The LIV Tour – the most controversial traveling circus in sporting history – will soon be on Australian shores, but will it be good for Australian golf?
the main points:
- The LIV Tour will be coming to Adelaide for an event in April
- Australian golf legend Carrie Webb is puzzled over whether the controversial Tour will be good for the sport in this country
- While it will boost the sport’s profile, Webb is concerned about the origin of the Tour’s funding and the lack of opportunities it will provide young Australian golfers.
The Saudi-backed breakaway golf league will descend on Adelaide in April for the third event of the inaugural LIV Golf League, where 48 of the world’s best players will battle it out for a staggering $20 million prize.
LIV, in which Australian legend Greg Norman serves as CEO, has ignited heated controversy since its launch. Australian golf legend Carrie Webb has been divided over whether she will be good for the sport in this country.
“I think it would be nice to have golf in Australia in April when it isn’t, and that puts golf in the headlines,” Webb told ABC Grandstand.
“Once the summer of golf is over here, the only headlines are whether the Aussie does well overseas.
“It’s good that Adelaide has such a big event, I loved it when we played there at the Australian Open all those years – the South Australian fans were a huge support, so it’s great for them and great to have the best Australian players back.
“But in terms of giving opportunities to other young Australians to play, it doesn’t. The 48 players travel around the world and play together and they don’t provide any opportunities other than [for] Those 48.
“If you look at it as good for golf, what avenues are good for golf? Some are good and some aren’t. You can choose it however you want.”
Webb said her main point of contention with the LIV concept was how the dizzying contracts offered to the world’s top players for defecting from the PGA Tour reinforced the worst side of golfing stereotypes.
And while there are aspects of the new tour that could help attract a new fan base to the sport Webb loves, the 48-year-old is uncomfortable with the way the Saudi Arabia-backed tour has been funded.
“The messages from the LIV tour are not what I would like to see about golf. Jumping from the most lucrative round and going to another round to get more money, that’s the stigma of golf we’re trying to get rid of — it’s a rich man’s sport,” Webb said. These messages are not the best.”
“But there are things about the LIV Tour that I think are compelling. The team aspect is compelling and can create new, younger fans.
“At the end of the day, I’m not against new competition in golf or new tours, it’s just the way it’s being handled and, for me, quite frankly the way it’s being funded.
“The way you’re funded is the biggest hurdle for me.”
Developing the sport in Australia is something close to Webb’s heart and she believes the crop of incoming female golfers is among the strongest the nation has ever produced.
With superstar Minjee Lee capturing another major championship last year and the likes of Hannah Green, Grace Kim and Steve Kiriakou shining bright, the future looks brighter than ever.
Webb said, “She (Mingie Lee) had a great year last year and really came into her own. I’m way ahead of her this year, she’s building a really great career, so I’m going to be looking for her to play well.” .
“I was looking for Hannah Green to break into the winners circle, other than not winning the LGPA, that was the only thing she didn’t do, it was her most consistent year.
“We have Steve Kiriakou, she played really well in her rookie year and it took her a couple of months to settle in but once she played really well.
“Gracie Kim, she’s a talent and a star in the making, I think she’s going to get through some nerves early in the LGPA early in the year, and she’s going into this big time.
“But she’s ready, she just has to think she’s ready to take the next step and once she thinks the sky’s the limit for her.”
Webb will take to the course herself at next month’s Victorian Open as she returns to the event for the first time since 2020.