Well, the LIV Golf Invitational Series is off and running.
Centurion Golf Club is hosting the inaugural event, a three-day, shotgun start, 54-hole, no-cut money grab where the winner will earn $4 million and everyone in the 48-man field gets paid.
There is no TV partner for the new circuit so LIV Golf created its own YouTube channel and streamed the action there.
Among its efforts to be different, the feed has a vertical leaderboard down the left side of the screen with bright colors and team logos.
Opinions have been flying fast and furious over the launch of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league. Here’s a look at some of them.
First off all, everyone’s expert
Least surprising revelation of the day: the epidemiologists and constitutional law scholars seem to have triple-majored in antitrust law too.
— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 9, 2022
Thoughts on the leaderboard display
I ejected from LIV quickly. I chalk it up to being old* but found their leaderboard approach an atrocious eyesore.
*AKA the audience for golf on TV
— Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings) June 9, 2022
‘A sad day’
Today has been a sad day for the game of golf and me personally. My early emotions of numbness and curiosity have evolved toward disappointment and anger.
More reports and analysis coming up live again on @GolfChannel at 2pm Eastern.
https://t.co/KQvQEyKL5l— Mark Rolfing (@MarkRolfingGC) June 9, 2022
Possibly the weirdest moment?
Not sure if you can see it but yes, Mickelson is wearing a blacked out Augusta National Golf Club logo vest. It … looks like something maybe done with marker?
(Again, this is not a joke.)
— Kevin Van Valkenburg (@KVanValkenburg) June 9, 2022
More on the Mickelson blacked-out logo
It appears that Phil changed black vests which insinuates that he *wanted* the ANGC logo visible when he hit the first tee shot in a rebel league he apparently helped create. Which I have to say, in a week full of weird activity, is quite possibly the weirdest. pic.twitter.com/xwfKVBLTy2
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) June 9, 2022
For the record books
Lee Westwood will never win a major, but he did make the first par in LIV Golf history. What a moment for him.
— Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) June 9, 2022
Streaming production was solid
The production for LIV is very good, but when Arlo White reads the scoreboard for the Crushers and other teams, it sounds like it is a scene from “Ted Lasso.”
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) June 9, 2022
Who’s the big winner in all this?
make no mistake, golf will lose. Understand fully why those who enjoying chaos or disruption or simply don’t like the PGA Tour monopoly would relish this. Fair to say we’ve all enjoyed some elements. But deep down my feeling is one of sadness, because the sport is in a real mess.
— Ben Coley (@BenColeyGolf) June 9, 2022
Over-selling it, perhaps?
Oh my god Jerry Foltz just tried to tell us this thing was sold out.
THEY GAVE AWAY THE TICKETS FOR FREE
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) June 9, 2022
Where does this all go from here?
I’m not interested in how much money it would take for a golfer to accept getting banned by the PGA Tour.
I am very interested in how much money it would take for a golfer to accept never getting another shot to win a green jacket.
— ANTIFAldo (@ANTIFAldo) June 9, 2022
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