The series is an upstart professional golf circuit bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Its organizers hope to position it as a player-power-focused alternative to the PGA Tour, which has been the highest level of pro golf for nearly a century.
South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel banked a whopping R75.31m ($4.75m) as he won the first LIV Golf Series event by one shot from countryman Hennie du Plessis at Centurion Club in London on Saturday.
Perhaps inspired by the poor exchange rate with R15.85 to the US dollar, the South African foursome — known as team Stinger — of Schwartzel, Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen and Hennie du Plessis also won the team event, and shared $3m (R47.56m) between the four players.
Schwartzel closed with a final round two-over 72 for a seven-under total in the 54-hole event to take first place and claim his first victory since March 2016.
The first LIV Golf Invitational finished on Saturday, and from a sporting perspective it was a farce. Its vaunted team element didn’t work. None of the handful of big names made a significant contribution.
The shotgun start failed to improve the experience. Promised broadcast innovation meant a leaderboard which often told us what had happened before we’d seen it, and paid-for propaganda which your average despot would’ve considered a little on the nose.
And it was, from the beginning, a circus. From malfunctioning equipment at the faux draft, itself rendered pointless by the tournament, to the total absence of live scoring throughout the first day, this was a grim exhibition which started badly and got worse.
One player who has seen it all in the game is Gary Player, with the 86-year-old never afraid to voice his thoughts and views on the matter in hand. To begin with, Player couldn’t understand why the two organisations were battling each other.
Despite the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson leaping to the LIV Golf Series, the PGA Tour still holds the trump cards regarding players inside the top 50.
As the first shot was hit at Centurion, Jay Monahan, Commissioner of the PGA Tour, sent out a scathing letter which banned all players(opens in new tab) who are teeing it up in the LIV Golf Invitational Series and those who play in future events.
With the 122nd US Open begins on Thursday The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. With a number of LIV golfers in the field, it will interesting to see the eyeballs from the other Pro’s. We can’t wait for a tense and exciting tournament.
My Goat Sports 