approach-play and delicacy of touch on and around the greens remain mightily impressive. His performance at Valhalla keeps him in the world top-50 (36th at the time of writing). The only other LIV rebels to rub shoulders with him at anywhere near that lofty level are Jon Rahm (7th) and Tyrell Hatton (19th).

Speaking of Rahm, his slump from world number two will only accelerate if his form doesn’t buck up in time for the US Open. Tied 45th represented a pretty indifferent defence of his green jacket at the Masters, he did even worse in the season’s second major, missing the cut. He looks out of form, out of sorts and a shadow of the man who dominated at Augusta in 2023.

In contrast, some of his LIV stablemates did comparatively well in the Masters this time around, with DeChambeau again showing the way, ending the week tied 6th alongside Cameron Smith. Tyrrell Hatton was also in the top-10 and Patrick Reed tied 12th.

Of the other big names who defected for the greenbacks, Phil Mickelson seems to be the saddest. Three years on from an almost unbelievable swansong victory in the PGA Championship, he now sits 168th in the world, which in my view represents a thoroughly deserved fall from grace as a consequence of his mendacity. His demeanour and attitude as he perambulates a course – glum, morose and dejected – is in vivid contrast to the ever-smiling, thumbs-up Mickelson we remember from not so long ago. Oh dear, never mind.

His lowly position, however, is nothing compared to that of Dustin Johnson, who now languishes in 355th place, although in Dustin’s case it is almost impossible to establish how that makes him feel. Always marching to the beat of a drummer only he could hear, Dustin has ever strolled a golf course without an apparent care in the world and is almost the definition of insouciant.

Of all the players who defected to LIV, he seems to be the one least affected by any criticism he might receive and completely comfortable in his new environment, playing less often, in 54-hole events on courses that don’t merit the adjective ‘difficult’, never mind ‘brutal.’ It would never surprise me if he strolled away from golf entirely, in much the same way as he exited the PGA Tour.

For players like Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia, signing up for the Saudi dollar was a no-brainer. Providing, as it did, the opportunity to amass a healthy pension pot at the fag end of a declining career would always be too good an invitation to refuse. Are they missed? Possibly by a few diehard fans who, for whatever reason, felt a particular affinity (although in Garcia’s case that’s difficult to imagine) but for the rest of us, I suspect the answer is ‘No.’

Quote of the Week
Comparatively few golfers ever show that they are aware that the golf architect tries to design a course that rewards an intelligent golfer and penalizes a stupid one
Tommy Armour

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