LIV Golf Tees It Up at Maridoe Golf Club
LIV Golf was ready to tee it up when it entered the professional golf arena in 2021. The league lured players like Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson with exorbitant salary offers. Tiger Woods, however, reportedly turned down an offer of hundreds of millions to join the newly formed league.
When LIV Golf announced the League’s 2024 Team Championship would take place at Maridoe Golf Club in Dallas from Sept. 20 to 22, fans scrambled to get tickets. Well, most of them anyway. Sunday saw a handful of protestors dotting the drive into Maridoe Golf Club; LIV Golf, created and funded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has been under fire for supporting human rights violations.
The weekend’s head-to-head competition featured both match play and stroke play to determine the champions, and the teams were star-studded. Golf fan Adam Johanson and his dad, Tyler, watched at hole 15 as Dustin Johnson sank his putt for a birdie.
“I’m really here to see Bryson,” said the young golf enthusiast, as his dad’s attention pivoted over to legendary golfer Greg Norman, who rounded the corner with LIV’s Golf chairman. Yasir Al-Rumayyan donned a wide-brimmed cowboy hat, fitting in well with the Texas crowd.
“Texas is legendary for producing and hosting great golfers who set a high bar while competing for championships,” said LIV Golf commissioner and CEO Greg Norman. When asked who he thought was favored to win, he stopped just short of the green and replied, “they’re all my favorite.”
Young Tyler didn’t run into his favorite player, Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau, but the golfer relayed his enthusiasm for playing at Dallas’ Maridoe Golf Club earlier in the season.
“[It] holds a special significance for me…as our team strives to defend our title in front of a home crowd,” said DeChambeau.
Big hometown crowds turned out for the Texas-sized party in the Texas-sized heat. Fortunately, refreshments were available at nearly every corner of the over 200 acres of golf course property.
