LIV Golf: Loud And Clear

I have been skeptical to this point of LIV golf. As a long time golf fan, all I have ever known is the PGA Tour or similar tours. LIV has pushed the idea that they are golf, but louder. After being out at round one of the Boston event at The International, I left surprised.

Golf, But Louder

I wouldn’t necessarily describe LIV as “louder”. Sure, there is a soft background of music playing at all times on the course, but it wasn’t loud. This is actually something the players seem to really love. After the round Joaquin Niemann and Talor Gooch were saying how much they love having the music while they play. Talor made the comparison to being out for a round with your friends and having music playing on a phone the whole time.

When asked about the difference between background noise and music, Niemann stated that music is predictable. He said you know the beat of the song and you know what is coming next. When fans are making noise around a green or tee box its more jarring because of its unpredictable nature.

Cameron Smith, arguably the biggest story coming in to this weekend, also had comments that were eye opening on the addition of music to play. “I feel like the crowd out there is almost on top of you with the music,” Smith said. “It feels like the course has a bit of a heartbeat. Yeah, it was very different I would say, but something that I really enjoyed, and I can’t wait for this to keep going onwards and upwards.”

Who Is Ready To Party?

The other way LIV has been described to me before this tournament has been as a party. I would have to disagree with that. A more appropriate word that myself and my cohost Bud Copeland were using all day was a tailgate. It didn’t have the feel of a loud hectic party filled with people at every turn. Sure we saw our occasional rowdy fan or group of fans, but as a whole it had a much more relax feel to it.

I was lucky enough to be standing right behind Matthew Wolff on number two when he hit his ace yesterday. Obviously after hitting it, the crowd went wild. What I noticed from Wolff though was how pure his celebration was. You could see it in his eyes how he let pressure and the weight of the golf world go in that moment.

How Golf Should Feel

Pure is the word I walked away from round one saying. It was not a word I would have thought I would ever say about the LIV Tour. It is a word I think some people may not be happy I am using to describe it. What pure does perfectly though is describe the feel you get from the players during their rounds. There is a level of calmness and looseness with how they move around the course.

The other very noticeable aspect about the crowd was how young it was and how many families were out there. We took note of how many strollers we saw and young kids running around playing with each other. There was a very family oriented feel to the entire day. It was something that the players also took notice of as Niemann says here, “I was surprised how young the whole crowd was. Yeah, it was a lot of electric atmosphere.”

After day one, I find myself surprised and excited for more. The undeniable fact about LIV is that the players are happy out there and they are still playing world class golf. I believe now that LIV is going to grow the sport of golf and that it will be able to separate from the PGA Tour. It is hard to think otherwise after seeing it with my own eyes.

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