LIV and Learn

My plate was filled with fine meats and cheeses from the charcuterie board. A mini cheesecake topped with a fresh cherry and served with the tiniest spoon I'd ever seen added some color to the offerings in front of me. This was nothing like the food at mini-tour and qualifying host course grillrooms I’m used to. Then came a tap on my shoulder. It was LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil, who pulled up a chair and struck up a conversation. 

On Sunday, I attended my first LIV Golf event at The Cardinal at St John's in Plymouth, Mich. I made the three-hour and 40-minute drive from Alpena on Sunday morning with an open mind. While I’ve never had an issue with players leaving for LIV and am friendly with some of the players, the format featuring a small, closed field has never been the type of golf I like to watch, no matter the tour. 

The signs on the freeway and the police standing on each corner surrounding the course reminded me of many PGA Tour events I’ve attended. When I pulled into the media and player parking lot, numerous black SUVs were lined up, some of which were wrapped with the logos and sponsors of the LIV teams. 

I arrived a couple of hours before the 1:05 p.m. shotgun start, and after securing my media credential, I headed to the course. I was surprised by the number of fans entering the course hours ahead of the scheduled tee time. Just inside the entrance, drink carts bearing LIV logos and vendors carrying coolers hawking beer were a sign that this was different. This seemed more like a baseball game than a golf tournament. 

I headed to the already busy range and encountered a large group of spectators waiting to enter. The line moved slowly, impeded by players who were given priority to cross onto the range. Each time a player appeared, ropes were raised, stopping spectator movement. It was apparent the course hadn’t been built to accommodate a tour event, so it was no surprise there were logistical limitations. 

The range setup was interesting: Players from each four-man team warm up side by side, and the signs made it easy to see who was where. I headed to the HyFlyers section and stood against a fence in an area reserved for VIPs and media. There, I spoke with HyFlyers general manager Peter Davis (although the music blaring from the speaker above us made conversation difficult). After warming up, Phil Mickelson and Brendan Steele said hello before heading to their carts. (A funny sidebar: Before the shotgun start, the announcer interrupts the music to announce a five-minute countdown to the carts, makes another announcement at three minutes, and then instructs the players to head to their carts shortly after.)

The players loaded onto custom carts wrapped with LIV logos and headed to their respective tees. A lot has been made about the shotgun start, but I didn't think anything of it after the fireworks and countdown to the opening shots. On TV, it can be confusing to make sense of the leaderboard as players finish on holes with varying difficulties. However, when you’re on the grounds, once the smoke clears from the fireworks, I thought it was a benefit knowing that everyone you want to see is on the course. It was just a matter of finding what hole they were playing.

As I went to watch Phil, who was starting on the 2nd hole, the first of four U.S. Army paratroopers were landing on the 1st fairway.  Each paratrooper had a large flag attached. The first was a LIV flag, and the next three carried one of the three teams vying for the team championship. It was over the top, but the crowd gathered along the ropes seemed to enjoy it. 

Once play started, the tournament had the feel of a PGA Tour event. The logos, sponsors, and tour bags were different, and players from the same team were wearing matching outfits, but take that away, and the event had the feel of the Rocket Classic, played a couple of months earlier down the road. 

The crowd was significant across the course, swelling seven to 10 deep around greens for the Bryson DeChambeau/Jon Rahm group. The group of Phil, Brooks Koepka, and Joaquin Niemann also had a significant following. I was surprised by the large number of fans wearing team-logoed merchandise. The Crushers' gear (the team of DeChambeau, Paul Casey, Anirban Lahiri, and Charles Howell III) was the most popular by  a wide margin. The crowd seemed to skew younger, and the family area with slides and games was packed with young broods. 

I didn't feel the party atmosphere that is sometimes mentioned by LIV fans. Maybe because it was a Sunday and people had to work the next day. There was drinking, but no one I saw was drunk. The music, which can be disruptive while watching on TV, was an afterthought on the course. The only exception was at the "party hole," where the music is loud and players are announced in a WWE-style. 

The course was in good shape and the greens looked to be running quick, but The Cardinal at St. John’s isn't made for professional golf. The holes are close together, and fans were allowed up only one side of multiple holes. This creates numerous dead ends along the ropes and at fairway crossings, which isn't ideal. Additionally, the course features some quirky holes, and multiple courses in the area are considered better. If you talk with players, many would tell you that the quality of courses LIV plays, especially in the U.S., needs to improve. 

After following Phil's group for a few holes and Bryson's for a few more, I was invited by LIV staff to Club 54, located next to the 18th green. Club 54 is LIV’s VIP hospitality area, and it sits near the 18th green at each event. The food was exceptional. Former Pistons and Lions stars could be seen mingling, and there were private suites for team sponsors. 

After grabbing some food, I headed into the suite reserved for the LIV executive team. There I sat with Lara Toscani Weems, the new senior vice president of media relations. She asked me for my thoughts on multiple things related to LIV, which I answered candidly.  

Soon, I was introduced to Chris Heck, the new president of business operations. Heck has an impressive resume, including as president of Ashton Villa FC in the English Premier League. (Heck joked that Ashton Villa "hasn't won since I left.") He was also the president of the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Red Bulls of MLS. 

About 45 minutes later, I visited with O'Neil, who took over for Greg Norman at the beginning of this year. Along with him was Allen Barrett, vice president of communications. O'Neil was personable and asked questions about a wide range of golf topics. He expressed optimism about the prospect of LIV players earning world ranking points and was encouraged that a relegation system would result in an exciting offseason. As we watched a few groups come through the 18th hole, O'Neil and I discussed the talent of pro golfers. 

Meeting O’Neil was unexpected, but I appreciated his time. While I knew the impromptu conversation was rooted in good PR, I thought O’Neil was genuine and straightforward (especially during a week in which LIV pulled the credential of Bill Hobson, the host of Michigan Golf Live, for refusing to edit if not remove a podcast he had done with Pat Perez, now a LIV Golf commentator.) 

Soon after, O'Neil and Barrett thanked me for coming, and they headed out. Weems took me to the impressive TV compound sitting behind the 18th green. 

James Watson, the VP of production, gave me a tour of a few of the TV trucks sitting in the back lot. Watson said LIV had 60 cameras and had a similar production setup to the Masters, capturing every shot on the course. He pointed out that because of the shotgun start and the team aspect, the crew needed to be able to cover all 18 holes. 

As Watson took me through the trucks and rattled off the things his staff was doing production wise, most of which went way over my head, it made me think of LIV’s biggest hurdle. Despite delivering on most things that golf fans complain about in PGA Tour coverage and spending billions to do so, the effort hasn’t translated to ratings. The “why” of that question is something LIV must answer as it moves forward. 

The long drive home gave me time to think about the day. I believe most of us avid golf fans are so close to the game that we break down everything—what LIV has done to the pro golf landscape, who left and who stayed, and what it all means for the future. And then I thought about the fans. I listened as I walked the holes but heard none of that discussed. A majority of people don’t care; they came to see some of their favorite tour professionals play golf. 

And for three days in Michigan, that is what they got.