Rick Shiels came in for a lot of criticism following the announcement of his deal with LIV Golf due to the fact that some of his previous comments about the league were not particularly complimentary.
While Rick Shiels was never one of LIV Golf‘s biggest critics, it was no surprise that he faced quite a backlash when the news that he was becoming an ambassador for the league was announced. Shiels lost 20,000 subscribers in the days following the news.
Shiels questioned Jon Rahm’s claim that he joined LIV in December 2023 to grow the game, labelling it nonsense. So it was not the best look when he decided to sign up himself.
But in fairness, he has not suddenly changed his mind about every problem he felt LIV has.
Rick Shiels suggests a big criticism he still has of LIV Golf
Speaking to Tee It Up Golf ahead of LIV Golf Adelaide this week, Shiels noted that the shotgun start creates a problem with the coverage – which he hopes could be addressed in the coming months.
“I almost borderline think it’s too much action. I actually wish they would, and I think they are going to look at doing it this year, it’s hard because at first it’s lots of shots and you have to feature everyone. But I would like to see some narrative and storylines pulled out. If someone is doing really well, let’s focus on that player a bit more,” he said.
“My big criticism with some of the coverage is sometimes you will see a shot, but then you don’t see a player’s reaction. I love seeing the player’s reaction. Sometimes you see a shot and a player stood over a ball, the ball lands on the green, next person. It’s like ‘no, go back!’ I want to see his reaction. It might be muted or animated but I want to see it.
“I think if that can get pulled out, you don’t have to show every shot from every player because on the app you can see every shot at any time. But you have the coverage, it’s so action packed but I do think you can separate it a bit.”
Shiels makes controversial claim about watching a LIV event and the Masters
You do have to give LIV credit because it appears to appeal to a different audience – with Adelaide unlike almost anything seen on the PGA Tour.
There is certainly some real plus points to what LIV offer. But most would surely stop short of comparing visiting LIV Golf Adelaide with attending the Masters or The Open Championship.
Remarkably however, Shiels appeared to hint that attending a LIV event is more enjoyable than going to Augusta National.
“The other thing is that I think as a live viewing experience it is like no other golf out there. You don’t have to be there all day, like when I have been to the Open, and I love the Open, and similar to the Masters, and I love the Masters. But going there you feel like you have to get there at 6am in the morning and leave at 11pm at night or you miss something. And there is no guarantee you are going to see the best players,” he said.
“Certainly if you went on a Saturday or a Sunday, some of the might miss the cut but coming here you come on a Sunday and if you want to see Bryson DeChambeau hit a ball, you will see Bryson DeChambeau hit a ball. Because he is here and you know what hole he is on. It’s a guarantee. I think that part of it as a viewing experience and the music and the atmosphere and the fact it’s a shotgun start at 12:45pm in Adelaide this week, that’s so much better. You don’t have to get there at the crack of dawn.”
Of course, there will be fans out there who would rather have a good time at the more relaxed LIV event – particularly when they are visiting a part of the world which has been starved of seeing the best players. But it is hard to imagine that there are too many out there who would agree with Shiels’ take.
Going to Augusta National is a bucket list experience for so many.
Obviously, he is talking more about Adelaide, but it seems safe to say that absolutely no-one will have watched the opening event in Riyadh last week and expressed a dream of going to watch that in future.
LIV has such a long way to go before it is the finished article. And takes like that probably do the league few favours with its critics.
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