The LIV wrapped up its season last month with the Team Championship at the St. Johns Resort in Northville, Michigan a suburb of Detroit. The six top teams from the LIV season competed for a total purse of $50 million. Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII team won the event and collected the $14 million first-place check.
I attended the event on Saturday and I was impressed with the size and make up of the fans in attendance.
Everything was first class. The Media Room and dining was one of the best I have ever had and that includes, Ryder Cups, Prez Cups, Majors and the top PGA & LPGA Tour events. Only the media facilities at the Masters at Augusta National comes close to rivaling the LIV’s attention to details and creating a wonderful experience.
The crowds were large and engaged. Over 40,000 attended for the week in Detroit. The LIV Individual Championships held the week prior to Detroit set attendance records, but the Michigan event’s numbers were not that far behind Indianapolis. The LIV’s television numbers on Fox are still lacking. They only average a little over 300,000 per round, while the PGA Tour garners over 3 million for their tournament coverage.
The crowds were definitely younger than those of the PGA Tour. Many young parents brought their children and the fan experience was excellent for women and junior golfers.
With music, a variety of food and beverages available, LIV goes overboard to provide a memorable fan experience.
The most fans followed the Jon Rahm versus Phil Mickelson match on Saturday, but Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka also drew large followings.
There was one minor hiccup during the week. Bill Hobson, a golf writer and video creator in Michigan, had his media pass rescinded when he refused to edit or take
down a podcast interview he did with LIV’s Pat Perez. I listened to the interview and Bill did not goad him, or was in any way unprofessional. The questions were fair and not leading in any way. Pat began to ramble at one point and made a passing comment of terrorism, which is probably the comment that was offensive to LIV. For a country, Saudi Arabia, that is trying to improve its image via these types of sporting events, revoking a media pass over such a small issue, was a huge blunder on their part and was a blemish on the week.
Back 9 Report chatted with Bill Hobson about this incident. Click HERE to watch the entire interview.
The Cardinal at St. Johns was probably the best course the LIV Tour play all year and it was well received by the players. The LIV is already in talks to bring this event back to Detroit next year.
