Liv Golf Central Thread: Events and News

[Bang60]

2 hours ago, ryan.mzzz said:

i’d be super interested in average time watched per viewer. 

I watched about the last 2.5hours, that's enough for me...

[Middler]

7 hours ago, gavinski91 said:

And shorts are now officially allowed on the LIV tour - the PGA won’t be able to stop the exodus now

Can’t stand/don’t watch LIV, but agree that’s a change the PGA should make IMO.

[RickyBobby_PR]

6 hours ago, ryan.mzzz said:

wasn’t this last year? Phil is in great shape. I feel like he could contend in majors for the next couple years. 

Phil hit lightning in a bottle for one tournament.

In that season he missed 9 cuts and finished inside the top 25 four times in 23 events. 

This past season he played in 6 events and misses the cut 4 times and finished outside the top 25 in the two cuts he made

Phil no longer has the ability to compete week in and week out with the better players in the world.

[Headhammer]

I watched for a couple hours yesterday and enjoyed it. Seeing Wolf's hole in one live was cool! There were a lot balls on par 3's & 4's that threatened the cup all day, some good shotmaking. Watched a little of the repeat of the KF Tour last night and that guy driving the 370 yard hole on the fly was sick!

Edited September 3, 2022 by Headhammer

[Headhammer]

12 hours ago, shootmyage said:

 

mickelson has started and played a total 10 rounds (180 holes ) with liv , he has not been under par yet on any day  , can't make a put anymore , still love to watch him play , he is so much better than the way he's playing on liv 

maybe tomorrow he will get under par and help the team , they are in ist place , they play 2 best scores again saturday , sunday. they use the 3 best team scores  .

Honestly, I think Phil is feeling the same thing as HV3. He's a guy who has always been beloved by both die hard & casual golf fans, regardless of his indiscretions. I think the weight of being the villain in all of this has messed with his confidence, something "FIGJAM" has never lacked.

[ryan.mzzz]

2 hours ago, Bang60 said:

I watched about the last 2.5hours, that's enough for me...

my guess would be mean 10 minutes and median 30 minutes, which would actually be pretty good numbers, giving a fair amount of benefit of the doubt. 

[shootmyage]

phil is trying to play like he did 15-20 years ago , i don't think he ever tries to hit a straight shot ( except for his wedges ) , he seems to always tr,y to hit a high or low / draw or fade wurking the ball toward the hole , he is not 25-30 yrs old anymore ,also stop thinking about his sports bets .

just hit the ball to the middle of every green . 

looking at the putters most tour player use , most of the blade type are sc , if not sc blade  ( ping anser style ) they are using a mallet .or fange , phil is using the putter he has used at least the last 5-10 years years , i'm sure like most pros he has 50-100 putters . when you are deep in a hole stop digging .  

[ryan.mzzz]

1 hour ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Phil hit lightning in a bottle for one tournament.

In that season he missed 9 cuts and finished inside the top 25 four times in 23 events. 

This past season he played in 6 events and misses the cut 4 times and finished outside the top 25 in the two cuts he made

Phil no longer has the ability to compete week in and week out with the better players in the world.

i have to say I think you’re selling the man short. He doesn’t seem old to me, and as long as he keeps his physicality, which he seems to be doing, as one of the highest skilled golfers of all time, he should have a real chance. While I do not believe that world golf ranking points should ever be awarded at LIV events,  I do hope the golfing community respects the exemptions already earned by the players who have earned them, because they’ve earned them, and also because then we can see how they do in majors. If the LIV guys would start winning majors more often than non LIV golfers, maybe I would be proven wrong that LIV is strictly a prepaid exhibition that de-incentivizes practice and expertise over time. I don’t feel like anyone, not Tiger, not Tom Brady, not Michael Jordan, could spend the whole year not competing and then just turn it on for the majors and be able to handle the pressure cooker. 

[fixyurdivot]

8 hours ago, ryan.mzzz said:

wasn’t this last year? Phil is in great shape. I feel like he could contend in majors for the next couple years. 

Agree, but not with his present game.  Watching him over the past 3 LIV events, he's just out of sorts and struggles to shoot par. His putting has been horrible and he seems to be constantly screwing around with new strokes, putters/shafts, etc.  Until he gets that back to the glory days, any hope of hanging with the yutes and repeating the miracle will be a.... well, miracle.

[Middler]

1 hour ago, ryan.mzzz said:

i have to say I think you’re selling the man short. He doesn’t seem old to me, and as long as he keeps his physicality, which he seems to be doing, as one of the highest skilled golfers of all time, he should have a real chance. While I do not believe that world golf ranking points should ever be awarded at LIV events,  I do hope the golfing community respects the exemptions already earned by the players who have earned them, because they’ve earned them, and also because then we can see how they do in majors. If the LIV guys would start winning majors more often than non LIV golfers, maybe I would be proven wrong that LIV is strictly a prepaid exhibition that de-incentivizes practice and expertise over time. I don’t feel like anyone, not Tiger, not Tom Brady, not Michael Jordan, could spend the whole year not competing and then just turn it on for the majors and be able to handle the pressure cooker. 

The data suggests otherwise…but keep wishing. Phil is done, and since he’s joined LIV no one will have data that proves he’s no longer a contender, so he can continue his BS. Phil Mickelson has never been ranked #1 in the world. The closest he came was on April 30, 2001 when he was ranked #2 - 21 years ago.

[shootmyage]

i know phil  ( like all pros do ) keeps a lot of records and notes on every round he has played , like the irons and woods and putters he used through the years

now that callaway has him on hold since feb he should look back at the clubs he played best with and give them a try , i sure he has 25-30 sets .

i don't keep notes like that but i try to remember the ones i liked , in the last 5 years i have had at least 5-8 newer drivers/irons / putters from different mfrs that i have bought and did not like , i always end up going back to my srixon z355 irons and cobra f7+ driver , i do use a tm  bandon 3 putter that i really like ..

like i said phil should practice 90% of his shots hitting the ball straight , that's the hardest thing  in golf to do , fades and draws are easy unless you are a couple degrees off as we all know what  happens  then , ask phil .

i am a triple 85 golfer-- age 85 , swing speed on a good day 85 , score on 6000 -6200 course 85 or under .

5 hio in tournaments 165-185-200-220-225

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by shootmyage

[ryan.mzzz]

1 hour ago, Middler said:

The data suggests otherwise…but keep wishing. Phil is done, and since he’s joined LIV no one will have data that proves he’s no longer a contender, so he can continue his BS. Phil Mickelson has never been ranked #1 in the world. The closest he came was on April 30, 2001 when he was ranked #2 - 21 years ago.

that chart is hard to argue with, but I will just say that chart confirms that phil was in the top 10 for essentially all of his physical prime years, and I had the feeling last year that phil, still having all the physical tools, and, as long as he could improve his decision making process, he could turn his skills and knowledge of the game to his advantage in a winning fashion. if he’s still constantly tinkering and second guessing himself, not putting his best foot forward, that’s a shame. 

[shootmyage]

mickelson will  have a good score today , wearing shorts like at asu 

[fixyurdivot]

7 minutes ago, shootmyage said:

mickelson will  have a good score today , wearing shorts like at asu 

Very early in the coverage but, thus far, it looks like a 50/50 split on the shorts vs. pants amongst the field. Poulter seemed the most excited... I wonder how many takes to get the perfect leap of joy?   Rumor is that he already has a tailor back home sewing up a bunch of plaids.

And, we now have a new signature thing going on in pro golf.  Mr. Goooooooch, meet the "Wolfe Howl".

 

[Thin2win]

23 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

And, we now have a new signature thing going on in pro golf.  Mr. Goooooooch, meet the "Wolfe Howl".

The Wolfe Howl on his HIO was pretty awesome and fun.  Love that crowd involvement.

But, LIV needs to develop a different story line and quickly.  big payouts isn't a story that has legs to interest people.  For sure gets their attention,  but you need something to keep it.  Maybe this off season they polish up the team side of it,  or add match play weeks.  maybe they decide to put on a $100 million dollar event scheduled for 2 weeks after the fed ex cup. Call it a major and invite all the top players regardless off tour affiliation.  Since the pga tour will be in off season not sure how that would play out.

I think the pga tour has done enough to keep it the top dog for stroke play events. The Majors are firmly safe.  LIV needs to find its spot.  My vote for favorite format is what the ncaa does for its championship,  some stroke play to determine the top teams and the individual winner,  then team match play for the team winner. Not sure how you condense that into 3 days.  But it could be done.

 

[chisag]

4 minutes ago, Thin2win said:

But, LIV needs to develop a different story line and quickly. 

 

... LIV should add this to their schedule and all players are required to compete.  it would be a perfect fit:

 https://abc.com/shows/holey-moley

[fixyurdivot]

13 minutes ago, Thin2win said:

maybe they decide to put on a $100 million dollar event scheduled for 2 weeks after the fed ex cup. Call it a major and invite all the top players regardless off tour affiliation. 

That is a crazy good idea and would be one hellava marketing strategy.  

Louie needs to stay with the pantaloons.

Also, seeing quite a few players still sporting their sponsors attire... thought they were all getting dumped? 

[RickyBobby_PR]

6 hours ago, ryan.mzzz said:

i have to say I think you’re selling the man short. He doesn’t seem old to me, and as long as he keeps his physicality, which he seems to be doing, as one of the highest skilled golfers of all time, he should have a real chance. While I do not believe that world golf ranking points should ever be awarded at LIV events,  I do hope the golfing community respects the exemptions already earned by the players who have earned them, because they’ve earned them, and also because then we can see how they do in majors. If the LIV guys would start winning majors more often than non LIV golfers, maybe I would be proven wrong that LIV is strictly a prepaid exhibition that de-incentivizes practice and expertise over time. I don’t feel like anyone, not Tiger, not Tom Brady, not Michael Jordan, could spend the whole year not competing and then just turn it on for the majors and be able to handle the pressure cooker. 

Never said anything about his age. I was talking about his game and his ability to compete. His results show that he can’t compete on the PGA tour or with the current crop of LIv golfers on a weekly basis. He might find a round to two here and there where he plays well but he is well past competitive.

3 hours ago, ryan.mzzz said:

that chart is hard to argue with, but I will just say that chart confirms that phil was in the top 10 for essentially all of his physical prime years, and I had the feeling last year that phil, still having all the physical tools, and, as long as he could improve his decision making process, he could turn his skills and knowledge of the game to his advantage in a winning fashion. if he’s still constantly tinkering and second guessing himself, not putting his best foot forward, that’s a shame. 

Nobody is doubting how good Phil was. He’s not that guy anymore.

Phil is 52. His decision making isn’t going to change and really it’s probably going to be more aggressive than before.

[Bang60]

6 hours ago, shootmyage said:

i know phil  ( like all pros do ) keeps a lot of records and notes on every round he has played , like the irons and woods and putters he used through the years

now that callaway has him on hold since feb he should look back at the clubs he played best with and give them a try , i sure he has 25-30 sets .

i don't keep notes like that but i try to remember the ones i liked , in the last 5 years i have had at least 5-8 newer drivers/irons / putters from different mfrs that i have bought and did not like , i always end up going back to my srixon z355 irons and cobra f7+ driver , i do use a tm  bandon 3 putter that i really like ..

like i said phil should practice 90% of his shots hitting the ball straight , that's the hardest thing  in golf to do , fades and draws are easy unless you are a couple degrees off as we all know what  happens  then , ask phil .

i am a triple 85 golfer-- age 85 , swing speed on a good day 85 , score on 6000 -6200 course 85 or under .

5 hio in tournaments 165-185-200-220-225

 

That's the beezzz neezzz buddy, wishing I'm still playing in 15 years. Congrats...

[Middler]

15 hours ago, chisag said:

 

... LIV should add this to their schedule and all players are required to compete.  it would be a perfect fit:

 https://abc.com/shows/holey-moley

Probably too dIgnified for LIV.

I’ve reached the point I’m tired of the whole LIV v PGA saga, but I know it’s going to take years to resolve, and I won’t be able to look away entirely. In the meantime I’ve quit reading LIV news and never watched it other than a few minutes of the first event. I couldn’t care less about most of the LIV players, only three I was sad to see defect.

[shootmyage]

i watch all the golf tournaments i can , i have watched the lpga play in saudi  arabia , i watched rory mcllroy win a tournament in china , i don't care where they are playing or who is playing , big money on both sides are making a joke of golf

i can't wait until brandon matthews gets on the tour with his long drives , he drove the green on a 432 yard par 4 , good grief .

i love golf much more than the pga tour or liv tour

Edited September 4, 2022 by shootmyage

[fixyurdivot]

Yes, I watched a little of the KF event and saw Brandon Matthews for the first time.  That was a drive that would even get Bryson's attention.   It was very similar to the one BAD made at Bay Hill. Both of his playing partners saying "yea, I don't have that shot in the bag" 

Still quite a few long pant holdouts but I think a few more made the switch to shorts today.  You know, as old school as I generally am about things, this option seems long overdue.  While they may not make this change because it will appear as a follow LIV Golf move, the PGA should.  It's just got to be more comfortable on those sweltering hot and humid days. I'm not sure I'll live to see the day Augusta allows shorts however .  There is an interesting mix of socks being worn - good chance this becomes the newest fashion statement in short order.  Logo socks perhaps? 

Apparently Captain Team Aces (DJ) told the squad to wear pants - at least according to Pat Perez.  Perhaps Dustin is a little superstitious? 4 Aces is on track to win their 3rd team win in succession... don't mess with what's working.

 

[RickyBobby_PR]

Everyone raved about Hank Keuhne and his distance. How’s that work out. Hitting a hero shot on a hole where he needed to make a score is a lot different than doing it regularly and competing with the best.

there’s several guys on tour that can hit a lot farther than they do but they have things dialed back for the course.

Kyke Berkshire’s playing swing speed is 145mph. He’s a pretty descent on course golfer but isn’t fully dedicated to making a run at pro golf yet

 

[fixyurdivot]

8 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Everyone raved about Hank Keuhne and his distance. How’s that work out. Hitting a hero shot on a hole where he needed to make a score is a lot different than doing it regularly and competing with the best.

there’s several guys on tour that can hit a lot farther than they do but they have things dialed back for the course.

Kyke Berkshire’s playing swing speed is 145mph. He’s a pretty descent on course golfer but isn’t fully dedicated to making a run at pro golf yet

 

Oh yea, valid point.  But still, wouldn't you love to have that gear in the tranny? Hold my beer... watch this. 

[Bang60]

1 hour ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Everyone raved about Hank Keuhne and his distance. How’s that work out. Hitting a hero shot on a hole where he needed to make a score is a lot different than doing it regularly and competing with the best.

 

For me I want to see the long (Hero) drives because I've lost 60ish metres, I always went for the short par 4's for the risk reward shot. Percentage wise not good but 2times outa 10 was thrilling and worth it to me, bring it on I say and I'll keep trying lol....

[MacTourney]

22 minutes ago, Bang60 said:

For me I want to see the long (Hero) drives because I've lost 60ish metres, I always went for the short par 4's for the risk reward shot. Percentage wise not good but 2times outa 10 was thrilling and worth it to me, bring it on I say and I'll keep trying lol....

That's the spirit, 2 out of 10 isn't quite Meatloaf %, but like you say, bring it on!  Bring the course to its knees.

[RickyBobby_PR]

40 minutes ago, Bang60 said:

For me I want to see the long (Hero) drives because I've lost 60ish metres, I always went for the short par 4's for the risk reward shot. Percentage wise not good but 2times outa 10 was thrilling and worth it to me, bring it on I say and I'll keep trying lol....

Professional golf isn’t about hero shots. Those are rare occurrences unless one is named Phil Mickelson and that type of shot has cost him wins.

Those types of shots are like bubba from pine straw, Spieth at The Open.

they are obviously fun which is why most amateurs try them more than they should.

The point is just because a guy like Matthews took an aggressive line and pulled it off. If he didn’t he wouldn’t be talked about. Lots of guys have distance doesn't make them automatically good pga tour players.

Cameron Champ is another example. Guy can pound the ball. Hast resulted in a great career. He’s ranked outside the top 125 and missed a bunch of cuts in his career. Iirc he’s missed at least 10 cuts in 3 of the last 4 years, which is close to 50% of the time.

 

[fixyurdivot]

What a fantastic finish, a nail-biter horse race to the wire.  A stacked leaderboard with five players jockeying back and forth trying to hold off the pack. This was easily among the top 10 most entertaining events I've watched this season - and I have watched many.  Anyone claiming these guys hearts aren't in it and have no motivation to win simply aren't watching or choose to let the background story cloud an objective position.  LIV haters are going to hate, to each their own.  I'm looking forward to @GolfSpy Barbajo's first hand experience commentary. 

A major heartbreak ending for Westy who shot 62 and, for a few minutes, looked like it was going to end his way. He fats his approach on the last hole into the trap and missed the putt to get into the the first playoff with Johnson, Lahiri, and Niemann.  And what an amazing 30 foot winning eagle putt that could have easily went 10 feet past the hole and with Lahiri only 4 feet from a birdie.  The putt bounced 4 inches vertical before dropping.  Congratulations DJ!

The team aspect has solidified its place on my "like" list. It seemed a bit gimmicky to be at first, but no longer. I would be very surprised if the PGA dosen't adopt a team format. They too were jockeying back and forth right up to the last couple of holes; when Reed finally found his putter and played large down the stretch.  

Already looking forward to the Chicago event at Rich Harvest Farms.

[Thin2win]

Event 4, Final round... was fun golf to watch. Smith was on fire, Westwood flirted with a 60 and DJ wins with an eagle on the first playoff hole. Feel for Lahiri missing that putt at the end of regulation for the win.

[fixyurdivot]

8 minutes ago, Thin2win said:

Event 4, Final round... was fun golf to watch. Smith was on fire, Westwood flirted with a 60 and DJ wins with an eagle on the first playoff hole. Feel for Lahiri missing that putt at the end of regulation for the win.

I felt bad for Pat Perez.  He was in contention up until Bubba interviewed him coming off the turn.  It wouldn't surprise me if hires personal security to keep that from happening again .  But, his third $750,000 check for the team win will help soften the blow.