Thankfully, the LIV Golf Championship in Adelaide lasts 54 holes, so Greg Norman only has three days (or, to keep Empire style, III) to gloat.
LIV’s Australian debut has been a success. It’s a sold out (no surprises there…). The Grange Stadium crowd saw the best course in Australia since the days of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Billy Dunk. It’s airing for free on Channel VII, emerging from the dark side of the TV moon where it’s lived until now. Despite the ‘concept’ of a hockey team and a shotgun start, the Adelaide event is seen as a serious sporting event.
Among its XLVIII entrants, LIV has XIII Grand Slam champions, including Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Luis Oosthuizen and Bryson DeChambeau. The big names will be there all weekend since LIV isn’t cutting and (virtually) paying them nothing.This is a win-win, even for prime minister of south australia In return for his investment, he gets plenty of handsome photo opportunities.The whole thing was so exciting that no one was surprised to see Norman tear off his shirt and other Jaws costumes are all about the boom.
Granted, the PGA Tour has stricter weekly competitive standards than LIV, with week XXXVIII of the year when players can collect their petrodollars around their petro pools, but many big names aren’t quite in the past. Three of the top VI players signed with LIV last week at the Masters at Augusta.One is Phil Mickelson, almost LIV, he has described his Saudi employer Even when he cashed his first oil check, he was called a “terrible mother.” In a few hours at Augusta, after hitting a final round of LXV and taking the club lead, Mickelson loomed the scariest of mothers — er, for organizers, considering having to fight for golf. The stadium tailored a new slim green jacket for the embarrassing Max Renegade.
In Adelaide, as the Sharks have always predicted, LIV Golf will make Australia great again. Over the years our touring has been undercut by the American monopoly, so the local authorities were happy to support Norman’s shows.
And—does this sound like a confession? – We’ll be watching. The appeal of these golfers will overshadow doubts about who pays them.
Greg Norman, Cameron Smith and South Australian Premier Peter Malinoskas on Thursday.Credit: getty
How do we coordinate this? Do we watch it openly, or hide under the sheets, turn on our devices, and secretly entertain ourselves?
If you wanted to enjoy LIV openly, you might point out that its intended purpose, a sports cleansing campaign for the Saudi government, has utterly failed. Before LIV, journalist Jamal Khashoggi Assassinated by the Saudi government He has only gained prominence five years ago since his killers began using sports to boost their image. The more Saudi Arabia campaigns to purge, the more attention will be drawn to their poor human rights record. As a promotional campaign, using the FIFA World Cup analogy (Saudis also sponsor), a spectacular own goal.
