LIV Golf is back in town. Not so long ago (2022) thems was fightin’ words. Pro and anti-LIV factions (mostly anti) couldn’t stop talking about the Saudi golf project aimed at taking over world golf. Back then LIV was viewed as an existential threat to the PGA Tour. Golf traditionalists everywhere were freaking out, as the Saudi Public Investment Fund kept throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at big-name PGA Tour players to convince them to defect to the upstart tour.
People asked me if I attended the first LIV tournament at Rich Harvest Farms in 2022. When I told them, “Yes,” some looked at me as if I’d consorted with the enemy. “My journalistic duty,” I assured them. Others said, “I did, too, but don’t tell anybody.” Cameron Smith, who’d won the British Open a couple of months earlier, won at Jerry Rich’s course in Sugar Grove. The next year, Bryson DeChambeau won there.
These days, LIV Golf no longer arouses such passions. The TV ratings are sub-par. The last big-name player they poached was Spaniard Jon Rahm, the former U.S. Open and Masters champion who won at Bolingbrook Golf Club last year and will be back to defend his title there Aug. 8-10. A couple of Euros and at least one American will be on their respective Ryder Cup teams.
In the interim, the Tour made a deal with a U.S.-based sports investment group (SSG), which agreed to put up an initial $1.5 billion to maximize the value of PGA Tour golf as a private enterprise. That seems to have forestalled more defections. Meanwhile, the PGA Tour has essentially adopted LIV’s business model – limited fields with no cuts – to continue shoveling money at its top stars. Count me among golf purists – including some PGA Tour players – who hate it. Recently, the Saudis off-loaded the polarizing Greg Norman, replacing him with longtime sports industry executive Scott O’Neil. The PGA Tour recently announced that former NFL No. 2 Brian Rolapp will replace PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. Maybe these two Harvard Business School dudes can bring the game back together. We can hope.
Bolingbrook drew decent crowds last year, including a new U.S. attendance record for the league. Not the mass of humanity the BMW Championship attracts when it returns to Chicago on occasion. Not even as large as the small-market John Deere Classic crowds of 2025. But enough to make it feel like a real pro golf event. Point is Chicago people in the southwest suburbs love attending golf tournaments. Hanging out in the skybox, listening to music, having a few beverages and glancing out at a golf superstar now and then is a great way to spend a summer day. Bolingbrook and the surrounding area has a large population. Many likely will be out to enjoy some of golf’s biggest names again this year. And no one will be upset about it.
Speaking of Rahm, our friend Teddy Greenstein wrote our cover story about him this month. Those of you who perused newspaper bylines will recall Teddy from his days as golf writer for the Chicago Tribune. He covered the fan-free 2020 COVID BMW Championship at Olympia Fields on behalf of the Trib when the hulking Spaniard took down Dustin Johnson with a 66-foot putt in a sudden death playoff. Now Teddy takes a look at Rahm and what lies ahead should he ever receive the keys to the city.
Perhaps you’ve noticed the Presidents Cup is coming to Medinah Country Club next September. Then again in the midst of a Ryder Cup year there hasn’t been a lot of hype. Brandt Snedeker isn’t the sort of celebrity name that drives a big-city hype machine, meaning he didn’t come upon his captaincy by virtue of his marketability. It was something else. Something special. George McNeilly, who has been following the PGA Tour as a broadcaster and writer for decades, explains how Snedeker got the job and how he intends to execute.
“Did you know we have a publisher in Chicago who specializes in golf books?” our loyal correspondent and accomplished author David A.F. Sweet asked me one day. “Of course I didn’t, David. That’s why I have guys like you to tell me,” I replied. That’s when David told me about Jim Sitar, founder of Back Nine Press. As someone who enjoys holding a magazine in your hand, I think you’ll enjoy learning about Sitar’s background and the kind of golf books he’s bringing your way. Courtesy of David Sweet, of course.
The Illinois State Amateur, conducted by the CDGA, always provides drama, and this year’s edition at Stonebridge Country Club in Aurora was no exception. Tim Cronin has the breakdown of this “never say never” golf story.
And we’re previewing next month’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black on Long Island, New York with a Final Word column by former New York Daily News golf writer Hank Gola, who recently released the book “Ryder Cup Rivals: The Fiercest Battles for Golf’s Holy Grail.” Guaranteed Hank knows what he’s talking about.
