’15k Is a Record? It is moving only upwards for the Greg Norman-led circuit in the golf world.
However, there is no comparison between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour. The latter has been around for many decades and it is just the third season for the PIF-backed league in the golf world. However, as it has been a trend since the start of LIV Golf, they have been put against the PGA Tour on every matter, and now the Greg Norma-led circuit is celebrating a new milestone.
The breakaway league is in Chicago to crown the individual champions of the 2024 season and has hit a new exciting number. On the second day, LIV Golf Chicago, held at Bolingbrook Golf Club, had more than 15,000 fans in attendance. To PGA Tour’s hundred thousand, it may sound low, but it is a record for LIV Golf’s US-based events. For global events, LIV Golf Adelaide holds the record for 94,000 fans watching the event live counting 3 days. The previous record was 14k on Saturday and Sunday each at LIV Golf Nashville.
Nonetheless, it was another big milestone for the Norman-led league, as early in the year they also hit the most TV ratings. The final round of LIV Golf Mayakoba acquired around 432k people watching on The CW Network. However, this too was put to shame as the golf world regarded the only reason LIV could reach that number was that the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am was cut short to 54 holes because of inclement weather.
As it goes, the 15,000 milestone was made fun of by the netizens as well. The golf world was not appreciative of it as much as the league was celebrating the moment.
Netizens downplay LIV Golf’s record
One golf enthusiast was stunned that LIV Golf was celebrating just 15k people turning up to its season-final event, which will crown the individual champion and give him the 5.78 carat Ben Baller ring which will have the winning moment engrained via QR code. They sarcastically said, “15k is a record? Lol….my lord”. Despite the low number, another user appreciated that the league posted the real numbers. As has been the case in the past, LIV Golf was alleged to hide TV ratings. Thus, they said, “wow you finally gave an attendance number … still lacking but at least you are transparent .. sadly the number could be 35k and liv would still lose money”.
While LIV Golf plays in Chicago, another massive event, the 19th Solheim Cup has been an attraction in Virginia at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. And the patriotic event has garnered more fans than LIV Golf Chicago, per reports more than 130,000 fans were expected to hit the Solheim Cup grounds in Virginia. Hence, this fan compared the one to another and commented, “Less than half the @TheSolheimCup attendance”. Another fan disregarded the record set by LIV and just said, “No thanks”.
It sounded more like a backhanded compliment coming from this sure. Although they regarded the record as something, the netizen also did not acknowledge the league as a legit circuit as the PGA Tour. It has been the thing in the golf world that since LIV Golf had an unconventional format (only 54 holes), with limited field, and an always high prize purse, the netizens have refused to accept it as a league as the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour. Similarly, this fan also said, “Not bad for exhibition golf”.
It has been three long years for LIV Golf to acquire at least 15k people to turn up at its US events, yet the success has had people make fun of it. It seems that the league would require more years in the golf world for people to soften more towards it and celebrate its accomplishments.
