Tuesday, June 14, 2022
The 48 players who braved the storm and took part in the initial LIV Golf Invitational in England made out sensationally - financially. Ocala's Louis Oosthuizen shot a less-than-spectacular 1-over-par 211 for 54 holes at the Centurion Club, tied for 10th, and brought $516,667 back to Marion County.Nice payday.
But what can the future of the Saudi-backed league be like if the sparse players numbers continue because too many stars continue to be loyal to the PGA Tour, which gave them the opportunity to become millionaires in the first place?
It's doubtful if spectators will hang around too long if future events wind up much like the first! Winner- Charl Schwartzel - $4 million; 2nd - Hennie (who?) du Plessis - $2,125,000; 3 - Branden Grace and Peter Uihlein - $1,275,000 each. Etc.
Event No. 1 would have been deemed much more successful if Phil Mickelson was in the top 3, but Phil went in the tank with rounds of 69-75-76-220, 10 over par, and tied for 33rd. Of course, he did collect $146,000. Or if Dustin Johnson had brought his best across the sea, but the best Paulina's hubby could muster up was 69-70-70-209 (1 under). Of course, that mediocre play earned him $625,000.
In the team competition, the Stingers finished first by 14 strokes and Schwartzel, du Plessis, Grace and Oostie split another $3 million, as if any of them needed it. The second-place Crushers split $1.5 million and third-place Majesticks split $500,000.
The money was flowing freely in England; unfortunately, birdies were not.
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