After the PGA Tour did its best to leave many of their fans extremely excited for the return of LIV Golf this month, it appears that the breakaway league was not able to really capitalise in their season opener in Riyadh.
LIV Golf threatened to pull out all the stops ahead of their first event of the year in Saudi Arabia. The event was to be played under the lights, while a slight change was made to the team format with all four scores counting over each of the three rounds.
It was Adrian Meronk who won the individual title, while Legion XIII made a real statement as they finished 11 shots clear of anyone else on 50 under par to win the team event.
However, LIV was not able to escape ridicule. The opening round was watched by an average of just 12,000 on FS2. Of course, that does not come close to telling the full story of the overall viewing figures they would have got worldwide. But clearly, it is hard to imagine LIV being content with those numbers in the United States.
Smylie Kaufman baffled as LIV Golf Riyadh attracts poor viewing figures
Unsurprisingly, there is not a great deal of sympathy for LIV from some circles. Speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman suggested that the event was never given a chance to succeed by FOX.
“Here’s a thought, if you want to start out your LIV season with a splash, let’s just not be dumb. Let’s put this thing on FOX or FS1. It’s such a stupid decision,” he said.
“If you want to start your season off on FS2, it’s your own dang fault. It’s just so simple and such an easy business decision to start the year on your best network. It just seems so silly to me that they’re like, ‘alright, yeah, we’re fine with FS2’. It would be similar to TGL starting on ESPNU.”
Viewing figures do LIV few favours in talks with the PGA Tour
Plenty of fans will have watched the event elsewhere. But it does perhaps highlight how LIV remains a real work in progress as its fourth season gets going.
Many players seemed unhappy with the greens in Riyadh, while it was not the best look that there seemed to be so few fans actually on the property throughout the tournament.
FOX have reportedly paid a minimal amount to broadcast LIV, with some believing that the league was struggling to secure a deal in the States.
But it would clearly be a huge mistake for the PGA Tour to write LIV off at any stage. Ultimately, the PIF are in a position to invest even more money into LIV in the years to come. And it has become quite clear that they are going nowhere.
However, at a time when a deal to bring the game back together is seemingly closer than ever, it arguably gives LIV little leverage in talks when it is abundantly clear just how much work they still have to do.
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