Former Vol Caleb Surratt wins team event in professional debut.
The 2024 LIV Golf season started Friday at El Camaleón Golf Course in Mayakoba, Mexico.
The three-round event concluded on Sunday.
Former Vol Caleb Surratt made his professional debut in Mayakoba. He finished tied for 13th (-5) place.
Joaquin Niemann (-12) defeated Sergio Garcia in a four-hole playoff to win the individual competition.
Surratt is also part of Legion XIII. He is teammates with Jon Rahm (captain), Tyrrell Hatton and Kieran Vincent. Legion XIII (-24) won the team competition by four strokes.
LIV Golf consists of 12 teams, 48 players, 14 events, zero cuts and with shotgun starts.
Each stroke counts for the individual event. A winner is the player with the lowest total amount of shots after 54 holes.
The team event consists of scores for each team’s top three players, for the round count, toward the team’s total score. The team with a cumulative low score following three rounds is the team champion for the event.
During the first two days of each event, only the top three players’ scores count towards their team’s round. On the third day of an event, all four players’ scores count. The top eight teams earn points in team standings.
Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII won the team title in their first event.
Despite a two-stroke penalty and a marathon playoff, Joaquin Niemann is a LIV Golf champion.
The 25-year-old from Chile went wire-to-wire to claim his first win on the Saudi-backed circuit at the league’s 2024 opener at Mayakoba’s El Camaleon Golf Course in Mexico following a four-hole playoff in the dark against Sergio Garcia on Sunday. Niemann, who shot a blistering 12-under 59 in the first round, made one final clutch to seal the deal for his first win since joining the league.
“Yeah, it was a lot of different days,” Niemann said. “I think it gave me more energy to go out and fight and prove myself that it’s not going to bother me. I’m pretty happy that the day ended up this way, especially how the morning started. I think dinner is going to taste a little bit better than breakfast.”
Few players have played more than Niemann in recent months as the Torque GC captain has attempted to raise his Official World Golf Ranking (No. 66) in order to gain access to the major championships in 2024. Niemann finished fifth at the Australian PGA Championship and then won the Australian Open at the tail end of 2023 before a T-4 finish at last month’s Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour.
“It’s hard to tell, especially in this game which is hard,” Niemann, who earned $4 million for the win, said of his expectations entering the week. “But yeah, I was playing great. I was being really confident on the golf course and hitting my shots. I was more excited than anything to start the season, to start playing on LIV and start playing for my teammates. I was just excited to get started.”
The newly formed expansion team Legion XIII, captained by Jon Rahm, won the team title by four shots at 24 under, followed by 2023 team champions Crushers GC (20 under) and Niemann’s Torque GC (17 under). Rahm also finished T-3 on the individual leaderboard at 10 under alongside Stinger GC’s Dean Burmester.
“It’s very nice in a day in which in any normal tournament I probably would have been upset at my finish to actually have something to celebrate,” said Rahm, “and that is one of the big reasons why I decided to transition, to share the stage with those three guys, to share the golf course with all the other teams and compete for something else is what it’s all about. It means a lot.”
“We all come out here pretty much as rookies,” Rahm added. “I know (Kieran Vincent) played one or two rounds for Team Smash last year, and he knew a little bit about what to expect, but three of us didn’t. For us to do what we did and perform and get the win, I’m glad that we proved it to ourselves and everybody that we’re a team to reckon with.”
LIV Golf: Former Vol Caleb Surratt’s second-round results at Mayakoba
The 2024 LIV Golf season started Friday at El Camaleón Golf Course in Mayakoba, Mexico.
The three-round event will conclude on Sunday.
Former Vol Caleb Surratt (-1) is tied for 19th place after round two. Joaquin Niemann (-13) is leading entering the final round.
Surratt is also part of Legion XIII. He is teammates with Jon Rahm (captain), Tyrrell Hatton and Kieran Vincent. Legion XIII is in second place (-10) after the first-round, while Torque GC is in first (-15).
LIV Golf consists of 12 teams, 48 players, 14 events, zero cuts and with shotgun starts.
Each stroke counts for the individual event. A winner is the player with the lowest total amount of shots after 54 holes.
The team event consists of scores for each team’s top three players, for the round count, toward the team’s total score. The team with a cumulative low score following three rounds is the team champion for the event.
During the first two days of each event, only the top three players’ scores count towards their team’s round. On the third day of an event, all four players’ scores count. The top eight teams earn points in team standings.
Former Vol Caleb Surratt makes professional debut in LIV Golf at Mayakoba.
The 2024 LIV Golf season started Friday at El Camaleón Golf Course in Mayakoba, Mexico.
Former Vol Caleb Surratt made his professional debut. He is tied for 26th place (E) after the first-round. Joaquin Niemann (-12) is leading after the first day of the three-round event.
Surratt is also part of Legion XIII. He is teammates with Jon Rahm (captain), Tyrrell Hatton and Kieran Vincent. Legion XIII is tied for seventh place (-4) after the first-round, while Torque GC is in first (-13).
LIV Golf consists of 12 teams, 48 players, 14 events, zero cuts and with shotgun starts.
Each stroke counts for the individual event. A winner is the player with the lowest total amount of shots after 54 holes.
The team event consists of scores for each team’s top three players, for the round count, toward the team’s total score. The team with a cumulative low score following three rounds is the team champion for the event.
During the first two days of each event, only the top three players’ scores count towards their team’s round. On the third day of an event, all four players’ scores count. The top eight teams earn points in team standings.
“It was nice to get off the jump, just get going and play good golf,” Rahm said of his 5-under debut.
PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico —Teeing it up on Mayakoba’s El Camaleón Golf Course may seem like nothing new for Jon Rahm given his three previous appearances on the Riviera Maya on the PGA Tour from 2014-2016, but the Spaniard felt the nerves on Friday as he made his LIV Golf debut.
“Yeah, I could feel the pressure, but it’s a good thing, right?” said Rahm, who fired a 5-under 66 to sit T-4 one shot behind Sergio Garcia, two shots behind Patrick Reed and a whopping seven shots behind Joaquin Niemann after his historic 12-under 59. “It’s weird; you do get to pick a song for the first tee, and I thought maybe it was going to help. If anything, it gave it a little bit more — the heartbeat went a little bit up just from hearing a song you like.”
“I’m like, I feel confident, but the added pressure that it’s one of my favorite songs,” Rahm said of Bad Bunny’s hit track, Monaco, “but it helped because I hit a great tee shot to start the day. I felt it, but after the tee shot and the second shot and making that putt, it felt like I settled in pretty nicely.”
That’s putting it lightly. Starting on the first hole alongside Cam Smith (Ripper GC) and Talor Gooch (Smash GC) Rahm birdied five of his first seven holes to storm out the gate, which normally would put him at the top of the leaderboard if it weren’t for Niemann.
“I didn’t see him early on, and then when I was 5 under and I was tied for fourth, I was like, ‘Somebody is — I was 5 under through 7, and I was third, so I was like, ‘Okay, clearly everybody is going off.’”
After the turn, Rahm added to his tally with a pair of birdies on Nos. 13 and 15 and was cruising through the back nine until he leaked a bit of oil coming in with two bad bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes.
“I feel like one of those bogeys, 17, was avoidable. 18 was just unfortunate,” he explained. “But it doesn’t take away from how good I played those first 16 holes. It was nice to get off the jump, just get going and play good golf. So far I would say it was a very successful start.”
Seven shots back is quite the mountain to climb, especially with only 36 holes left compared to the 54 that Rahm is used to. Despite the deficit, Rahm is more focused on what he didn’t do to close out his round than what Niemann did to take his lead.
Captain Jon Rahm of Legion XIII warms up in the practice area during day one of the LIV Golf Invitational – Mayakoba at El Camaleon at Mayakoba on February 02, 2024 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Photo by Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images)
“If anything I’m thinking more about that, my finish, than what Joaco did. Again, I think if the wind doesn’t pick up, we’re going to have to approach a 20-under, which again is doable,” he said. “The greens are in really good shape, and if you can put the ball in the fairway, you can give yourself chances.”
“I played a really good round today,” he added. “If I cleaned up my finish a little bit, could have been a fantastic way to finish.”
Rahm explained his first impressions of LIV as a different vibe compared to what he’s used to on Tour, but noted the music throughout the round wasn’t too different from how he plays at home – if anything the speakers on carts back in Arizona are more powerful than LIV’s, he joked. As the captain of the league’s first expansion team, Legion XIII, Rahm said earlier in the week that it was unusual to be thinking about managing his team seeing as golf is an individual sport. He then found himself watching the leaderboard on Friday to keep tabs on his teammates Tyrrell Hatton, Caleb Surratt and Kieran Vincent.
“It’s funny, the first few times I was more interested in how the team was doing than myself, which was definitely something new, and I think Cam caught me looking, he said that; it’s crazy how you might care more about the team than your individual,” Rahm explained. “Yeah, I obviously kept up. There’s three players that I want to see how they’re doing. Not their best start, but still two more days for them to show what they’re made of. Even though it’s still early; we’ve got a barely, barely turned professional player and Kieran who’s now full-time here. It could be expected to have a little bit of a difficult start.”
“But I feel like those two guys and Tyrrell at some point are going to surprise a lot of people,” he added. “Maybe not Tyrrell because he’s done it so many times, but those two guys might play a level of golf that I know they can play but that a lot of people haven’t seen.”
Legion XIII is 4 under as a team and currently sits T-7 alongside Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC entering Saturday’s second round.
In a letter obtained by Golfweek sent just days before the start of the 2024 LIV Golf League season at Mayakoba’s El Camaleon Golf Course in Mexico, Norman wrote to his staff to not just hype up LIV Golf’s third official season, but to also downplay any negative impact the SSG investment may have on LIV’s future.
An excerpt from the letter:
As you may have seen, the PGA Tour made an announcement this morning about an investment partner. Let me make one thing very clear: nothing announced by other tours or investment groups changes LIV Golf’s positive trajectory or future plans.
We started LIV Golf with the goal of creating something new, taking the game to a global, diverse audience and driving innovation while growing golf’s fanbase. More investment in golf is a great thing for the game and for us. It’s a positive development for our players, our fans, and for the long-term future of the game.
Golf is now viewed as an asset class. We proved this was possible and are now in a unique position to mold and drive this incredible growth opportunity. This broader interest and commitment to the game, and investment in its future, would not have happened without the emergence of LIV Golf as an innovative force in the golf ecosystem.
Norman said the league was “moving full steam ahead” into 2024 and beyond and that he has “never been more confident in the league, the people involved, and our supporters all over the world.”
Just seven months ago the Tour announced a framework agreement with the DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to create what we now know today as PGA Tour Enterprises. The Tour confirmed in a release on Wednesday that progress has been made in ongoing negotiations with the PIF, LIV Golf’s financial backers, on a potential future investment. That same release also stated that PGA Tour Enterprises allows for a co-investment from the PIF in the future, “subject to all necessary regulatory approvals.”
The previous deadline of Dec. 31, 2023, to come to an agreement was missed, but both sides have ventured on. The PGA Tour now has more money to spend and LIV has new assets in former Tour players like Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. As Norman would say, onward they go.
Just seven months ago the Tour announced a framework agreement with the DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to create what we now know today as PGA Tour Enterprises. The Tour confirmed in a release on Wednesday that progress has been made in ongoing negotiations with the PIF on a potential future investment. That same release also stated that PGA Tour Enterprises allows for a co-investment from the PIF in the future, “subject to all necessary regulatory approvals.” In the original framework agreement, the PIF would’ve had the right of first refusal to any outside money if a deal was passed by the original deadline on Dec. 31, 2023 deadline.
A lot can change in seven months.
Given the PIF’s role as the financiers of LIV Golf, players were asked ahead of the 2024 season opener at Mayakoba’s El Camaleon Golf Course in Mexico about the new deal and their confidence level that the PIF would eventually join the PGA Tour Enterprises party, but even the always outspoken Bryson DeChambeau didn’t have much of any real substance to say.
“Look, I don’t know exactly how it’s all going to shake out, when it’s all said and done. I don’t know what it really means for the PIF’s position in it,” he said of the SSG investment. “What I can say is that any investment into the game of golf is gigantic, especially on their side.”
“You’re just going to see both entities continue to grow, and I hope at some point we’ll come back together. It needs to happen,” DeChambeau added. “I hope people can just put down their weapons and come to the table and figure it out because that’s what’s good for the game of golf and for fans in general. But like I said, any additional capital going into the game of golf is always positive. I’ve always said that.
“It may not be exactly what we all think it should be,” he continued, “but as time goes on, I think things will settle down in a positive way for both.”
“Yeah, that was really in the back of my mind, like really far back in my mind,” said LIV’s newest member Jon Rahm, who joked he was more worried about filling his roster for the 2024 season opener this week. “There’s a lot bigger people that are a lot smarter than me that are going to be worrying about that that actually have a say in it, and they should be thinking about it. I think we’re here to play golf, perform, and whatever comes, comes.”
“I appreciate the sentiment that he is providing out to the public now. I think his words are from a much more neutral position as the likes of us over here at LIV have been since day one,” said DeChambeau, who was the last player to remove his name from the initial lawsuit against the PGA Tour. “I think it’s positive, what he’s saying now, and I appreciate that.”
“I’ve spoken to Rory a bit in the past week and back in December. That’s kind of along the lines of what he said to me. It’s not a surprise to hear him say that in the media,” added Tyrrell Hatton, who joined Rahm’s Legion XIII team. “Ultimately, I would like to still be able to play events on the other two tours. But we’ll see how all that works out.”
A three-time teammate of both McIlroy and Hatton in the Ryder Cup, Rahm echoed what Hatton had to say.
“I haven’t spoken to him a lot recently. But he might have had a change in thought process, as in maybe with some of the things he said in the past,” Rahm said. “I think he might be seeing that the landscape of golf is changing and at some point you need to evolve. So I think he might be seeing that, and everybody is entitled to their opinion, but it’s nice to have the support from a player the caliber of Rory, especially those Ryder Cup remarks he made early on. I think that’s an important statement for change to be said.”
While both sides of the professional golf aisle believe the game will be better when it’s united, they don’t seem to agree or even know how to get there. The SSG investment was a step forward for the Tour, and only time will tell if the PIF can get on equal footing.
More people watched LIV Golf’s opening event than previously thought, according to the circuit.
The Sports Business Journal shared the estimated LIV Golf Mayakoba and PGA Tour Honda Classic viewership from last weekend, and the early reports didn’t paint a pretty picture for the rival circuit.
On Friday morning, LIV Golf shared some new numbers that tell a different story.
Using iSpot, a TV ad measurement and analytics company, as well as CW and LIV Golf internal data, the upstart circuit financially supported by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund reported an audience of 3.2 million viewers across all linear and digital platforms for its season-opening event in Mexico. With its new TV deal, LIV airs in every U.S. market via CW affiliates and Nexstar stations and reported 1.6 million viewers on Saturday and 1.3 million viewers on Sunday.
LIV’s report also stated an average linear viewership domestically in the United States of more than 537,000, which it claims is more than the current season viewership average of the MLS (343,000), NHL (373,000) and the 2023 Australian Open men’s tennis final (439,000).
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It’s easy to make jokes about some of the programming on the CW, but LIV airing in every U.S. market was key for its development in 2023. If accurate, the reported numbers are another step forward, but let’s not forget this was LIV’s first event of the season, not to mention it compared its viewership to the season averages of three of the least-watched major sports in America.
That said, according to Nielsen, the CW’s weekend primetime national ratings were up 24 percent compared to the network’s weekend season-to-date average. With Friday’s opening round only available via live stream, LIV reported a 40 percent month-to-month increase in downloads of the CW app, as well as 350,000 views over its new app, LIV Golf Plus.
Long story short, more people reportedly watched the opening event than previously thought. Now LIV needs to keep them watching.
Howell made six LIV starts in 2022 and earned $2.9 million. After the win he’ll take home $4 million.
Charles Howell III arrived in Mexico with his family a few days early before the start of this week’s 2023 LIV Golf League season opener.
After his week on the Riviera Maya he may want to buy some property.
The 43-year-old cruised to victory Sunday at LIV Golf Mayakoba at El Camaleon Golf Course after a bogey-free, 8-under 63 in the final round, four shots ahead of Peter Uihlein in second at 12 under. Branden Grace finished third at 10 under.
On the team side, Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC took the win at 26 under, nine shots clear of last year’s champion 4 Aces GC, captained by Dustin Johnson. Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC struggled on Sunday but still managed to finish on the podium in third at 13 under. The Crushers earned $3 million, while the Aces will take home $1.5 million and Torque $500,000.
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Check out some of the best photos from the LIV Golf League stop at Mayakoba.
The LIV Golf League has returned for its second season. The circuit led by Greg Norman and financially backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is in Mexico this week at Mayakoba — a course formerly used by the PGA Tour.
Dustin Johnson, who won LIV’s season-long individual championship last season, and Cameron Smith, the reigning Champion Golfer of the Year, highlight the 48 players in the field.
LIV Golf struck a deal with the CW Network early this year, pushing their broadcast off of YouTube and onto television.
Check out some of the best photos from the LIV Golf League stop at Mayakoba below.
