Who cares about LIV Golf, or should that be LXXII Golf?

Who cares about LIV Golf, or should that be LXXII Golf?

By Paul Gueorgieff

Is LIV Golf going to change it’s name to LXXII Golf?

That’s a question I have with the announcement that LIV Golf is shifting from tournaments with three rounds of golf to tournaments with four rounds.

Part of the reason LIV Golf was so named was because LIV are the Roman numerals for the number 54 — and that is the number of holes in three rounds of golf.

The number of holes in four rounds of golf is 72 and the Roman numerals for 72 are LXXII.

But the main question is do you care? For me not in the slightest.

LIV Golf started in October, 2021, and not once has it interested me. I am not absolutely sure why but part of the reason might be that LIV Golf is not on New Zealand television as is the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.

But I am not sure that is the real reason.

When it comes to likes of the PGA Tour in the United States and DP World Tour in Europe, players have to earn their right to play. They are highly competitive golf circuits and it’s survival of the fittest. Perform and you’ll survive. Don’t perform and you are gone.

On the LIV Golf tour you have to be purchased. You don’t have to be the best in world. You just have to be the best who agrees to be purchsed.

I don’t have a problem with those who play LIV Golf. A number of them would never earn the money they are paid by LIV Golf on other professional golf circuits.

But I wonder if some others miss the top level competition of the likes of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour? There are good players on LIV Golf but does it remain a meaningless competition? Even if the likes of Scottie Scheffler or Rory McIlroy joined LIV, I still doubt if my interest would be stirred.

Whoever is the top player on LIV Golf and whoever is the top player on the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour, who would you consider is the world’s top player? It surely wouldn’t be the LIV Golf player because that is for players who have agreed to be purchased. The PGA Tour and the DP World Tour are for players who are good enough to have qualified for that tour and that’s the key difference.

Imagine if I was offered $US100 million to play on the LIV Golf tour. After much consideration, perhaps 10 seconds, I would probably except it.

But would it increase your interest in LIV Golf? Of course not, not in the slightest.

But imagine if I earned the right to play on the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour, that would be a whole different ball game. The headline would read: Manor Park member from Wellington on 13 handicap earns the right to play one the world’s great golf circuits.