LIV Golf future in focus as Poulter, Westwood, Stenson start new season in Mexico

Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Henrik StensonGetty Images

LIV has not added stellar names this winter to join Ryder Cup players such as (L-R) Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson

By Iain Carter
BBC golf correspondent

Which line-up gets your backing? Dustin Johnson's 4Aces? The Majesticks of Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood? Ripper GC led by Open champion Cameron Smith? Or is it one of the other nine teams competing in the newly branded LIV Golf League?

Or, perhaps, you could not care less about LIV's new season, which starts in Mexico on Friday?

If that proves the case on a global scale, it spells trouble for the Saudi Arabian-funded start-up.

After eight tournaments in its initial 2022 season, the circuit will be played over 14 events worth a combined $405m (£335m) this year.

There will be greater emphasis on the team competition, which is seen as key to LIV's future. The 48 players compete as individuals - chasing $20m (£16.5m) purses at each event - but remain part of a dozen four-man teams.

LIV see these 12 entities as investment opportunities that could ultimately generate a return on the approximate $2bn (£1.65bn) that has already been ploughed in by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).

Players will wear branded gear and LIV expects these to become essential items for dedicated fans.

"The most popular sports in the world are team sports," said LIV Golf League CEO Greg Norman.

"And our league format has already begun to build connections with new audiences around the globe.

"Major champions, current and future Hall of Famers, and up-and-coming stars are all committed to creating this new platform for world-class competition as the sport evolves for the next generation."

It is a blueprint aimed at attracting wealthy backers, who could ultimately provide the pathway to justify PIF's massive investment.

"You can't get away from cricket's Indian Premier League, this is what this is based on isn't it?" former agent and promoter Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler told BBC Sport.

"Every IPL team has a high-profile, very rich owner. That is where I think this has to go if it is going to succeed and that's where the value comes."

The LIV campaign is resuming after an unsettling close season, during which the PGA Tour outlined a series of designated events worth an average of $20m (£16.5m) to keep their biggest stars happy.

In contrast at LIV, several executives departed, including director of franchises Matt Goodman, chief of communications Jonathan Grella and chief operating officer Atul Khosla.

Khosla stated last October there would be more recruits from the world top 20 as well as major television and sponsorship deals before the new season, which starts at El Camaleon in Mayakoba.

However the new arrivals are from a lower strata; South Americans Mito Pereira and Sebastian Munoz are ranked 50 and 98 respectively in the world, American Brendan Steele is 124th, New Zealand's Danny Lee 267th, South African Dean Burmester 63rd and Belgium's Thomas Pieters 35th.

Their rankings will all plummet unless or until LIV events gain ranking points, something that will be considered by the organisers of the four majors who next meet at April's Masters.

"It's a big year for LIV," Chandler added. "The PGA Tour has done so much to keep going forward, now LIV have got to find a few gems and Pieters doesn't quite fit that bill.

"They've got to keep adding to their roster or it will be very dull, won't it? There's a lot depending on what they do this year. They have to make this team thing more interesting."

Pieters has been signed because of a long-term injury to American Hudson Swafford while England's Laurie Canter, dropped for this season, gets an early start as a replacement for the injured Martin Kaymer.

LIV undoubtedly exceeded expectations by recruiting major winners such as Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau in 2022. They are players who would have been vying for this year's US Ryder Cup team.

The likes of Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson, Graeme McDowell, Paul Casey, Poulter and Westwood all signed lucrative deals that were made more understandable given their relatively advanced years.

But is this line-up enough to attract significant audiences to the American CW channel, a network that has been likened to 'Dave' in the UK?

It is a revenue-sharing rather than rights deal that will require the golf audience in the US to seek their sport from an unfamiliar spot on the remote control pad.

How LIV can be watched in other territories, including the UK, remains unclear - although more television deals are promised.

A first sponsorship agreement has been announced, with EasyPost becoming the official shipping solutions partner of LIV Golf.

"Their innovative approach to golf will bring the sport to a broader range of spectators, and that's something we are excited to get behind," says EasyPost boss Sam Hancock.

This is a typical narrative and is centred around LIV being able to tap into a new and younger audience. Does such a thing exist and if it does, is it already being served?

It looked as if it was at the recent and raucous WM Open in Phoenix.

Indeed, the action on the PGA Tour and in the Middle East on the DP World Tour so far this year has been captivating, with the biggest names involved in thrilling finishes. LIV has to find a way to compete with an emboldened status quo.

"The public will decide in the end," Chandler said. "They'll either watch on TV or not; they'll either go to the tournaments or not.

"To keep going LIV has to get stronger, it can't be as is forever or it'll disappear in two or three years time."

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