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LIV Golf is back in action this week – in Adelaide, Australia – its first tournament since three of its members were among the top six at the Masters two weeks ago.
While John Rahm won with four, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson are tied for second, and Patrick Reed is tied with Jordan Spieth for fourth. Koepka, Mickelson, and Reed all left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf—Koepka had been the tournament leader for nearly all week—and their solid play did not go unnoticed by LIV executives.
However, these players are still not allowed on the PGA Tour and earlier this month London Times Reported that the DP World Tour won the arbitration case against LIV, allowing fines to be reinstated and suspensions for defectors from LIV.
Greg Norman, CEO of LIV Golf, touched on this latest ruling, the future of his league and more during a press conference in Adelaide on Thursday, as LIV prepares for its first fourth event of the season.
“I hope we get to a situation where there is a solution to this, because golf doesn’t need to suffer. These guys don’t need to suffer. OWGR doesn’t need to suffer,” Norman said. “Augusta National realized that, and look what happened with their ratings when LIV players came. It’s up 19 percent. Who was the beneficiary of that? Augusta National, right? “
Norman points to the final round of the Masters, which saw a huge ratings boost from Scotty Scheffler’s win the year before. According to CBS, the fourth round averaged 12.058 million viewers and peaked at over 15 million from 7 to 7:15 p.m., around the time of Ram’s victory. It was the most watched golf telecast on any network in five years.
The Masters had a lot going for it this year: exciting PGA Tour vs. LIV Stories (the first time they’ve played together since last year’s Open, and first time at the Masters); the return of one of the most dominant players of the last decade (Kopka, who almost won); Michelson’s late surgeon. and a closely contested final round. The Ram’s winning margin was four, but it was only two with eight holes to play.
The major tensions on the PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf aren’t going away anytime soon. LIV players are also allowed in the three remaining majors of 2023.
“LIV is force for good, and now guys want to play,” Norman said. “They want to play in the majors. Don’t you think CBS and NBC, don’t you think the companies that sponsor those major championships don’t want Cam Smith, the Open champion, in their major? Of course they do. It’s a crying shame if they take their superficial view, which Caused by LIV, where because of another product are they going to ban these guys? Well, I think Augusta National made that point very clearly.”