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☆ Rippers roll in Adelaide as LIV lands Down Under
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, April 20 (Reuters) - After falling short in their bid to gatecrash the Masters, the stars of LIV Golf break fresh ground in Adelaide this weekend when they take the rebel tour to Australia for the first time. The fourth of the 14 events on the schedule in the second season of LIV Golf was all but guaranteed a warm reception Down Under, despite concerns in some quarters that its Saudi backers are engaged in "sportswashing". "Obviously we're going there to win," said the 29-year-old world number six, who defected to LIV for a reported $140 million after his British Open triumph last year. Former world number one and twice major champion Martin Kaymer will make his return after six months on the sidelines recovering from a wrist injury as captain of "Cleeks". Having been pointedly excluded from Augusta, LIV Golf Commissioner Greg Norman has been ubiquitous in the media in his homeland this week promoting his product.

☆ Tired Rahm working on Spanish-inspired Masters Champions dinner
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A tradition of Masters week is the previous year's winner choosing what is served when former champions gather on the Tuesday of tournament week in the clubhouse at Augusta National Golf Club. Rahm wants to talk with twice Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal, who is from the same part of Spain as him, to learn what he served at his Champions Dinners. While Rahm received plenty of congratulatory messages after his Masters win, a stand-out one came from 22-times Grand Slam tennis champion and compatriot Rafa Nadal. The 28-year-old Rahm said this year's Masters, where play was suspended early on two days because of weather, was demanding physically and mentally. If I was one of the kids, I would want to see the recent Masters champion play good or bad, just want to be there," said Rahm.

☆ Masters final-round telecast ratings hit five-year high
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 11 (Reuters) - The final-round Masters showdown between eventual victor Jon Rahm and LIV Golf's Brooks Koepka was the most-watched golf telecast on any network in five years, CBS said on Tuesday. The telecast, during which Rahm came back from a two-shot deficit on Sunday to win his second major and reclaim the world number one ranking, averaged 12.06 million viewers, up 19% compared with Scottie Scheffler's win at last year's Masters. Ratings for Rahm's victory peaked at more than 15 million viewers from 7:00-7:15 p.m ET (2300-2315 GMT), as Rahm was putting the finishing touches on his four-shot victory over Koepka and Phil Mickelson. The Masters has long been one of the most anticipated golf events, but the 2023 edition had added intrigue given it was the first since the start of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit, which drew in a prominent group of players like Koepka and Mickelson. Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Phil Mickelson Makes His Point With a Magical Masters
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Andrew Beaton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

AUGUSTA, Ga.—Midway through the Masters, Phil Mickelson made a prediction that was easy to write off, coming from a 52-year-old who spent the past year as a lightning rod for controversy and the face of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league. “I’m ready to go on a tear,” he said.

☆ Quinnipiac Shocked the College Hockey Universe in 10 Seconds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Jason Gay | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

I hope it isn’t too late to discuss the sporting event of the weekend, which really has a chance to go down as one of the greatest sporting events of the year. Not the golf Masters, though congratulations to the impressive first-time green jacket Jon Rahm—and also to second-place finisher Phil Mickelson, you crazy, slimmed-down, 52-year-old, 65-shooting Augusta National pirate.

☆ LIV Golf contingent leave mark on Masters leaderboard
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Frank Pingue | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Patrick Reed, who won the Masters in 2018, was a further shot back with a share of fourth, while Joaquin Niemann was the next best from LIV Golf as he ended up tied for 16th. This year's Masters was the first since LIV Golf launched last June, and 18 players from the lucrative circuit, whose 54-hole tournaments with no cuts have raised talk about their competitiveness, teed it up in the year's first major. Koepka said nobody should be surprised to see that he and his LIV Golf peers posed a threat at Augusta National, which is one of the game's biggest stages. Although it proved too little too late for Mickelson, the six-time major said he and the others from LIV Golf were not out to prove a point to other players in the field. Augusta National cleared the way last December for eligible players from LIV Golf to compete in the year's first major.

☆ Koepka extends Masters lead before round three suspended due to rain
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Frank Pingue | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/8] Golf - The Masters - Augusta National Golf Club - Augusta, Georgia, U.S. - April 8, 2023 Brooks Koepka of the U.S. after playing out from a bunker on the 7th hole during the third round REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstSummary Play to resume Sunday at 8:30 a.m. It marked the second consecutive day that rain interrupted play at the year's first major as 39 golfers returned early on Saturday to complete their second round. Play will resume Sunday at 8:30 a.m ET followed by the final round starting at 12:30 p.m. "I'm pretty sure I'll be up for it considering it is the Masters. Reporting by Frank Pingue in Augusta, Georgia; Editing by Ken Ferris, Pritha Sarkar and Toby DavisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A New Twist for the Tradition-Bound Masters: The LIV Golf Era
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Alan Blinder | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The mystery started in earnest last spring and lasted until autumn’s twilight. But Phil Mickelson — among the most famous frontmen for LIV Golf, the league bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund — insists that he believed he would be allowed to play the 2023 Masters Tournament, which opens Thursday. Never mind any discomfort, or how on-course rivalries had transformed into long-distance furies tinged by politics, power, pride and money. No, Mickelson reasoned, tradition would prevail at Augusta National Golf Club, surely among sports’ safest wagers. “I wasn’t really worried,” said Mickelson, who spent the 2022 Masters in a self-imposed sporting exile after he effectively downplayed Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses.

Public Investment Fund LIV Golf Trump World Performance54 LIV Golfers PLUS 45 OTHERS CONSULTANTS LAWYERS McKinsey & Company PwC Public Investment Fund Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan White & Case M. Klein & Company Teneo Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Majed al-Sorour Newcastle United Aramco Golf Saudi Benjamin Quayle Yasir al-Rumayyan Ari Fleischer Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LIV Golf Performance54 Trump World Greg Norman Donald J. Trump Gary Davidson Jed Moore Eric Trump Jared Kushner LIV Golfers Cameron Smith Phil Mickelson Dustin Johnson PLUS 45 OTHERSLIV Golf has cleaved men’s professional golf like no other force since the 1960s. Some of the world’s top players, including Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, have become the faces of LIV Golf. The Public Investment FundDiagram of the major figures in LIV Golf that are connected to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Public Investment Fund Jared Kushner’s firm accepted a $2 billion investment from the Public Investment Fund. LIV Golf Trump World Eric Trump Jared Kushner Donald J. Trump Public Investment Fund Jared Kushner’s firm accepted a $2 billion investment from the Public Investment Fund.

☆ Scheffler gets late Masters tee time, LIV Golf players separated
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Frank Pingue | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

World number one Scheffler, bidding to become the fourth player to repeat as Masters champion, will go out in the third-last group at 1:36 p.m. Australian Smith, one of 18 players from the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit in the field at Augusta National, will set off at 10:54 a.m. ET in the company of 2021 Masters winner Matsuyama on Japan and South Korea's Im Sung-jae. Among other notable LIV Golf players at the year's first major, three-times Masters champion Phil Mickelson will play alongside fellow American Tom Hoge and South Korea's Kim Si-woo. Dustin Johnson, who won the 2020 Masters before making the move to LIV Golf last year, will tee off with Canada's Corey Conners and England's Justin Rose.

☆ Couples tells LIV members stop bashing PGA and play golf
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

After signing up with the Saudi backed LIV circuit, some members delighted in taking shots at the PGA Tour as they left their old work place. "If one wants to stop and ask why I'm picking on them, then I'm all for it," said Couples after his Monday practice round. "I just don't think they should bash the PGA Tour or anybody, just go play golf." Three-times Masters champion Phil Mickelson and 2017 Green Jacket winner Sergio Garcia have both been critical of the PGA Tour and the target of Couples' barbs. Speaking at a Champions Tour breakfast, Couples took a shot at Mickelson and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund that is bankrolling the LIV Tour.

☆ Five storylines to follow at this week's Masters
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/8] Golf - The Masters - Augusta National Golf Club - Augusta, Georgia, U.S. - April 3, 2023 Scottie Scheffler of the U.S. in action on the 12th hole during a practice round REUTERS/Brian SnyderAUGUSTA, Georgia, April 3 (Reuters) - Five storylines to follow as the best players in the world descend upon Augusta National Golf Club this week for the April 6-9 Masters. SCHEFFLER SEEKS RARE REPEATWorld number one Scottie Scheffler, who arrived at Augusta National last year as the hottest player on the planet, returns in top form and looking to become only the fourth player to successfully defend a Masters title. No player has won the Masters in consecutive years since Tiger Woods accomplished the feat in 2001-02 and prior to that only Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Jack Nicklaus (1965-66) have pulled off the Augusta double. Among those competing will be a prominent group of LIV Golf players that, in addition to British Open winner Cameron Smith, include former Masters champions Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson and Charl Schwartzel. The hole has played to an historical scoring average of 4.77 that makes it the easiest hole at Augusta National.

☆ LIV ratings trail rival PGA Tour in first CW Network broadcasts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Amy Tennery | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LIV Golf did not immediately respond to a request for comment. LIV Golf is the first sport to broadcast on the CW Network, after the two parties agreed a multi-year deal in January. Perry Sook, the chairman and CEO of CW Network parent company Nexstar, said on Tuesday's earnings call that the three-day tournament was viewed by more than 1.4 million across the network and its digital platform. "We're very pleased with our first weekend of LIV Golf," said Sook. Bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, LIV Golf attracted some of the sport's biggest names with the promise of supersize paydays and a truncated schedule.

☆ LIV Golf finalizes all 12 team rosters for second season
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

February 21 - LIV Golf announced its 12 rosters of four-players teams for the upstart league's second season Monday night, making official the reported signings of Thomas Pieters, Danny Lee, Dean Burmester and Brendan Steele. 35 in the Official World Golf Ranking as of this week, joined Bubba Watson's team, RangeGoats. Players who finished in the top 24 of the 2022 Invitational Series were guaranteed spots for the 2023 LIV Golf League, according to a press release. "In less than a year, LIV Golf has reinvigorated the professional game and laid the foundation for the sport's future. In 2023, the LIV Golf League comes to life," LIV CEO and commissioner Greg Norman said in a statement.

"I don't know what that reaction is going to be," said Woods, who will tee it up at the PGA Tour's Genesis Invitational this week. "I know that some of our friendships have certainly taken a different path, but we'll see when all that transpires. Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka are among the big names who have left the PGA Tour for the lucrative, Saudi-backed LIV Golf. While banned from PGA Tour events, LIV players have been invited to compete at the Masters. Woods called world number one Rory McIlroy the PGA Tour's "ambassador" and said he had been extraordinary at navigating the new, and at times hostile, terrain.

☆ LIV Golf Reaches Deal to Broadcast Events on CW Network
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Joe Flint | Andrew Beaton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LIV Golf, the controversial Saudi-funded golf tour that launched last year and has signed stars such as Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, finally has a television home in the United States. Nexstar Media Group Inc. said it reached a multiyear deal with LIV Golf to broadcast the league on its CW Network, the broadcast network it acquired majority control of last year.

☆ LIV Golf reaches broadcast rights deal with CW Network
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Signage on a golf ball at the LIV golf tournament on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois. LIV Golf reached a multi-year deal to make CW Network the exclusive U.S. broadcast partner of the Saudi-funded professional golf tour that launched last year with dozens of golfers, including Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson. CW Network President Dennis Miller in a press release said the partnership "marks a significant milestone in our goal to re-engineer the network." As its name suggests, LIV Golf tournaments feature 54 holes instead of the more common 72. The PGA Tour previously suspended 17 players for playing in the inaugural LIV Golf tournament in June, which LIV called an "effort to stifle competition."

☆ LIV Golf reaches U.S. broadcasting deal with CW Network
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Oct 29, 2022; Miami, Florida, USA; General view of the 18th green and clubhouse during the second round of the season finale of the LIV Golf series at Trump National Doral. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY SportsJan 19 (Reuters) - LIV Golf secured the United States television deal it had been seeking, announcing on Thursday that the CW Network will broadcast all 14 events of the Saudi-backed series. Beginning this year the CW Network will bring the rebel circuit's tournaments to 120 million households across the United States, LIV Golf said in a statement. "This is a momentous day for LIV Golf as this partnership is about more than just media rights," said LIV Golf CEO and commissioner Greg Norman. LIV Golf will play from February to September and features simultaneous team and individual play with golfers competing for an unprecedented $405 million in prize purses.

☆ The Biggest Debates and Opinions in 2022 - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +30 min

Opinion The 22 Debates That Made Us Rage, Roll Our Eyes, and Change Our Minds in 2022Debating is what we do here at Times Opinion. To many, she was an icon: She ruled for 70 years, presided over the transition from empire to commonwealth and served as a living link to the generation that won World War II. (Though Ben Bernanke, a former Fed chairman himself, wrote in The Times that that wasn’t going to happen.) The United States and its European allies poured weapons and aid into Ukraine, but how was this going to end? As 2022 draws to a close, the fighting continues and peace talks look as distant as ever — which probably means that the debates will continue.

☆ LIV Golf COO Departs at Key Moment for the Saudi-backed Circuit’s Future
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Andrew Beaton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Phil Mickelson during the first round of the LIV Golf Team Championship in October. One of LIV Golf’s top executives has departed the upstart circuit just as it is seeking to land the media-rights deals and sponsors that will help determine its long-term financial viability. Atul Khosla, who had been the company’s chief operating officer, left at the end of LIV’s season, the Saudi-backed enterprise confirmed in a statement. Khosla’s LinkedIn page displayed a departure date of December 2022.

☆ Dustin Johnson seals $35m year with LIV Golf team event victory at Trump course
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Dustin Johnson took his LIV Golf earnings for the season past the $35 million mark with victory in the series’ final event of the year in Miami on Sunday. Johnson’s $4m cut of the team competition winnings lifts his earnings from the inaugural series to $35,637,767, according to The Associated Press. Johnson, Gooch, Reed and Perez celebrate their team victory. Eric Espada / Getty ImagesIt marks a mammoth spike in earnings for Johnson who, in just eight LIV Golf events, has matched almost half a career’s total winnings on the PGA Tour. “My team played unbelievable this year … To have these guys and their caddies and families and coaches and everybody, it’s just one big family now.

☆ Analysis: LIV Golf vows next year will be bigger and better
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Oct 30, 2022; Miami, Florida, USA; Dustin Johnson , Patrick Reed , Talor Gooch and Pat Perez celebrates team 4Aces GC winning the season finale of the LIV Golf series at Trump National Doral. If sportwashing was the objective of LIV Golf, it failed miserably instead drawing attention to a number of Saudi involvements from the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi to the Kingdom's treatment of women. Describing LIV's Saudi backers "as good people with unlimited money", Trump teased that even more big names will be signing onto the rebel circuit next year. But LIV proved at Miami that it can produce an entertaining product appealing to a younger audience who descended on Trump National as much for the party as the golf. If LIV Golf is to evolve into a major player it will also need to eventually find a broadcast deal and sponsors which so far have appeared hesitant to get onboard.

☆ Trump criticizes PGA Tour, says 'Saudis have done a fantastic job' with LIV
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Jack Stebbins | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Former President Donald Trump stands on the 18th green during the Pro-Am tournament before the LIV Golf series at Trump National Doral, Oct. 27, 2022. He also criticized the PGA Tour. LIV Golf has been fighting to compete with the PGA Tour, even without a media deal. Trump said he thinks the PGA Tour and LIV could work something out. The PGA Tour declined to comment.

☆ Phil Mickelson says Saudi-backed LIV Golf series is ‘not going away’
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Ben Church | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Veteran golfer Phil Mickelson says the controversial LIV Golf series is a “force” in the sport and it’s “not going away.”Speaking ahead of the season finale at the Trump National Doral Golf Club, near Miami, Mickelson praised the Saudi-backed series for how much it has grown during a tumultuous debut year. “It’s pretty remarkable how far LIV Golf has come in the last six, seven months. I don’t think anybody can disagree with that.”Earlier this month, American Dustin Johnson secured the inaugural season-long LIV Golf individual championship, earning himself $18 million. This weekend LIV Golf will hold a team competition with a $50 million prize purse. In August, the LIV series joined an antitrust lawsuit from some of its stars that alleges the PGA Tour threatened to place lifetime bans on players who participate on the LIV golf series, adding that “unprecedented suspensions” were placed upon them.

☆ LIV seasons ends with Trump and eye-popping prize money
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MIAMI, Oct 26 (Reuters) - LIV Golf's tumultuous inaugural season concludes this week at Trump National Doral Golf Club where the eye-popping prize money and the former-president may well be the main attraction. He instead praised the Northern Irishman on his great season while warning critics they had better get used to having LIV Golf around because it is not going away. LIV Golf will grow from eight to 14 events next season with Trump resorts, which hosted two of the eight stops this year, once again expected to figure prominently. "I think LIV has been a great thing for Saudi Arabia, for the image of Saudi Arabia," Trump told the Wall Street Journal. Play gets underway on the 'Blue Monster' on Friday with 12 four-man teams chasing a $16 million first-place prize.

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