LIV Golf Wrap-up Preview
By Len Ziehm
The LIV Golf League doesn’t have a season climax to match the PGA’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, but it does have a conclusion to its third season coming up that’s both meaningful and profitable.
A venue new to LIV – Bolingbrook Golf Club in suburban Chicago – hosts the finale for the Individual Championship Sept. 13-15 and the winner gets an $18 million bonus. Then the season wrap-up – the finale for the Team Championship – follows at another new venue. Maridoe Golf Club in Dallas hosts that one Sept. 20-22 and a $50 million purse is available there.
There’ll be a new individual champion. It’ll be either Jon Rahm or Joaquin Neimann. No one else has a mathematical chance.
In the team competition the Crushers, captained by Bryson DeChambeau, could be repeat champions. They hold a narrow lead over Rahm’s Legion XIII in the team standings. DeChambeau has the same three teammates – Paul Casey, Charles Howell III and Anirban Lahiri – who formed the winning team in 2023.
DeChambeau gave the best individual performance since LIV’s founding when he finished 61-58 in winning the Greenbrier tournament last year. This year, though, he’s without a win and down in ninth place individually. He is the defending champion in Chicago, though.
That may not be a big deal, because he won’t defend on the course he won at last year. The Chicago stop was held at Rich Harvest Farms in LIV’s first two seasons but moves to Bolingbrook this year. The layouts are radically different, and Bolingbrook has never been tested in major tournament play.
DeChambeau knows all about Maridoe, site of the team championship. He calls it “the toughest course in Dallas.’’
He played collegiate golf in that city, for Southern Methodist, and the club owner, Albert Huddleston, is a long-time friend.
“Albert, right out of college, was nice enough to help me afford travel and be able to go places and play across the world,’’ said DeChambeau.
While his individual play in LIV events this year hasn’t been up to par he did win the U.S. Open title, edging Rory McIlroy at North Carolina’s Pinehurst, and was runner-up to Xander Schauffele in the PGA Championship.
DeChambeau’s success in Illinois also extends beyond his playoff victory over teammate Lahiri last year at Rich Harvest. After winning the 2015 NCAA title for SMU he followed up by capturing the U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields, a private club in Chicago’s south suburbs. And, his first PGA tour win came at the 2017 John Deere Classic, which is played in downstate Illinois.
He’s also emerged as one of LIV’s most popular players as well as a spokesman for the controversial Saudi-backed circuit.
“There’s just so much we can do when we bring
Bryson DeChambeau
people together to help grow this game globally.’’
“We’ve changed the vision of the game of golf,’’ he said. “There is so much opportunity now moving forward than there previously was. Golf was a bit stagnant. There was more to be done and things weren’t necessarily done in the way that some of the players thought they could have been done.
“LIV came around, and we all saw this opportunity of team golf and being partial owners of teams and creating business value across the world. That was a big decision for me to be part of something like that.’’
Like many LIV players, he’s broadened his interests beyond tournament play.
“What we can do with building academies, creating driving ranges, education centers,’’ he said. “There’s just so much we can do when we bring people together to help grow this game globally.’’
David Feherty, one of the TV voices for LIV after having previously worked for The Golf Channel on PGA Tour events, said DeChambeau “has really blossomed at LIV, especially with how (he) deals with people.’’
“Just getting a little bit older,’’ said DeChambeau. “I’m about to turn 31. Being a little more understanding of others and understanding what the game of golf needs is a huge component for me…. LIV has been a gigantic platform for me.’’
The professional game remains in turmoil, and DeChambeau doesn’t see a quick end to that.
“The game of golf is in an interesting place right now,’’ he said. “It’s going to get figured out. I know that. I have zero doubt it will get figured out, but it’s going to take some time.’’
Len has been covering golf for over 56 years. He was the golf columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times for 41 years and has been in the same role for the Daily Herald and several regional newspapers since 2009… Len is also a regular contributor to the Chicago District Golfer magazine and his travel pieces are regularly published in Pro Golf Weekly, New England.Golf, eSouthernGolf and the Ohio Golf Journal. His works for all publications are available at LenZiehmOnGolf.com. It is in its 15th year of operation and has been enhanced by the photography provided by his partner Joy Sarver… An inductee into the Illinois Soccer Hall of Fame in 2004 (for his reporting and youth coaching, not as a player), Len was also inducted into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame in 2019. He is also on the Advisory Board of the International Network of Golf, is a lifetime member of the Golf Writers Association of America and a member of the Golf Travel Writers of America.
