Nick Faldo gave a press conference at the British Masters this week and took a few shots at LIV Golf and I gotta say… he’s not wrong.
From The Scotsman:
“I don’t think so, because nobody’s really interested,” said Faldo in reply to being asked if he felt LIV Golf could survive. “They’re not going to get the sponsorship that they want. They call it a team (event) and it’s not because it’s strokeplay. You see your mates on the putting green and say ‘play well’ and you see them in the scorers tent and say ‘What did you shoot?’ That’s it. A team is out there helping, shoulder to shoulder. That’s a true team.
Ok, saying “no one is interested” is a step to far but in terms of the LIV format I think he’s 100% correct. They’re playing a team game while also giving individual awards. It’s got to be one or the other. Saying this is our individual winner but then also this team won… nah. Either it’s the team or it’s the individual, having two winning groups at each event lowers the stakes for the viewers. They could make some events strictly individual winner events and others that are team events. During both events you can still tally strokes or team points towards the final standings but make each event have one winners circle.
“You have the ultimate team event, the Ryder Cup, you know the passion and the atmosphere of that. They’re not playing with the same passion and atmosphere as the Ryder Cup. It’s only half a dozen (players) that are really current, half of the field I don’t really know and half the field are there for the very nice last-placed money that you still get if you shoot 20 over.”
I’m sure LIV formatted their tournaments to try and capture some of the Ryder Cup mystique but it hasn’t worked. Listen, I’m not a LIV Golf denier, I’m pro golf. If it’s the PGA, LPGA, LIV, Collegiate, Amateur, (or for me) Terrible Golf, I love it all. I could put on any random golf tournament and if I see a putt slowly creeping towards the hole my leg naturally twitches in a kicking motion to give the ball a little push in the right direction. I’m not kidding, it’s sick I know.
I don’t have a dog in this fight I just want to see good golf whenever I can. If LIV could generate a fraction of the Ryder Cup atmosphere? Game on. It just hasn’t happened.
Does that mean that LIV is going to fail? No.
“I think when the dust settles, whether it takes six months, a year, whatever, my goodness, pro golf is in an overall better position financially than we were back in the day,”
But, after everything that’s gone on in the game over the past 12 months, is it really possible that harmony can be restored? “Well, that’s impossible,” continued the former world No 1. “ I think the bodies have all got the best interest in trying to create global golf, and, if they are truly on board with an absolute bottomless pit of money should be able to make the call.”
I agree with Nick Faldo again, I don’t see a way that harmony can be restored and all of a sudden you’re going to see LIV guys on PGA events. I think the line has been drawn and we now have 2 separate leagues.
*And if they’re smart they’ll take my idea for a massive end of year playoff structure that leads to a Golf Super Bowl. I’m getting zero traction with this idea but I won’t let it go.*
There are a lot of good things LIV is bringing to pro golf:
- Less tournaments
- Smaller fields
- No Cuts
- Bringing golf back to other regions of the world like Australia
- More fun atmosphere at tournaments
- Last but not least, SHORTS
You gotta let these puppies breath…
So he made a couple valid points but I disagree with Nick that no one is interested in LIV. There are certainly people who are interested…
Don’t forget LIV is still in it’s infancy here. This tour just launched last year and was positioned well enough that the PGA had to agree on terms of a merger. Give it some time and LIV will start to naturally generating some storylines, maybe some feuds (Brooks and Bryson again?), and that’s when ratings and sponsors will follow. I think a few slight adjustments to the format and it LIV could certainly take a run at the PGA. So sorry Sir Nick, there is certainly interest out there for LIV golf and I’m one of them.
