LIV Golf’s less-than-stellar 2025 debut is in the books. What’s next for the league?
The LIV Golf League likely can’t wait to get to Australia.
LIV Golf’s 2025 debut is in the books, with Adrian Meronk taking home the individual title after shooting 17 under at Riyadh Golf Club to win for the first time on the Saudi-backed league. Meronk, who plays for Cleeks GC, topped Jon Rahm and Sebastian Munoz by two shots for the individual title.
Meronk was a wire-to-wire winner, and though he temporarily lost the solo lead on the back nine in the final round, his victory was never really in question. He found himself up multiple strokes for most of the weekend, and in the end, he’s taking home the hardware and $4 million check.
The team competition was even more of a blowout, with Rahm’s Legion XIII, by far the best LIV Golf franchise on paper, winning by 11 shots, reaching 50 under par. This year, LIV Golf changed its format so all four players’ scores count all three days, and Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Tom McKibbin are the best trio on LIV.
Perhaps the most interesting part of LIV Golf’s opening week was playing under the lights. Night golf was a solid watch on TV, even if not that many people tuned in.
Final-round numbers are likely to be higher, but LIV Golf averaged 12,000 viewers for its opening-round telecast Thursday on FS2.
Yes, only 12,000. That number is smaller than the amount of fans who will be at LIV Golf Adelaide next week and fewer than are on the 16th hole at the PGA Tour’s WM Phoenix Open this weekend.
The number is a bit tricky, however. FS2 is on in fewer homes across the United States than the CW, so viewership wasn’t expected to be out of this world. Still, that’s 117 times less viewers than Bryson DeChambeau’s latest YouTube video (1.4 million).
Never fear, the LIV Golf app was another avenue for fans to watch. Or not.
Numerous fans commented on social media about issues with LIV Golf’s streaming service all week, especially around the world, and the fans who did want to tune in didn’t get an opportunity to watch.
Perhaps a bigger shock was how few people were at LIV Golf Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. There was zero atmosphere outside of the fan village, and while Riyadh isn’t known for being a golf-crazed city, it felt like the tournament was being contested during the height of COVID-19.
After an offseason where LIV Golf failed to lure any major stars from the PGA Tour and many of its big moves came from behind the scenes, the league could’ve used a strong week to kick off the year and prove LIV Golf was a force to be reckoned with in the golf world. That didn’t happen.
Now, LIV Golf heads to Adelaide, site of what has become its marquee tournament the past two years. The league needs a big week — and a big name — to win and build some momentum as the season marches on.
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Meronk wins season-opening LIV Golf Riyadh
Poland's Adrian Meronk shot a 1-under-par 71 under the lights in the final round Saturday and went wire-to-wire for a two-shot victory at the season-opening LIV
