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After several weeks of Fyre Festival-like assurances that big news was coming regarding its inaugural event — but with absolutely nothing to show for it — the first LIV Golf Invitational Series field has finally dropped. It has some surprises — notably, Dustin Johnson as the headliner — but much of the rest was expected.
Despite its relative innocuousness, there are plenty of takeaways from the announcement as 48 golfers tee it up in the first event of what is expected to be a long-term rival for the PGA Tour. Not all of these takeaways are obvious; some are implied or theorized. In many ways, this has been the substance of this league all along — theoretical, hypothetical — as it continues to dangle the carrot of being the preeminent destination for top golfers several years from now.
LIV Golf has billed itself as the league of the future; however, whether that future ever materializes is what will shape what happens to the PGA Tour and everything else in pro golf. One thing is for certain: It would be foolish (although extraordinarily tempting) to bury LIV Golf based on its first field.
The Saudi Arabians running this league don’t care about what happens in 2022 or 2023. They might not even care about what happens in 2028 or 2029. They do care about normalizing their country and its political endeavors on the basis of sport. What looks like failure to us may be the beginning of a long-range normalization process to them. It’s one of many angles to take as we evaluate this first field at the Centurion Club in London next weekend.
1. Surprisingly, D.J. makes sense
If you would have told me two weeks ago that the person who would serve as the face of the LIV Golf league has lost a number of heartbreaking major championships in absurd fashion, won the Masters and may or may not have ever been suspended by the PGA Tour, I think you know whom I would have guessed. However, Phil…
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Source : cbssports
