By Matt Hardy
It’s fair to say that LIV Golf has been the metaphorical banished sister of the traditional golf tours since its inception in 2021. It was cast aside, discarded and looked down upon by many on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour. But Sunday evening may have been the moment when LIV Golf shattered the golfing glass ceiling.
Bryson DeChambeau hit an astonishing 58 – 13 birdies and one bogey in a 12-under-par round – at Greenbrier to seal his first LIV Golf win.
It was a score that only five others have ever achieved professionally, and it led to a 54-hole score of 23-under-par. Incredible.
LIV Golf on the rise
When LIV Golf burst onto the scene as the noisy neighbour to the traditional tours, it was slapped down for being a money project – some would argue the Saudi Arabia-supported league still is.
When it saw a range of winners in its first season some said it wasn’t competitive enough.
And when it produced its first major winner – Brooks Koepka winning his fifth major at this year’s PGA Championship – many finally took notice.
Since that win by Koepka at Oak Hill, however, golf has started to participate in a chapter of happy families.
In early June a form of merger was announced between LIV, the PGA and the DP World Tour, whereby any new investment would first need to be refused by the Public Investment Fund before the sport looked elsewhere.
That huge conglomerate of sporting leagues hasn’t, though, stopped some animosity towards LIV Golf, though its bigger critics – including Rory McIlroy – have softened their tone.
So Sunday’s 58 by DeChambeau was more significant than many would have otherwise expected.
Glass ceiling
It was LIV Golf’s gotcha moment, where they demonstrated they have the quality and ability to stand on the same stage as the world’s two other major tours. It was never a question of names; DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Ian Poulter, Cameron Smith and Dustin Johnson all sit among the quality players on the LIV Golf tour.
But it was a question of whether such a radical change to the norms could have a lasting impact on the sport.
It has done that now.
LIV Golf can now stand on the golfing stage alongside its competitors – which it technically owns now – and be able to show there is extraordinary golf on the tour.
Sometimes names and variety in winners aren’t enough, so the sheer record matching performances just carry more. And behind DeChambeau at Greenbrier it was extremely close.
Chilean Mito Pereira finished second, six shots back, on 17-under-par while three players, including England’s Richard Bland were one shot back.
Six further players made the top 10 places, either solo or tied.
LIV Golf can shout and scream about itself now knowing others cannot bite back; they’ve developed a rebel competition where records are being broken. And that’s key.
LIV appears to be here to stay and, no matter what deal comes from the merger with the other tours, it’s going nowhere anytime soon. And maybe we should revel in that.
