LIV Golf Portland 2022 (*** TOPIC MODERATED ***)

[LoopySwing13]

Much less entertaining this week IMO. I was intrigued since it is clearly the better field, but better players seem disinterested and the team thing isn’t so great.

 

I really liked it when they played early so you could have 2 tournament in one day, but I understand they won’t always be Europe events.

 

I really am not personally invested in each pros decision, but I think we as fans will ultimately pay the price as talent splits between history and money.

Edited July 2, 2022 by LoopySwing13

[LBB]

3 hours ago, jgonz69 said:

What perks does the winner of this Portland event get besides a wheelbarrow full of money?

Possibly a second wheelbarrow full of money if their team does well?

[ivygynonc]

10 hours ago, Milfordlefty said:

Ah statistics! Let see, it is the 4th of July weekend in the US, you've won at least one golf major of the last 50, so unless someone is paying you a boat load of money, you are spending it with your family, but not in southern Illinois. Do you really think if there was no LIV golf, all those major winners would be at the John Deere Classic, NOT.

Lets look at the major winners scores, DJ is -4 (1 back), Bruce K is -2, Pat R and Bryson D are E, Phil M and Sergio G are +3. Lets look some other ranked golfers to see who is challenging the major winners, Pat P is -3 (way to go!), Abraham (Abe) Ancer is +1, Ian P and Kevin N are +3, Lee W is +4 and Graeme McD is +7.

Didn't realize Ireland celebrated 4th of July!  Appreciate the education!  

Edited July 2, 2022 by ivygynonc

[ivygynonc]

22 hours ago, bobfoster said:

The viewership numbers are coming in. First tourney was modest. This one? There's actually "German Shepard adopting baby kitten" YouTube vids that are more popular. 

 

Personally, I'm a fan of the "Idiot truck drivers getting hit by trains" ones. Fun to watch, and oddly analogous to watching LIV. Is turning into a train wreck.

 

The best in the world were probably standing back, keeping an open mind, waiting to see how everything shook out. Is now becoming clear how things are shaking out. You really think anyone's going to pick a year of huge paydays (that could disappear at any moment at the whim of weird, bearded misogynists) that gets watched by 50K people on YouTube, over being watched (and their sponsor's logos being seen) by 1MM average viewers on CBS or NBC?

 

Norman and the Saudi's shot their shot. It is becoming clearer and clearer what LIV is. They might get a few more recognizable names, but doubt they'll ever get a top ten. 

 

I totally get why Louie, or Westwood, or Sergio, or Perez (with his "money shirt") would jump. (I mean, good grief, that shirt really summed the LIV up - know where it would be popular? In a trailer park drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon, after having won the lottery and showing off their gigantic velvet Elvis that covers the entire wall of the double-wide. His money shirt would totally fit in at that party. And would be laughed at as pathetic at Augusta - that isn't what golf is.) 

 

So most of the recognizable names? Downhill side of their careers. Even get why Wolff would jump (young and promising, but could also be one of the very many young promising golfer up-and-comers that faded into obscurity after a few years). Get why he'd want to take the money and run. There's a 50/50 chance he'd be on Tour instead of selling insurance 5 years from now. So yeah, take the Saudi money! He'll only need to sell insurance part time. 

 

The PGAT is about golf. The LIV is about money. For me, as a fanatic golfer, and a fanatic fan, I don't care how much anyone wins, I care about the quality of golf I get to watch - both in person (I do go to a lot of PGAT events) and on TV. And seriously? The quality of the golf itself on the LIV is pretty bad. Watching mostly has-beens and never-beens hack around a course (all the while being deluged by breathless announcers trying to convince me that this is the most exciting golf I've ever seen!!!!) But on the bright side, I get to watch press conferences where these guys desperately try to say they are doing this for "the growth of the game" (really? You actually think anyone buys that?)

 

Have been saying this for months. Ignore the first tourney - it is like a much hyped pilot of a new sitcom. Numbers will be abnormally big. Watch the second to see whether it takes off or fizzles. And most importantly, watch the numbers from the third, because that is what will be the actual ongoing viewership (and will determine whether the show is picked up for a second season - i.e., does it have legs, and can stand on its own once the marketing hype is over). 

 

So what do we have? London Thursday had 300K - 350K on YouTube (I get that it is streaming in all sorts of other places, but the US market is by far the largest, and the percentages will be similar elsewhere). Today, 50K - 60K. Notice a trend line there? 

 

The Saudis used golfers, and the golfers used the Saudis. But at the end of the day, produced a product that is pretty mediocre golf, played in a silly-season format, that I might tune into if at the moment there is no PGAT, DPT, LPGAT, or even KFT events being played. (And come to think of it, were that the case, I'd probably be switching back and forth between LIV and any new "Rescuing a French Pit Bull", or "Train hit truck" that got posted.)

 

Usually dumb to predict the future on the internet ('cause everyone remembers what you said) - but I'll make an exception here (knowing full well I'll get totally beat up if I'm wrong): LIV will be history in 2 - 3 years, and the guys that signed a Deal with Satan will be begging to get back on Tour. 

Where's Bubba????  

[paulshack]

4 hours ago, jgonz69 said:

What perks does the winner of this Portland event get besides a wheelbarrow full of money?

Thats the thing... Nothing.... Nothing to show on your resume.. No do or die situation.. Nothing.. 

[BottleCap]

I like the uncensored language 

[woahnelly]

7 hours ago, jtitleist12 said:

 

 

Whoever the on course female announcer is, she is really bad!  Just watched DJ tee off on a hole and she set it up with "He's been trying to hit more draws..."  The dude's been playing a cut his entire professional career!

 

Su Ann Heng is a treasure. 

 

Dottie is still the best though. 

[NMBob]

did the coverage conclude before Brooks finished?   They were carrying him  -6 as they last scrolled the leaders list and ended the telecast but it looks like  he finished on 1 with a double bogey and dropped to -4? 

[lowheel]

3 hours ago, woahnelly said:

 

Su Ann Heng is a treasure. 

 

Dottie is still the best though. 

Su Ann and Troy Mulins have won me over. I like their style.  I also love dottie!!

[lowheel]

Pat Perez catches alot of heat on here and with good reason sometimes but hes stil an exceptional ball striker at his age. His compression on his irons were the best audio today besides the crowds in the last 6-7 holes.

[lowheel]

12 hours ago, dugue4 said:

The only think I’m not liking is the constant leaderboard on the left side. Love the pace. 

I agree, im sure it will be tweeked. the team logos on the side look cheezy. I can overlook that because its non stop golf. Im one of the few who likes jerry foltz and dont mind his self deprecating humor

[NormanFan]

The problem with LIV, as I've said before, is that these events just strike me as glorified exhibitions like the old Skins Game.  Even their leaderboard art and such looks like something out of 1990s Nickelodeon.

 

I like watching DJ play, but there's nothing for me to get invested in because I don't care if he wins like $4 million or whatever from this tournament.  There's nothing to track in terms of exemptions, getting to a certain number of wins to match older players, etc.

[rizzo66]

Has anybody on this board been at the event ? There's all this applause and  cheering , plus a few bababooeys  but when they pan the crowd doesn't look like they are that excited. It almost seemed like piped in cheers, but I could be wrong. 

[NoTalentLefty]

13 hours ago, ivygynonc said:

Didn't realize Ireland celebrated 4th of July!  Appreciate the education!  

The problem with the figures is it’s only one tournament not an entire season. Yes this week LIV has better stats this week but still most of the high OWGR on LIV are fading stars, except for Ancer . DJ not been playing well, Michelson going going and about about gone. No one should be claiming victory over one tournament Greggy boy. 

[NMBob]

Apparently someone did not watch DJ play yesterday...

[UAdamz]

15 hours ago, Gamble Gamble said:

 

I stream it through ESPN plus.  with the early stream, late stream and the broadcast, it amounts around 9 hours of coverage. 
 

One of the more frustrating things regarding the PGA happened today… I have a sizable-payout bet on Poston, he’s on fire then the broadcast ends while he is on hole 13.  The only way to follow him is on the featured holes option on ESPN+ And that was only holes 14 & 16.  
 

The PGA Tour needs to figure out how to close the coverage gaps.  If the leader isn’t in a featured group… get a camera man on a cart and chase him down.  The other time they consistently miss it is when the leaders tee off in that 2:30-3pm window on the weekend and they basically ignore their first 2-3 holes so that Azinger can catch us up at 3:01.  However in that window if you want to watch the Bo Van Pelt and Bill Haas group you can see every shot of theirs while they battle for 56th place.  Yaaay. 

I’ve heard the LIV announcers say a couple of times they film every shot, so if they were able to do something like the Masters’ watch every shot feature on their website that would really make me more interested.

[Zitlow]

Should be interesting today with Brooks, DJ and Ortiz in the final group with several within 5 shots. 

[Stevens24]

3 hours ago, UAdamz said:

I’ve heard the LIV announcers say a couple of times they film every shot, so if they were able to do something like the Masters’ watch every shot feature on their website that would really make me more interested.

I would not be surprised if they offer a stream that allows you to follow whatever group you want or the broadcast. 

[airblaster503]

12 hours ago, lowheel said:

Su Ann and Troy Mulins have won me over. I like their style.  I also love dottie!!

Troy Mullins posterior has for sure made me a fan for a while.  
 

 

but on to more serious stuff.  Honestly the product of LIV hasn’t been bad.  As someone who lives in Oregon I am stoked to see a tournament here in the northwest where the PGA Tour has abandoned for a long time.  Pumpkin Ridge is playing very well and the setup they chose combining the public and private side has made a course that is better than a large majority of the weekly courses on the PGA Tour.  
 

additionally the PGA is backpedaling and trying to change because of this.  End of the game here I see both your existing, no different than the PGA and DP World Tour.  I am not going to sit here and condemn someone for taking a big payday, I would do the same.  And let’s not act like the PGA is a model company or several of the major sponsors in golf don’t use slave labor to produce their goods.  It is all hypocritical.  
 

and I keep seeing the “exhibition” phrase thrown out a lot around the PNE golf community on this event.  By definition it is not an exhibition, there is real money on the line.  That is just some bullxxxx hater rhetoric that keeps getting thrown out.  Hate it or love it the LIV golf will change things for the better in the long run for any player looking to make it to the tour level.  We are only 2 tournaments in and there have already been some big changes. This is just the beginning.  

[MtlJeff]

I'm kind of digging this to be honest. Of course golfers would come up with basically the worst team names ever....I mean the crushers, the fireballs....They should sign me full time just to do the team names.

 

Coverage is kinda different too. Not bad....

[BottleCap]

Interesting to hear how they’ll keep the shotgun start as they expand, sounds like they can double the field that way

[orr444]

23 hours ago, Outpost31 said:

Golf, golf, and more golf. PGA Tour is unwatchable and the US Open was even worse. I really like the shotgun start now the early/late late/early doesn't determine the winner. 

To each his own. Like a member guest shotgun to me.

[NMBob]

Looks like they have two separate leader groups going off number 1.   Shotgun groups 1A and 1B. 

[orr444]

19 hours ago, Ronnie Mundt said:

I know this: DJ is still a massive star. He lacks a bit in the personality department but when he is on he’s incredibly fun to watch. The PGAT losing DJ is massive. He put on an absolute stripe show today on a beautiful and challenging course…and…well I don’t know what happened in the Quad Cities because I’m not sure I care.

Yes , those team names and shotgun start sure have me excited. More Poulter and Westwood is really excited

[tw_focus]

Stinger GC with another good performance this week and they are making fans all over the country with the way they play. Winning the London event by 14 strokes was a TW-like margin of victory that may never again be duplicated. If Stinger GC can come back and win this week then it will truly be something else. The only comparison I can think of is the Green Bay Packers winning the first two Super Bowls.

[BottleCap]

Ive noticed most players are missing some sponsors on their shirts, but all the Golf equipment makers and Apparel are still on the players. Like the clean look

[Outpost31]

51 minutes ago, orr444 said:

To each his own. Like a member guest shotgun to me.

Yes, to each their own.

Edited July 2, 2022 by Outpost31

[BottleCap]

Pat Perez and Sihwan Kim look like they’re related

[NJBigFish22]

1 hour ago, MtlJeff said:

I'm kind of digging this to be honest. Of course golfers would come up with basically the worst team names ever....I mean the crushers, the fireballs....They should sign me full time just to do the team names.

 

Coverage is kinda different too. Not bad....

100% agree the names are horrible, and I 100% support your candidacy for Chief Team Naming Dude!

[Outpost31]

There's a lot of people at Liv Portland having fun! Great to see... And Phil drains one!