Tag: LIV

LIV Golf COO Atul Khosla addresses lack of OWGR points, provides update on TV deal during Miami finale

Previous actions have shown LIV will do whatever it takes to get what it wants.

DORAL, Fla. — Two of the biggest challenges still facing LIV Golf are the lack of Official World Golf Ranking points at events, as well as the lack of a TV partner in the United States.

In a meeting with select members of the media at Trump National Doral – host of this week’s $50 million LIV Golf Team Championship – LIV’s chief operating officer Atul Khosla addressed both hurdles facing the upstart circuit led by Greg Norman and supported by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

LIV is looking at its TV broadcast in two separate bits: domestically in the U.S. and internationally.

“On the U.S. front, we are back and forth with a few different networks at this point in time,” said Khosla Saturday morning ahead of the afternoon’s semifinal matches. “Step one was to show them the product, which they want to clearly understand, show them the graphics and how it’d be very different.”

Opinion: As LIV Golf’s season winds down, the propaganda war begins

Khosla said step two has been to clear the time on air. Over the last month, LIV has been in communication “with a variety of outlets” to talk about where events could land on the schedule, what golf courses may work, etc.

“We are now at that place where we’ve been able to clear time on a handful of networks that need set times to be cleared,” added Khosla. “So we’ve gone through that exercise now. Now we’re at the stage, ‘Okay, those are all things that could work, interest in both parties, let’s figure out what the commercial arrangements could look like.’”

Khosla is happy with where LIV currently stands in the process for securing U.S. rights for 2023, when the series transitions to the 14-event LIV Golf League, but also knows there’s plenty of work still to be done.

Last month, Golfweek reported LIV Golf was nearing a deal to purchase air time for its tournaments with Fox Sports 1. The yet-to-be-finalized deal would have LIV pay for not only the time slot, but also the production cost.

LIV called the report “incomplete and inaccurate” at the time, but when specifically asked if LIV would be open to paying for tournaments to be aired, Khosla didn’t reject the idea.

“Yeah, we’re going into it in the rights conversation that we think we are providing an incredible commercial product. We understand that these are not six month deals and one year deals. If a TV network is getting behind it, they’re gonna get behind it for multiple years, and that’s what we really want as well, to build a product on air and drive behavior,” said Khosla. “So we’ll work through what the final arrangements are.”

More: Mickelson looks to future after turbulent first year with LIV Golf

Internationally, LIV currently has 20 international partners to broadcast events in 160 different countries and is in discussions for 2023, as well. LIV officials aren’t the only people involved in the process, either.

“We’re also really using the players for (broadcast discussions), they’ve been awesome,” explained Khosla. “So depending on the part of the world where the player is from, they’ve actually been on the calls with us with the TV networks, talking about the model and explaining why this would be amazing. Which has been actually fantastic to see and we’re grateful for their support.”

As for OWGR points, it was the same song at a different party. LIV formed a strategic alliance with the MENA Tour to try and force its way to receiving points, and like the many players who have spoken out on the subject – Patrick Reed, Graeme McDowell, and Bryson DeChambeau to name a few – Khosla was in tune.

“I think from our end, we believe we deserve the points. Clearly with our strategic alliance with the MENA Tour, we absolutely deserve those points,” he explained. “Can’t control who’s on the board and who’s conflicted, who votes on the board, I don’t know if there’s a mislead there, but that’s pretty clearly obvious at this point that there are divisions on the board that are conflicted in voting for us to get points.”

Khosla is, of course, referring to OWGR board members such as PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley, USGA CEO Mike Whan, R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers, PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh and Augusta National Golf Club executive director Will Jones.

It’s unclear whether either of LIV’s problems will be solved by February 2023 when the new league format is expected to start, but moves like paying for airtime and aligning with a developmental tour show the circuit will do whatever it takes to get what it wants.

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R&A CEO on LIV Golf members and the Open: ‘We’re not banning anyone. We are not going to betray 150 years of history and have the Open not be open’

“If the game is not played with high value and respect, I have no chance to grow the game.”

The 151st Open Championship is in 264 days. We’re a long way from the opening tee shot at Royal Liverpool, a venue last visited in 2014 where now world No. 1 Rory McIlroy captured his Claret Jug.

However, we won’t have to wait that long to hear the R&A’s plans for LIV Golf members.

Back in July, R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said they had no plans to ban LIV players saying: “Let me be very clear. That’s not on our agenda.”

Fast forward three months and his message remains the same.

“We’ll go public in January/February with what we are going to do with regard to LIV golfers. But if you want a guide, go back to what I said in July. We’re not banning anyone. We are not going to betray 150 years of history and have the Open not be open,” Slumbers told Golf Digest this week at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship hosted by the R&A, the Asia-Pacific Golf Federation and the Masters.

“What we will do is ensure that there are appropriate pathways and ways to qualify. I’m looking forward to seeing Cam Smith tee up around 9:40 a.m. on the first day of the Open next year. The Open needs to set itself aside from what’s going in terms of disagreements and make sure we stay true to our principle, which is to have the best players in the world competing.”

2022 Open Championship
Martin Slumbers, the CEO of The R&A and Secretary of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, speaks to the media during his pre-tournament news conference ahead of the 150th Open at St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland. (Photo: David Cannon/Getty Images)

Smith, the current Champion Golfer of the Year, is now a member of the Greg Norman-led circuit backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.

At St. Andrews earlier this year, Norman was excluded from the Champions Challenge and Champions dinner.

“With everything that was going on, it was clear to me that there was a reason why he wanted to be there this year,” Slumbers said. “If he had been there, it would have been about noise. The Open has to be distinct from all that. I didn’t want to have noise between two rival tours and two big personalities. It would have overshadowed what was happening that week.

“I wanted the 150th Open to be special and perfect. I didn’t want other issues going on around it, ones that would have undermined it in the eyes of the public. I was very polite and very deferential to Greg. I asked him to understand my perspective. And I did so privately. I did not make it public. I never said anything and never commented on it.

“That week was supposed to be about the first event in our game’s history reaching its 150th playing. On arguably the greatest course in the world. I was never going to lose focus on that.”

In regards to our fractured game, Slumbers understands the consequences of splitting the talent pool.

“To me, this is not about ‘them and us.’ I have no issue with the players. People play for a living. I note that Saudi Arabia wants to invest a lot of money in the game I love and care about,” he said. “That’s a good thing. But I want to preserve the pathways and meritocracy on which our game is built. Sport without that isn’t sport. So I want to make sure we have the best players competing week in and week out.

“If the game is not played with high value and respect, I have no chance to grow the game. Maybe the consequence of where we are is that we only get to see all of the very best players together four times a year. So we’ll enjoy it four times a year.”

Looking ahead to 2023, just to make you feel a bit better about how far we are from meaningful golf, the Masters begins in 158 days.

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‘A lot of stuff is going to happen’: Phil Mickelson looks to the future after turbulent first year with LIV Golf comes to a close

Eternally an optimist, Mickelson spoke about LIV Golf’s future after losing to Cameron Smith in Miami.

DORAL, Fla. – One of the fan favorites at the LIV Golf Team Championship in Miami is heading home early.

Phil Mickelson lost to Cameron Smith on the final hole on Friday to seal the deal for his team’s defeat to the Aussie’s Punch GC in the quarterfinals of the Saudi Arabia-backed series’ $50 million finale, putting to bed a turbulent year for the six-time major champion.

After becoming the oldest major champion in history in 2021 at the PGA Championship, Lefty continued to dominate golf headlines in 2022, but for all the wrong reasons. First, in February, he said the PGA Tour was obnoxiously greedy, and then he told the Fire Pit Collective’s Alan Shipnuck – who wrote a book on Mickelson – that the Saudis were “scary mother(expletive) to get involved with,” and downplayed the murder of Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi and the Kingdom’s deplorable human rights record because he saw a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.” The ensuing backlash forced Mickelson into a self-imposed four-month hiatus before he returned to the game at LIV’s first event outside London.

From there Mickelson struggled to find form in the 48-player, 54-hole, no cut LIV events, finishing inside the top 20 just twice (in two of his last three events), with finishes of T-33 or worse in his other five starts. He also missed the cut at both the U.S. Open and British Open.

“I’m in the majors for the next three years, so I hadn’t really planned on playing this year and I had to reprogram my mindset to get out here. I didn’t play well starting out,” explained Mickelson. “I’m starting to start to play some pretty good golf, so heading into this offseason, I’m gonna put in a little bit of work and see if I can make a nice run the next couple of years and play a level that I know I can. I’m starting to start play a lot better.”

Eternally an optimist, Mickelson looked to the future after Thursday’s round and praised how far the upstart circuit had come over the last eight months since his incendiary comments.

“I’m pretty surprised at how far LIV has come because there was a lot of uncertainty, like who would play in London. You look at the strength of the league now and you have a lot of really strong players and you have a lot of really strong characters in the game,” said Mickelson. “Whether you love them or hate them, there’s a lot of guys here that people want to see.”

The 52-year-old also couldn’t help but mention a desire for more LIV events to go international next season when the series transitions to the 14-event LIV Golf League, going as far as saying, “We’re having a lot of current tournaments on multiple tours coming to us wanting a LIV event.” Does that mean a bridge could be built to cover the widening gap between LIV and the PGA and DP World tours? Time will tell.

“I’m not sure about that. I’m not sure where all that should go or could go or might go. I think there’s a lot of possibilities and I’m not sure how it’ll play out,” said Mickelson. “I just know that in the next, over the course of the next year, a lot of stuff is going to happen, and things will kind of iron themselves out.”

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‘He seemed to take forever today’: Cameron Smith defeated Phil Mickelson in best match of LIV Golf Miami quarterfinals despite ‘gamesmanship’ from Lefty

“I think we were three or four holes behind, so that was a bit painful,” said Smith.

DORAL, Fla. — Despite 12 matches simultaneously on the course – eight singles and four foursomes – Friday’s quarterfinal round of the LIV Golf Team Championship left something to be desired.

The day’s marquee match featuring fan-favorite Phil Mickelson and world No. 3 Cameron Smith sported the biggest crowd around Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster and offered the best finish, too.

There’s a difference between a good match and a close match, and this was closer to the latter than former. Starting on No. 9 thanks to LIV’s signature shotgun start format, Smith shot 3 under and Mickelson shot 2 under (with match-play concessions), but neither player made the timely putts to pull away until the par-5 8th, their final hole of the day.

“We both struck the ball good,” said Smith of the match. “I probably didn’t hole as many putts as I’d like, but I was able to get the job done there on the last hole.”

One of just two matches to make it to the final hole, Smith bested Mickelson with a birdie after the veteran barely missed the fairway off the tee and then found a greenside bunker from the rough.

“I’ve been playing pretty good and felt like my game could match up and for the most part we played okay,” said Mickelson after the round, “but we both shot a few under par but not enough to — I felt I needed to shoot 66 or 67 to win this match and didn’t birdie any last seven holes, and that kind of hurt.

“I don’t understand how I missed the fairway (on 18) and that really hurt because I didn’t have a chance to get after the green and make an easy four and a chance at eagle,” he continued. “I had a lie that I had to be a little careful with, make sure I missed it right and try to make my four that way. It’s tough to do against somebody as good as Cameron.”

“Yeah, it was a good match,” added Smith. “I think Phil maybe had some gamesmanship in there a little bit. He seemed to take forever today. I think we were three or four holes behind, so that was a bit painful. But other than that, it was good.”

A pair of 5-and-3 victories tied for the biggest margins of defeat on the day. Peter Uihlein took down James Piot, same with Joaquin Niemann over Shergo Al Kurdi, the replacement for Cleeks GC captain Martin Kaymer, who was forced to withdraw form this week’s event with a wrist injury.

Mickelson’s Hy Flyers were one of four teams eliminated from the $50 million finale, as well as Niemann’s Torque GC, Kevin Na and the Iron Heads and Bubba Watson’s Niblicks. Harold Varner III, who went out first for the Niblicks in place of the injured Watson, took down Smash GC captain Brooks Koepka, 4 and 3.

“I think I would have beat a lot of people. It was good. You’ve just got to take care of what you can take care of,” said Varner of his win. “It just sucks we didn’t make it as a team. I don’t really have much to say because winning isn’t winning if you’re going home.”

The event continues with the semifinals Saturday at 12:15 p.m. ET on YouTube. Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces GC will take on the Cleeks, Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC will play Punch GC, with Koepka’s Smash against Ian Poulter’s Majesticks GC and Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC against Louis Oosthuizen’s Stinger GC.

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Brooks Koepka praises reunion with swing instructor Claude Harmon III as main reason for his run of form with LIV Golf

Harmon thinks Koepka is hitting the ball like its 2019 all over again, and Koepka agrees.

DORAL, Fla. — Brooks Koepka played his morning pro-am ahead of the LIV Golf Team Championship in Miami with former President of the United States Donald Trump on Thursday. But don’t get it twisted, despite playing with the club’s namesake at Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster, the four-time major champion didn’t get any helpful info to take back to his Smash GC teammates.

“He didn’t give me any tips. He’s not gonna give me any tips. He didn’t want me to beat him,” Koepka said of his round alongside the former president with a smile. “We had a great time. It’s always fun playing with him.”

Not that Koepka needs the help, anyways. Sure, he struggled early after joining the upstart circuit led by Greg Norman and backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, with finishes of T-16, T-11, T-26 and T-21 over his first four starts in the 48-player, no cut events. But when the series took the show to Bangkok, the old Koepka appeared on the course. The 32-year-old finished T-8 at the event in Thailand before winning the next week at the regular-season finale in Saudi Arabia via a three-hole playoff with teammate Peter Uihlein.

After splitting with longtime swing instructor Claude Harmon III, who began working with Koepka in 2013 when he was playing on the European Challenge Tour, two years ago following the November 2020 Masters, the pair are working together once again. Harmon told Golf Magazine he thinks Koepka is hitting the ball like its 2019 all over again, and Koepka agrees.

“I think we’ve seen it coming for a couple weeks,” Koepka said. “I think it was when we were in Bedminster, I called (Harmon) and he was on the range on Friday or Saturday. I started working with him there and it’s been, if we’re home four or five days a week I’ve just been bugging him to see if he’ll work with me every day. It’s come along really nicely. I’m very pleased. Very happy.”

“I’m just happy to be back,” Koepka continued. “There was always a question mark of, ‘Am I gonna be the same player?’ just because of all the injuries and all the different things. You start questioning whether you can do it and all of a sudden, it’s like all the pieces are starting to come back. Then you go out and win and it’s like, ‘Okay, I’ve still got the mental side of it. I’ve still got the physical side of it.’ So just put them all together every week and I’m just very happy.”

After this week’s event in Miami, the series will be on a break until it transitions into the LIV Golf League in 2023, with events likely to begin in February.

“Honestly, just keep doing the same thing I’ve been doing,” Koepka said of the four-month offseason, noting how he wants to get back in the gym. “But just keep playing golf. I think that’s one of the big things, I’ve been working with Claude and I’m very pleased and I don’t want it to get out of whack and just return to where it was.”

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Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed lead LIV Golf’s list of top prize money earners in its debut regular season

Of the 68 players to tee it up, 48 players made more than $1 million, with 15 making more than $4 million.

DORAL, Fla. — With $4 million going to the winner and $120,000 going to last place at each event, players were bound to make a ridiculous amount of money in LIV Golf’s first year. And they did.

Of the 68 players to tee it up on the upstart circuit led by Greg Norman and backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, a whopping 48 players made more than $1 million, with 15 making more than $4 million, including Pat Perez, who earned $961,000 for his individual performances and $3,062,500 for team bonuses. Dustin Johnson, LIV’s inaugural regular-season champion and the captain of Perez and the 4Aces, blew away the field thanks to $10,575,267 in individual earnings for a $13,637,767 total.

This week, LIV Golf will host its team championship event at Trump National Doral in Miami, where teams will make at minimum $1 million ($250,000 per player). If a team advances to the semifinals, they’ll earn $3 million ($750,000 per player), with $4 million going to fourth place ($1 million per player), $6 million to third ($1.5 million per player), $8 million to the runner up ($2 million per player) and $16 million to the winners ($4 million per player).

Here’s how much money each player earned on the course in LIV Golf’s first regular season.

LIV Golf: Caddies may not be too excited about the change the Saudi-backed series made for its team championship

First the shorts, now rangefinders.

The first LIV Golf Series season comes to a close this week in Miami, Florida, at the circuit’s team championship.

Trump National Doral will host and the Saudi-backed league has announced another change to the format.

Earlier this year, Greg Norman posted to social media that LIV would allow their players to wear shorts during competitive rounds. This change was just another aspect LIV introduced to distance themselves from the PGA Tour — 54-hole events, no cut, shotgun starts.

Now, rangefinders will also be allowed.

On Tuesday, LIV Golf took to Twitter to announce that distance measuring devices during rounds will now be excepted, although elevation change calculation (slope reading) will be prohibited.

In 2021, rangefinders were allowed during the PGA Championship.

If you’re unfamiliar with how the LIV team championship will work, read up on it here.

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Majed Al Sorour, CEO of Saudi Golf, on if majors won’t allow LIV players: ‘I will celebrate. I will create my own majors for my players’

“For now, the majors are siding with the Tour, and I don’t know why.”

Two weeks ago, LIV Golf formed a ‘strategic alliance’ with the MENA Tour in an effort to expedite the qualification process of earning Official World Golf Ranking points for its members.

Many LIV players have plunged so far down the rankings they now sit in a position where they no longer qualify for major championships.

Majed Al Sorour, the CEO of Saudi Golf, spoke with The New Yorker about the game’s biggest events potentially not allowing LIV members to play.

“For now, the majors are siding with the (PGA) Tour, and I don’t know why. If the majors decide not to have our players play? I will celebrate. I will create my own majors for my players,” he said.

(L-R) Managing Director of LIV Golf Majed Al Sorour and Greg Norman, LIV commissioner acknowledge the crowd during the award presentation ceremony after the LIV Portland event at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)

A day after LIV’s alliance with MENA was announced, the OWGR released a statement saying the LIV stops in Bangkok and Jeddah would not receive points and “a review of the changes to the MENA Tour is now underway by the OWGR.”

“Notice of these changes given by the MENA Tour is insufficient to allow OWGR to conduct the customary necessary review ahead of the LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok (October 7-9) and LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah (October 14-16),” the statement read.

Several LIV members are currently qualified for the 2023 Masters, the year’s first major, including Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith.

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Kevin Na withdrew from LIV Golf Jeddah midway through the second round

Kevin Na opened the event Friday with an even-par 70.

Kevin Na hasn’t had much success on the golf course since leaving the PGA Tour behind and joining the LIV Golf Series.

In five starts before this week’s Jeddah event, Na totaled zero top-10 finishes and three outside the top 30.

During the second round in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, the 39-year-old withdrew from the event. He’s dealing with a sickness that reportedly began last week in Bangkok. Na opened the event with an even-par 70 on Friday.

In two weeks, LIV Golf makes its return to the United States for the team championship in Miami at Trump National Doral.

Na’s Iron Heads GC currently ranks No. 7 in the team standings. In Jeddah, they’re tied for 10th after the second round.

Peter Uihlein leads Brooks Koepka by one shot with 18 holes to play.

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Peter Uihlein chases down Brooks Koepka to lead LIV Golf Jeddah by one heading into final round

Seven birdies, an eagle and a double added up to a 7-under 63 for Uihlein.

Brooks Koepka didn’t have a poor Saturday. The 32-year-old shot a second-round 3-under 67 and now has a chance to win on Sunday for his first LIV Golf title.

But Peter Uihlein had himself a day.

The Oklahoma State product chased Koepka down Saturday with a 7-under 63 and holds a one-shot lead at 12 under with 18 holes to play. Uihlein finished fourth in London at LIV Golf’s debut and was the runner-up to Cameron Smith in Chicago.

Charl Schwartzel and Sergio Garcia are tied for third at 9 under, three back. Abraham Ancer and Paul Casey round out the top five at 8 under.

LIV Jeddah: Leaderboard

The shot of the day belonged to Talor Gooch, who cashed this approach shot from a bad lie for an eagle.

Dustin Johnson is T-7 at 7 under while Cameron Smith is T-27 at 3 under.

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