Golf traditionalists aren’t having fun with seeing one of many world’s most particular person sports activities performed in a staff format on the insurgent LIV Tour.
As moist climate delayed the ultimate spherical of the PGA occasion on the iconic Pebble Seaside course, golf followers tuned into the primary LIV Golf occasion of the yr in Mayakoba, Mexico on Monday morning Australian time.
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Joaquin Niemann received a four-hole playoff in opposition to Sergio Garcia after his wayward driver bounced fortuitously off the timber again to the sting of the green.
In his first event since becoming a member of LIV for a reported $566 million, Jon Rahm was on the high of the leaderboard however completed with two bogeys to overlook out on the person victory.
Rahm’s staff Legion XIII received the general staff occasion, making for a bittersweet end result for the reigning Masters champion.
“I’m very upset in myself,” Rahm mentioned.
“Solely time I hit within the hazard all week was (gap) 17, so it’s a troublesome tablet to swallow as a result of I performed so good all week.”
The Spaniard paid tribute to his Legion XIII teammates Tyrrell Hatton, Caleb Surratt and Kieran Vincent.
“However very pleased with my staff,” Rahm mentioned.
“It was very encouraging for me once I appeared up and noticed we had a large lead.
“I’m so pleased with them, I’m pleased with everyone. This staff was simply assembled on Monday.
“We got here in and we made an impression. I feel everybody is aware of we’re a drive to be reckoned with.”
LIV hasn’t shied away from being brash since shaking up the golf world in 2022.
There aren’t any cuts within the three-day 54-hole format, there are par 3 social gathering holes galore, gamers put on shorts and music blasts across the course so loudly you may hear it by means of the TV broadcast.
LIV additionally has a ‘shotgun begin’, the place gamers tee off at completely different holes across the course to start their spherical.
The format sees every staff’s high three scores rely in rounds 1 and a couple of. All 4 gamers’ scores rely for every staff within the remaining spherical of an occasion.
The leaderboard on the TV broadcast reveals a participant’s rating in addition to their staff’s brand in a clustered graphic on the left of display.
It’s a sensory overload and the staff format has rankled many diehard golf followers who watched the occasion in Mexico.
Golf commentator Dan Rapaport tweeted: “Some ideas after watching LIV all day … They’ve clearly snagged a bunch of fantastic gamers. It’s enjoyable to observe back-nine battles between wonderful gamers. And the printed reveals a ton of golf.
“It’s not a foul watch — on mute. The music is weird, makes it really feel much less necessary, genuinely simply annoying. That apart, I loved watching it right this moment.
“However the staff factor is only a whole miss for me. I don’t care. Extra distracting than something. And that’s a giant drawback as a result of that’s what their enterprise mannequin relies on — making these groups priceless and promoting them.
“However LIV is at its greatest when it’s simply … a golf event between actually good gamers on a broadcast that reveals a number of photographs. That’s not a novel idea. It’s an attention-grabbing scenario they’re in with this staff deal.”
However others defended the staff format and mentioned it was an exciting finish to an entertaining first LIV occasion of the yr.
Cameron Smith leads LIV’s all-Australian Ripper GC staff with Lucas Herbert, Matt Jones and Marc Leishman.
The institution PGA Tour is ready to merge with LIV someday this yr after extending a deadline for an settlement with Saudi Arabian traders for 2024.
PGA boss Jay Monahan not too long ago knowledgeable gamers in regards to the deadline to approve a framework settlement merging the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Public Funding Fund (PIF) that funds the upstart LIV Golf League.
Monahan mentioned: “Whereas we had initially set a deadline of December 31, 2023, to succeed in an settlement, we’re working to increase our negotiations into subsequent yr primarily based on the progress we’ve made up to now.”
LIV chief government Greg Norman believes extra high gamers will be part of the likes of Smith, Rahm and five-time main winner Brooks Koepka and make the leap to the insurgent tour.
“There might be extra apples falling from the tree – no query about it, as a result of LIV continues to develop,” he instructed the BBC.
“It tells you the worth of what our platform is, the place these PGA Tour gamers see the chance that LIV presents.
“All the fellows that play on LIV are simply so completely happy in regards to the choice that they’ve made.
“LIV is a distinct platform to the DP World Tour or the PGA Tour and the gamers wish to do each fairly truthfully, so we’ve created one thing particular. It’s a franchise, it’s a staff mannequin and so they have embraced it 100 per cent.”