LIV Golf South Africa got off to a blistering start as the league made its debut in South Africa on Thursday at Steyn City.
Build it and they will come. That is a cliche that might as well be LIV Golf’s new catch phrase.
The debut at Steyn City will go down as a memorable day in the annuls of golf in the country. Starved for entertainment and international golf, local fans made their presence felt on the opening day. And the players responded.
Bryson DeChambeau, who won in Singapore last week, shot a first-round leading 63 in the blistering heat. He is joined by Crushers GC teammate Charles Howell III at the top with a host of big names chasing him.
South Africa’s Branden Grace ended on -7 alongside Sergio Garcia with Talor Gooch and Jon Rahm one further back.
Chasing the team title, it is indeed the home side – the Southern Guards – who lead the way on -18 in their best combined showing of the year.
And it was only fitting that the Southern Guards performed as a team with Charl Schwartzel shooting 66, Dean Burmester firing a 67 and captain Louis Oosthuizen closing with a 69.
But back outside of the ropes for a minute, getting into the tournament for fans was something else … it was reminiscent of the 2010 World Cup where fans just jumped out of the cars and walked such was their keenness to get going.
And once they entered the course, it didn’t disappoint. It’s one thing to listen to the hype but when you head out into the blazing sun and see all hype personified.
The music. The activations. The hordes and hordes of people. It was billed to be the biggest event in golf since the Presidents Cup and it given that it was only Thursday … yes, only Thursday, it must be as close to that billing as possible.
And the players themselves felt it.
Both Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen admitted to tearing up before their opening tee shots. Now that’s something for players who have won The Masters and the Open and competed in all the biggest events for many years.
And this is from Charl, who is battling a terrible back injury. His captain refused the offer of standing down, and it paid off. And perhaps, it was the near sell out crowd that lifted him and eased that sore back for four and a bit
Schwartzel said after the round: “I don’t know if I would’ve gotten through that if it wasn’t for the crowds.” In cricket, the crowd can be the 12th man, so in this team environment perhaps the Steyn City patrons were the 5th man today.
“He beat me by three shots, so I’m doing the same as him tomorrow,” chuckled Oosthuizen after listening to how his teammate arrived four hours early today to get himself in shape to play.
LIV Golf South Africa has landed. If you missed it … you only have yourself to blame. To those who have tickets for Friday through to Sunday, you are in for something special but please make sure you arrive several hours before the shotgun start. It’ll be worth it.
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Article Link: LIV Golf South Africa: Unrivalled start to life on the big stage