Culture | The sports page

Time for LIV, golf’s Saudi-funded rebel tour, to drift into obscurity

As a golfing experiment it has failed

Bryson DeChambeau of The United States and The Crushers plays his second shot on the second hole.
Photograph: Getty Images

FOR THREE YEARS, much that has happened on the fairways and greens of men’s professional golf has been ignored. Scottie Scheffler, an American golfer, has won seven events on America’s PGA Tour so far this year, including the Masters, and pocketed an Olympic gold medal. The last golfer to be so dominant was Tiger Woods, but Mr Scheffler’s feats have attracted much less attention. Similarly, the LIV tour—funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) as part of the country’s efforts to improve its reputation—recently concluded its third season with a widely overlooked, Ryder Cup-style team event. LIV’s 13 teams were seemingly named by marketing folk experiencing a sugar rush, so it was Ripper that eventually edged out 4Aces and Iron Heads. Only 150,000 Americans watched on television.

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