The insurgent LIV Golf train has finally reached its final stop of 2022.
A turbulent oil-fuelled journey has ripped up golf beyond recognition this year and the sport has been plunged into a raging civil war divided by broken relationships, moral conflict and inordinate wealth.
LIV’s inaugural season concludes with a huge £43million at stake at Donald Trump ’s Doral resort in the Team Invitational finale in Miami on Sunday. Such eye-watering sums of money have opened the door to what once appeared a closed shop, with nearly £2billion pledged by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund to make the Gulf State a golfing pillar.
Greg Norman, LIV's commissioner and firebrand, has picked up 13 major champions, as well as some Ryder Cup heroes along the way after the Saudis offered him the chance to become the traditional ecosystem’s chief antagonist.
But the Saudi-Arabian golf disruption plan does not end in Miami and the regime that has bankrolled such an ostentatious venture has proved it is here to stay.
And after a Sunday team showdown that features four of their most storied rebels in Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka, Louis Oosthuizen and Dustin Johnson, attention will turn towards 2023 as LIV plan to grow their upstart into a more prominent force.
The centre of golf’s storm was developed in the court rooms rather than on the fairways this year and LIV’s first task for their new season is to draw eyes towards their invitational events.
To legitimise itself as a rival tour, LIV still requires support from a broadcaster after hosting their eight inaugural events on Youtube. The fledgling series sees itself as revolutionary given its unique 54-hole, shotgun start 48-player events but a product with its Saudi backers - with the state having links to human rights abuses - has not yet been risked by a mainstream platform.
However LIV president Atul Khosla is confident of a long-term TV deal that would provide the tour with a huge lift. “We think we are providing an incredible commercial product,” he told the Guardian .
“These are not six-month or one-year deals, if a TV network is getting behind this it’s for multiple years. We have got to start commercialising the product. We have got to get on TV, we have to get corporate partners. These are milestones that we need to hit.”
LIV also has ambitions to strengthen its own field, conversely damaging the PGA and DP World Tours by poaching some of their other big names. Seven new players are expected to join before the new season and the Guardian suggests that young American stars Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay have been whispered as possible targets. Thomas Pieters, a contender for Europe’s Ryder Cup team, is another potential name mooted.
The nature of LIV’s 14-event fixed calendar could define its success and a huge coup is already close. The Telegraph reports that a deal is close to being signed that will make the famous Valderrama an inviting stop-off next summer.
An event at Valderrama would be somewhat fitting for Norman given that Spaniard Adrian Otaegeui became the first LIV player to win on the DP World Tour at the Andalucia Masters at the same venue. And the famous Ryder Cup course is set to be announced as a new LIV venue this year, dealing a blow to DP World Tour chief Keith Pelley.
Meanwhile, LIV will no doubt continue to contest being blocked by the Official World Golf Rankings board and will push to be awarded with ranking point status. A strategic alliance with the Middle Eastern and African Tour has not yet borne fruit and points would validate players joining as they will have a direct route to qualify for major championships.
It seems almost impossible that the golfing landscape will be quite as volatile next year. But LIV believe they are firmly on the track to making their mark indelible.
