LIV Golf has reached the midway point of its 2024 season and the Saudi-backed league continues to show no signs of slowing,
As talks between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which finances LIV, continue to drag on, LIV continues to grow, adding players, as it did last offseason with Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Adrian Meronk, and growing its business side, as it has this year by adding a chief financial officer and chief marketing officer, among others.
And LIV’s chief pot stirrer, at least among the players, Phil Mickelson, continues to drop hints about more raids on the PGA Tour.
Mickelson responded to a tweet about the lack of LIV golfers in the major championships – that did not age well with the PGA of America announcing Tuesday it invited seven more to play in the PGA Championship, bringing the number to 16 – by responding: “What about next year when more great players join? Or the following year?”
Mickelson and LIV’s chief executive officer and commissioner Greg Norman made the same promise following the 2022 and 2023 seasons. It didn’t go so well two years ago, but the league made up for that last offseason by signing Rahm and Hatton.
With seven events down and seven remaining in LIV’s third season – next up Houston June 7-9 – some observations on the league that has its headquarters in West Palm Beach:
Koepka ramping up for another major
Brooks Koepka’s win last weekend at Singapore makes him the first LIV golfer with four career titles on that circuit. But the number he really cares about is five, as in his number of major championships.
The Jupiter, Florida, resident will chase his sixth major at Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky, the site of the 2024 PGA Championship. Three of his major wins are the PGA Championship, including last year at Oak Hill outside of Rochester, New York.
“Everything was really solid,” Koepka said following his win at Singapore. “I didn’t really think I made too many mistakes. It’s a great feeling when it kind of feels easy, if you get what I’m saying.
“I like the way things are trending.”
Niemann leads points race
Joaquin Niemann is carrying his strong offseason that got him invites to the Masters and PGA Championship into the LIV season.
Niemann leads the individual standings with 134.4 points. Rahm is second at 98.17. Niemann has two wins and has been in the top 10 in all but one event.
Crushers, with captain Bryson DeChambeau, Anirban Lahiri, Paul Casey and Charles Howell III, lead the team standings.
Money, money, money, money
Niemann also leads the money list thanks to those two titles that earned him $4 million each. With $10,888,000 in prize money, he leads Dean Burmester ($7,258,013) and Koepka ($6,080,500).
Niemann has earned $19.2 million in less than two years on LIV (he joined in August 2022). He made $15.1 million in prize money in 122 events on the PGA Tour dating back to his first event in 2017.
At times, Rahm misses PGA Tour
Rahm boosted LIV’s profile after leaving the PGA Tour in December. He is off to a strong start in his new league with top-10 finishes in all seven events, including twice tying for third.
And while Rahm has never mentioned regretting the decision that will net him a reported $550 million over three years including bonuses – plus prize money of which he already has topped $5 million this season – he did admit to being “emotional” when thinking about what he has given up.
Rahm said driving by TPC Scottsdale in his hometown, and knowing he is ineligible for events like the WM Phoenix Open and those in Palm Springs and at Torrey Pines in California is difficult.
Then he thinks about a half billion dollars and all that goes away.
Anthony Kim return not going well on course
Although results are the least important part of Anthony Kim joining LIV and getting his life back in order, it can’t be ignored that the one-time world No. 6 continues to struggle on the course.
Kim has played five events as a wild card and has not finished better than 50th in the 54-man fields, placing 52nd, 54th, 53rd, 50th and 52nd. Still, his combined 52-over par has earned him $260,000.
“As important as golf is, I just want to be in the right mental place,” Kim said at the LIV event at Doral. “I would get upset if I played a bad round of golf for two weeks, and it would bother me, eat at me.
“(Now) I could care less what I shot. I know that the next day, I’m going to lace up any shoes or not lace up my shoes and go try my best again.”
Gooch gets his wish
Talor Gooch enjoyed playing the martyr this season for being left out of the majors. But LIV’s 2023 individual champion finally got his wish.
Gooch announced on social media Monday he will be headed to Valhalla next week, thanking the PGA of America for the invite. The PGA of America confirmed that invite on Tuesday, along with six more LIV golfers.
LIV now has 16 golfers in the PGA Championship, three more than in the recent Masters. Next up is the U.S. Open in June at Pinehurst. Of LIV’s 46 non-exempt players for the U.S. Open, 35 are scheduled to compete in qualifying including Niemann, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed and Harold Varner III.
Gooch said he was not joining them. Perhaps he knows that may not be necessary.
Westwood fading fast
Lee Westwood, 51, is the poster child for the fading star who decided to cash in one last time by joining LIV. A former world No. 1, Westwood was one of LIV’s original golfers. He did so midway through a season (2021-22) in which he had one top-25 finish in 10 events.
Westwood is one of just three LIV golfers who have yet to earn a point this season, along with Kim and Hudson Swafford. His best finish is T-32 in LIV’s season opener at Mayakoba. Only the top 24 finishers in each event earn points. If it weren’t for Westwood being a team captain he would be in danger of facing relegation.
