Matt Smith Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

LIV up to standards after series gets off to sensational start

Matt Smith — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 05:42:34 +0000

Greg Norman’s game-changing series opens with a London spectacle

By Matt Smith
They said it would never happen. They said it was pie in the sky. They said it was “dead in the water”.

Yet come Thursday June 9, 2022, the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter teed it up for the richest tournament in golf history.

Sure, this was an event that was not short on controversy, given it was the first of eight events this year offering a total purse of $250 million and dangling a $4 million carrot to the winner.

It certainly caused more than a ripple over in the States, with the PGA issuing bans for its players competing at Centurion Club, just outside London, shortly after the 2.15pm shotgun start in leafy St Albans.

Those ripples came back across the pond to England and a stiff, pre-prepared statement was online within minutes. Lines were drawn.

“Today’s announcement by the PGA Tour is vindictive and it deepens the divide between the Tour and its members,” LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman said. “It’s troubling that the Tour, an organisation dedicated to creating opportunities for golfers to play the game, is the entity blocking golfers from playing. This certainly is not the last word on this topic. The era of free agency is beginning as we are proud to have a full field of players joining us in London, and beyond.”

Then came the sledgehammers: Bryson DeChambeau was unveiled. Then Patrick Reed (and Pat Perez, but we will leave that for now). The gloves were off and the spectacle went on in England.

And what a spectacle it was. This was a tournament more akin to an F1 afternoon in Abu Dhabi rather than a normal PGA or DP World Tour event.

Getty Images

The shotgun start, festival park and full-on access to the players gave fans an unprecedented experience.

Norman (LIV CEO and former world No. 1) was strutting around knowing something big was actually happening after a brief, impressive few months of planning.

There were airshows, competitions, activations, golf sims and DJs. There were after-game concerts each night with some big names such as James Morrison, James Bay and Craig David rocking the summer sunsets (I noticed some ‘fans’ rocking up for the gigs alone and forgoing the actual reason why we were here – each to their own).

Glitz

It all began in a studio in London on Tuesday night as LIV proved it was going to be different and prove it had arrived.

Kirsty Gallagher — daughter of Ryder Cup legend Bernie — presented a team draft, led by captains such as Mickelson, Garcia and Louis Oosthuizen amid the glitz and glamour normally reserved by an NFL or NBA event.

The skippers selected their players — with the added pressure of a 54-second clock (they love the 54 theme) — and then we were set. It was actually happening.

The teams of four were ready to tee off for a gargantuan purse of $25 million for three days’ work over 54 holes, with no cut and every player guaranteed a pay day.

LIV do love the number 54 with their own name being the Roman numerals for the perfect under-par score over a day on the course, and also the number of holes played in each tournament. Majed Al Sorour, the CEO of the Saudi Golf Federation, event offered $54 million to any player who can hit the perfect score (his money is safe).

This all added to the camaraderie vibe that coursed over the, erm, course. The fans were loving the fact they had two leaderboards to check — individual and team — and they all seemed to feel they were part of something new as the shotgun start meant you could not take your eyes off the action for a second. “Don’t blink” is one of the LIV slogans. They were bang on.

South African charge

As it panned out, Charl Schwartzel went home with a collective $4.75 million in his pocket. Actually I am pretty sure every one of the 48 players went home happy as the magical ‘no-cut’ meant that even last-man Andy Ogletree hopped back to the States with $125,000 after a poor 24-over over 54 — yep, that number again — holes.

Getty Images

On the course

It was a bit of a South African party in England as the Oosthuizen Stingers team block-booked the podium.

Schwartzel took top spot, holding off the unheralded Hennie du Plessis by a stroke on seven-under. Fellow Stinger and South African Branden Grace took third spot.

Oosthuizen, who himself finished a tidy T10, joked on the podium: “This is why a captain is so important. None of them would be here if it wasn’t for me.”

Quite a week for the South Africans.

Portland delivers

The series went on to Portland at the end of July, where Branden Grace claimed the second LIV tournament and Dustin Johnson’s 4 Aces took home the team title. Next up is Bedminster, New Jersey from July 29.

The post LIV up to standards after series gets off to sensational start appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Old faces and new at Golf Digest Middle East

Matt Smith — Wed, 11 May 2022 10:59:12 +0000

Golf Digest Middle East enters new era

By Matt Smith
It is with great excitement and honour that I take over the helm of such a prodigious title as Golf Digest Middle East, and hope to continue
the journey we have all enjoyed under my editorial predecessors Kent Gray and Robbie Greenfield.

These are no small shoes to fill as we have charted the growth of the game over 13 years and 154 editions of the Middle East’s No. 1 golf publication. We will be part of plenty more to come as golf continues to break new ground in the UAE, Middle East and further afield.

More about the ‘new’ soon, but let’s begin with the ‘old’ and familiar, as timely as it is to my own journey thus far.

It is somewhat appropriate that my arrival at Golf Digest Middle East sees the spotlight in the sport dominated by one man — and it isn’t the one that won the Masters title and the famous green at Augusta National in April. Instead it is the man that already has five golf’s most sought-after garments hanging up at home.

The guy who had fans clamouring for a glimpse of his practice-round swing as part of a record-breaking Masters Monday crowd was one of the reasons I got into the sport. He has been hitting fairways, greens and — sometimes shocking — headlines ever since, and well before I first saw him play at the Open Championship at Royal Troon way back in 1997, when I was a beginning to find my way as a young(ish) hack.

Of course, I am referring to Tiger Woods as he once again proved why he is simply in a world of his own on and off the course, just by managing to tee it up at the 86th edition of the Masters last month. Tiger — a man who has made a career out of defying the odds — staged arguably his most astounding chapter yet when he carded a one-under-par 71 on Masters Thursday, only 408 days after he almost lost his legs and his life in a horrendous car crash in Los Angeles.

When Tiger claimed his fifth Masters title and 15th major in staggering style in 2019 following a series of near-career-ending operations on his spine and creaking legs, the question was who, if anyone, could ever top such a comeback.

Well, there simply was only one man who could, and that was Tiger himself.

Even lining up over that first tee shot on the first hole last month on legs that now seem to be more metal than flesh and bone is an astounding achievement in itself, let alone making the cut while honed athletes half his age and less were packing their bags after round two.

Following his 12-over weekend and a 47th-place finish, the six-deep crowds around the 18th were something we usually only witnessed for the outright winner. That says something about Woods’ longevity with the dedicated fans as well as his own body.

Following the Augusta frenzy, Tiger will go back to his more secluded lifestyle, work on strengthening his legs further and await the next circus, perhaps at the US Open or Open Championship. With a quiet schedule and cherry-picked events ahead of the remaining majors this year — including at a happy hunting ground on the Old Course at St Andrews — who is to say the old cat is done just yet?

And on to the ‘new’. We are also witnessing an exciting time closer to home with the next generation. Dubai-based youngsters Josh Hill and Toby Bishop are about to embark on their own journey, breaking new ground for the region, thanks to golf scholarships at the University of Tennessee and University of Florida respectively. We are also watching the emergence of a host of promising Saudi youngsters including Faisal Salhab and Saud Al Shariff, who are making great strides.

As Josh showed at the recent UAE Swing, it seems we are getting ever closer to crowning our own locally created champions.

So as Golf Digest enters a new era, it seems our next generation of hopes from the UAE and beyond are striking out on their own, too.

You might also like:
New twist in LIV Golf tale
Sensational finish at Dubai Golf Trophy
Sergio Garcia ‘can’t wait to quit PGA Tour’
LIV Golf: Bland’s British Masters title defence takes a twist
Westwood and ‘many more’ request release to play LIV Golf Invitational Series
Look: Phil Mickelson spotted on golf course
Tiger Woods plays Southern Hills ahead of PGA Championship
LIV Golf Invitational Series continues to take shape
Trump to host LIV finale
Greg Norman rejected by R&A for Open Championship
Report: First PGA Tour player request to play LIV Golf events

The post Old faces and new at Golf Digest Middle East appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.