After a bumpy start to its sophomore season, LIV Golf appeared to start turning things around following the exposure some of its golfers got at the Masters back in April.
So with the PGA Championship getting underway on Thursday, it's a good time to check in and see if the rogue golf circuit really is drawing bigger crowds and growing its fanbase.
Good morning from the Cedar Ridge range. Final round of LIV Tulsa getting started in about 30 minutes.
— TJ Eckert (@TJEckertKTUL) May 14, 2023
Yesterday, Tulsa sold out the 2nd round here, and had the largest domestic attendance since LIV Golf began. #LIVGolf pic.twitter.com/KpdvI9lFVY
At first glance, it does appear that more fans appear to be attending LIV Golf events. While LIV Golf Adelaide was the first event of the season to really draw crowds, last weekend's LIV Golf Tulsa reportedly pulled in over 40,000 attendees to become the most successful of the stateside events, according to Tulsa World.
But while the number of LIV Golf attendees is increasing, there is still room for growth. As Golf Week pointed out, the LIV Golf Tulsa turnout still pales in comparison to the turnout for PGA Tour events -- and is exponentially smaller than the 2022 PGA Championship crowd that was present 10 miles away at Southern Hills Country Club last year.
"[LIV Golf Tulsa attendance] does, however, compare more to the Senior PGA Championship that was held at Southern Hills in 2021," Golf Week added.
LIV Golf reportedly had about 40,000 people attend this weekend's tournament in Tulsa.
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) May 15, 2023
That makes it their most successful US event so far.
Although, it was still significantly behind the roughly 150,000 people at this weekend's PGA Tour event in Dallas.pic.twitter.com/v1ww0r8Msm
There's also still the issue of TV viewership. Viewer numbers for LIV Golf since the Masters haven't readily been made public, and viewership was a dismal 473,000 average through the first three events prior to Augusta.
And even if viewership went up for LIV Golf Tulsa, it surely didn't help that the CW cut away from the end of the dramatic final few holes to show a wide range of non-golf programming.
CW dropped LIV to show some parade. This is amazing https://t.co/9pFFy0WEtR pic.twitter.com/xGJVMHvELd
— Sam (@Skulledwedge) May 14, 2023
here’s my recorded broadcast in Oregon pic.twitter.com/31EMn83EJJ
— Apollo Vermouth (@McbillsonBill) May 15, 2023
All in all, LIV Golf appears to be on the upswing but still has a ways to go if it's going to continue being a functioning, world-known golf league. We'll just have to wait and see if its attendance and viewership get any more of a boost after the PGA Championship.
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