LIV Boston: drama at the end, a hero’s victory and more attention. The tournament showed the bright side of the new project

While the end of the summer was clearly marked by the FedEx Cup Playoffs on the traditional PGA Tour, the beginning of September was marked by a new competitive circuit called LIV Golf. On the first weekend of the month, the fourth tournament was played at The International in Boston. Not least because of the high drama at the end, LIV Golf earned more attention for the first time.

The revolutionary professional golf competition, subsidized by public money from Saudi Arabia, has written its fourth installment. This time, however, at a time when no tournament was being played on the PGA Tour, therefore, if some fans missed golf, they could get their first taste of the LIV Golf series without missing out.

Still, LIV Golf broadcasts its tournaments for free via its YouTube channel or on the organization’s official website. So if fans are looking for golf in the programming on their TV, they are looking in vain. That’s clearly the biggest drawback of the LIV series so far, even though viewers can watch it commercial-free.

The dramatic climax of the LIV Boston Invitational was watched by just over 170,000 fans on YouTube at its peak, which is understandably still woefully low. But it’s also tens of thousands more viewers than the previous stop in Bedminster, near New Jersey, at Donald Trump’s course.

There was also a significantly larger and louder crowd around the green and fairways. Suddenly, it didn’t just look like a gathering of a few millionaires, but the atmosphere resembled a real pro golf tournament. The organizers reported a sell-out for the final round.

This was further helped by a resounding starting field. Since the last tournament, it has been supplemented by world number two Cameron Smith, his compatriot Marc Leishman and Chilean player Joaquin Niemann. Add to that just a handful of some of the names that used to start on the PGA Tour but are now a fixture in the competitive field – Sergio Garcia, Bryson DeChambeau, Lee Westwood, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and others.

But as it happens in sports, the biggest advertisement for a given tournament is usually the story on the course itself. And if LIV Golf wanted to offer viewers a dramatic storyline, it did.

With five holes to go, there were realistically as many as six players in contention for the title. What’s more, LIV’s brand new format leaves all players in the game until the very last moment, as all players are on the course at the same time, just on a different hole. And so it was that while the late winner Dustin Johnson was saving his chances with a tricky woods shot on the 18th hole, Cameron Smith was fighting for his chance a few dozen yards away and finishing in the final round.

The denouement was finally offered by a playoff in which three players (Dustin Johnson, Joaquina Niemann and Anirban Lahiri) met. There could have been four, but the aforementioned Australian golfer Cameron Smith turned down the chance.

In a heroic finish, Dustin Johnson completed his victory with a long putt, which earned him four million US dollars. He described his victory as a big one after the tournament, even though he has already won many valuable trophies on the PGA Tour, including the Masters and the FedEx Cup.

For LIV Golf, Johnson’s victory is also important from a spectator’s perspective, as the American golfer has been very popular among fans on the PGA Tour. His victory may also bring more fans to LIV Golf in the final round.

The fan base is also expanded by the media covering the LIV. For the first time ever, an LIV event made the front page of the ESPN website after Johnson’s triumph. Even a seemingly small step like this can have a positive impact on LIV Golf in the future, as every bit of indirect advertising counts.

Still, it is more or less up to the fans to decide whether they will be able to let the tournaments of the LIV Golf series come to them in the future. After the last event in Boston, there was a lot of positive feedback on social media, with many even praising the unconventional three-round format, including the dramatic ending where everyone involved was in the game until the very end and no one was waiting for the results of their colleagues in the clubhouse.

The next tournament in the LIV Golf series will take place in two weeks in Chicago. The organizers will certainly target higher attendance and viewership this time as well. The event in Boston showed them a positive direction.

Source:: LIG Golf