We’ve crossed over to the dark side and making our foray into the world of LIV Golf. At the end of the day, it was never political for me or a loyalist move for the PGA Tour but rather a matter of lackluster talent depth and no legal gambling options. As we enter LIV Golf’s 3rd season in 2024, both of those factors are have now been resolved in spades. Recent converts of Hatton and Rahm have pretty much leveled the scales between the elites of the PGA Tour and those of LIV Golf.
Hard to argue that an elite tier of Rory, Scottie, Viktor, JT, Cantlay, and Xander isn’t rivaled by that of Rahm, Brooks, DJ, Cam Smith, Bryson, and Hatton. We are still devoid of reliable stats to make more numbers-based wagers but that’s never stopped us in the past and won’t stop us now.
Having a rooting interest backed by a wager has always made any sporting event more interesting, but LIV Golf also brings the element of a superior viewing experience with a deeper leaderboard view, shifts in position even if the shot is not seen, and at least 2x the consistent shot action compared to PGAT coverage. They still incorporate a featured group element, which isn’t in and of itself a bad thing, but when one tour gives you Grayson Murray in a group with Rickie Fowler and the other gives you Rahm and Brooks it’s hard to argue the better option.
The team dynamic is still completely lost on most, including myself, yet the evolution of the product from its debut in 2022 is evident. I’m no different than the masses that I miss the best of the golf world competing on the same turf and do hope that borders are broken and players can play where they please on any given week. LIV Golf isn’t going anywhere and it’s clear that its ascent is damaging the quality of the PGAT’s product no matter how loudly they root against it. Even resident boy scout, Rory McIlroy, has snapped his puppet strings and done an about face on his view of the golfers that have deflected. Only a matter of time until we see a deal struck but until then we are going to embrace chaos and focus our attention where the winners are regardless of the tour.
Onto our inaugural picks for LIV Golf’s second event of 2024 in Sin City on Super Bowl Weekend.
Picks
Outrights
Brooks 15
DJ 17
Casey 60
T5
Na 12
With only basic stats such as fairways, GIRs, and birdies to go off of, we land on a mix of form at Mayakoba and trust in elite ability. Rahm’s exodus has killed oddsboards on the PGAT but had the opposite effect on LIV. Rahm coming in at 4-1 has created a nice middle tier in the 14-20 range where we find top talents like Cam Smith, Brooks, DJ, and Bryson. We will take our first bite of the forbidden apple with Brooks and DJ who both showed solid form in the season’s first event. They’ve shown both on LIV and in the majors they can still compete with anyone.
Paul Casey had a solid season debut hitting fairways and greens at a high rate with no success on the greens. He’s not yet really contended in his 2+ seasons on LIV, however as an Arizona guy he’s comfortable in the desert conditions and has a palatable number at 60-1. We finish the card with a total dart throw with Kevin Na as a Vegas resident who had regular success during his time on the PGAT at the Vegas stops. Another guy with little LIV success but we will throw a hail mary and see if Kevo can find some form in his backyard.
The Weekend Heater 
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