Staying aLIVe

Talor Gooch won for the third time in this second (and maybe final) LIV Golf season. His “all-time great” year will surely be talked about for decades, a rampage up there alongside Vijay Singh’s ten-win 2004. All jokes aside, with the news of the PGA Tour-PIF merger I can’t help but feel even more apathy towards LIV. If it was once a breakaway league sporting a new format and feel, it now feels like a dead league walking.

As a Chicago Sports Fan, this point in LIV history inspires similar feelings to seeing your favorite team ride out a meaningless season with a roster and coach that you know won’t be long for your city. LIV was a means to an end for the Saudis, and they have that end thanks to the PIF’s pseudo-merger with the PGA Tour. It feels like LIV itself is just playing out the string, at least in its current form. When I reminisce about the Chicago Bulls I sometimes land on the dark days of the Marcus Fizer years. What a weird, empty era for the Bulls. I have a feeling that in a few years golf observers will think back to the Cleeks and the Fireballs in 2023, shake our heads, and talk about what a weird, empty time for LIV Golf this was.