The long-term future of LIV Golf remains precarious but if the first plan for the inaugural season was to cause maximum disruption, the venture was entitled to celebrate a roaring early success.
2022 saw the golfing establishment rocked to its core due to the emergence of the contentious breakaway series that has caused a fierce civil war to erupt within the men's professional game.
LIV, fronted by chief firebrand Greg Norman and backed to the tune of $2billion by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, have vowed to shake up the landscape of a sport that has seen little structural change in the past 50 years.
The shotgun start, 54-hole, 48-man invitational events with a team format were designed to engage and captivate a new audience of golf fans. "Golf But Louder", they promised.
And while the new product on offer has hardly proved an emphatic immediate hit, the mayhem the series has caused is still reverberating around the golfing world. Big-name players including Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka all went back on their word and ditched the PGA Tour for the controversial enterprise last summer.
More major champions were added to a burgeoning roster throughout an eight-event season as Cam Smith defected to the series just days after winning the Open Championship and Henrik Stenson gave up the honour of captaining Europe at the Ryder Cup to make the switch.
The LIV renegades were largely condemned for surrendering their competitive relevance for an invitational series lacking any real jeopardy, as well as Official World Golf Ranking status. Players were also accused by Amnesty International among other groups of becoming willing pawns in a Saudi sportswashing regime as they pocketed millions from a Kingdom with a disturbing record of human rights violations.
But LIV's aggressive model of poaching blockbuster names proved a serious threat to the PGA Tour, who have since responded with lucrative changes of their own to stop more elite players leaving the American circuit. An "Earnings Assurance Program" now guarantees PGA Tour graduates £415,000 per-year, while a host of elevated events with boosted prize money promises regular star-studded fields.
And LIV Golf now know what they are up against ahead of an expanded 14-event calendar that could define whether the venture truly has a place within the golfing ecosystem.
Behind the scenes, however, there are already symptoms of second-season syndrome with the unforeseen exits of influential figures dealing LIV a major blow. Kingpin Majed Al Sorour - the tour's director - stood down and eyebrows were raised when CEO Norman also saw his chief operating offer Atul Kholsa depart before the 2023 season.
But there was still unwavering optimism despite the obvious halt in momentum as Norman announced his roster before the season opener at Mayakoba in Mexico on Friday.
Thomas Pieters has proved LIV's only real marquee signing in the off-season, with recruits like Mito Pereira and Sebastian Munoz hardly the game-changers envisioned when former COO Kholsa confirmed he was chasing a host of elite stars last year.
The 12 four-man teams are locked in for the new campaign as LIV push their unique selling point that they believe can breathe life into golf. The LIV website now has a 'team finder' tool which fans can use to determine their allegiances.
Curious browsers are encouraged to choose their favourite clubhouse sandwich and music genre in an unusual questionnaire which works out the most suitable team to back, with unconventional names including the 'Range Goats', 'Crushers' and 'Fireballs'.
Cynics will no doubt brush off the concept aiming to attract new fans to the sport as cringeworthy and a new TV advert featuring team captains makes for difficult viewing. But LIV bosses genuinely believe that there is huge growth potential in making golf a team-centric sport and think the idea will eventually prove alluring for young audiences.
The emphasis on the team format is evident in the prize money, which has been raised by 63 percent for the 14 worldwide tournaments. Each event will see team winners sharing a purse of £2.5million, while the winning team at the season closing Team Championship in Jeddah will take home £3.3m each.
But what is most concerning for LIV bosses as they continue to dish out the millions is getting eyeballs on the events their players are actually competing in. The announcement of a first commercial sponsor in US logistics company Easy Post represents a significant step in gaining validation, but the only TV broadcasters showing the action live is American channel CW - which has been derided as UK's answer to Dave.
There is currently no TV deal in the UK, and Norman is relying on audiences outside of the US to stream his events on a new LIV Golf Plus app and website. LIV still needs to expand its global reach and quickly convince fans that theirs is a product worth tuning into.
That may be an uphill battle, but the insurgent Norman and his boundless financial backers have already proved they will not be perturbed by the doubters.
