Greg Norman is live at Royal Troon on Saturday. Bête Noir, chief executive of LIV Golf and a bastion of the sport, previously found himself excluded from the Open. Two years ago he was snubbed from an invitation to the University of St Andrews, but this weekend he was “rewarded with all the privileges expected of a former champion golfer”.
There’s more to the story than meets the eye, as there are often tidbits related to the LIV, a Saudi-funded gangster rivalry. The R&A joked a few months ago that Norman was not on the Open roster but that “tickets are still available on the resale platform or at reception;” he is more than welcome to check them out there. However, upon learning that Norman was coming after all (either through tout or, more likely, from the guest list of one of his players), the R&A rolled out the red carpet this weekend.
As negotiations between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund continue on how to integrate the ambitions of Saudi Arabia’s sporting revolution into the most traditional of sporting environments, it’s easy to read every interaction with LIV to understand the status of the game and any aspect of it. signs. Shifting balance of power. This applies to maneuvers both on and off the pitch.
Nominally, the majors have nothing to do with the skirmishes of golf’s civil war, but the LIV tournament’s lack of world ranking points means getting into one of the four showcase events is often as tricky for players as it was in Norman. However, heading into the 152nd Open, there were 18 breakout players starting in the first round, a record for a major in the “LIV Era” (two and a half years).
By the time the game entered the second half, that number had dwindled. Many of LIV’s biggest stars fell through the cut, including former Open champion Henrik Stenson, Cameron Smith and Louis Oosthuizen. The most famous of them, Bryson DeChambeau, was also sent. A year later, his performance in the majors (a victory at the U.S. Open, a second-place finish at the PGA, a tie for sixth at the Masters) sparked debate about whether LIV was making further inroads into golf’s heartland. The big man rattled off the links again and went home nine over par.
Still, 11 players made it to the third round and had a chance to make their mark on the tournament. However, that opportunity was soundly denied on the day, although there was another chance to make amends – and the weather forecast – suggested that was unlikely to happen.
The early rounds of the day saw some LIV Legion riders, a mix of retired stars and well-compensated weight players, making progress on the track in mild conditions. Abraham Ancer is currently ranked 371st in the world. He is the most successful golfer in Mexico and a member of the LIV “Fireball” team. He was the first to go, shooting a 1-under 70 on the day, his best score of the tournament. Phil Mickelson, a member of six majors with a $200 million signing fee, also shot a 72, which would have been had he not made three putts on the par-5 12th. The results could be better. However, trying to maintain balance, Andy Ogletree, ranked 285th in the world, shot a 79 and missed shots on half the holes he played.
Norman will have a better performance in the afternoon, with Jon Rahm next, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson partnering, and Chilean star Joaquin Niemann finishing last. Just as last year’s runner-up Ram stepped onto the first tee, the skies began to open on the Ayrshire coast, however, the LIV boys, well, they didn’t like it.
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Rahm managed to keep his course steady enough to drop shots on the second and 12th holes, but birdied the third to make it one stroke for the day and two strokes for the championship. At the same time, four-time major winner Koepka restarted on the fourth hole, suffered a double bogey, and shot a 40 on the back nine, slipping the leaderboard to 8 over par. Johnson also dropped two shots, this time on No. 17, to finish with a 72, but Niemann shot 9 on the par-4 11th and twice hit his ball out of bounds to pass them both.
LIV is billed as a golf tournament that brings you from “the most electric city in the world.” To be fair, Thron doesn’t quite fit that criteria. Links golf and lack of experience with the conditions were certainly not cited as factors in any poor performance. You could also go a step further and point out that this course, which behaves so poorly for everyone, is pretty much the opposite of LIV’s core philosophy of “exciting” low-scoring golf. Either way, Saturday’s Open seems to be exactly the kind of challenge golf’s revolutionaries aren’t suited to take on, but that’s not to say the event suffers as a result.
