On Sunday, LIV Golf finally delivered the chaotic finish it has long promised

It’s taken months for LIV Golf to deliver what it has long promised to bring to the golf world, but it finally arrived Sunday. The first LIV Golf playoff, an iconic highlight for one of the best golfers in the world, and before that, an hour of absolutely chaotic golf TV. 

Thanks to its everyone-on-the-course-at-once nature, the ending of LIV Golf’s Boston Invitational saw a host of its best players sprinting to the finish. There was Cameron Smith, the No. 2 player in the world and perhaps the most polarizing LIV commit to date. There was Dustin Johnson, two-time major winner and the biggest fish to join at its launch. There was Lee Westwood carding the best round of his season and Anirban Lahiri nearly making eagle to win the event and Joaquin Niemann, another recent commit, trying to finish what he started. All around them were thousands of lubricated fans creating a rather boisterous setting at The International Golf Club. 

It was Lahiri who who locked up a score of 15 under first, maybe 10 minutes before the others. Then came Niemann, who preceded Johnson by only a couple minutes. When Johnson got up and down for a par to earn his spot in the playoff, it figured to be a lengthy one that dragged into the night. They’d play the par-5 18th as many times as necessary. 

Just seconds later, Lee Westwood stood over his par putt on the 3rd hole, in completely different part of the golf course. Deeply important shots, seconds apart, adding immediate context. The format is unlike pro golf as we’ve known it, and it’s still imperfect. You weren’t always sure what hole was a par-4 or a par-5, and it isn’t always obvious whether it was a putt for birdie or a par-saver, but it was hitting you constantly. Golf chaos. Do you like it? That’s up to you. 

Johnson, Lahiri and Niemann were quickly whisked back to the 18th tee, where Niemann played first, pumping his tee shot into the crowd, bounding off a spectator. That happens everywhere in golf. It’s one of the odd costs of spectators doing business. What wasn’t normal was that we soon learned his name, Rich, because LIV Golf’s broadcast team stuck a microphone in his face and asked how he was doing. No, we’ve never seen the the for. Do you like it? That’s up to you. 

Rich, of course, was a jolly man just nursing what will surely become a bruise on the left side of his chest. Encouraged by the people around him, he soon removed the sunglasses from his ball cap mid-interview, and then smiled. He had revealed the most chaotic five-letter name across the front of his hat: TRUMP. He proceeded to say “I want the PGA [Tour] and the LIV tournament to get along and get together.” 

Rich was speaking for a lot of people. Not exactly for LIV Golf, as he was quickly ushered off the broadcast, and not exactly for the PGA Tour either, which was off this week before a new season begins later this month. But if he was speaking for anyone, it was the fans at the Boston event. They were was loud and discordant as any LIV event we’ve seen thus far. That’s LIV’s motto: Golf, but Louder. Do you like it? That’s up to you.

The three-man playoff only lasted a few more shots, which was probably best for all. Niemann failed to give himself a birdie chance, and though Lahiri was going to have an opportunity to do better, he didn’t even get the chance to try his birdie putt. Johnson took that away from him when he rammed in a bomb of an eagle putt. It smashed into the back of the cup, popped up and then popped into the jar. Playoff over. The fans and the announcers went wild. It doesn’t matter what tour that happens on, most everyone is going to love it.

Lahiri couldn’t be angry. Nor could Riemann. They both smiled and dapped Johnson up. They were both also set to making more money than they ever have before. 

To this point, LIV Golf finishes have exclusively been about that one thing: money. Charl Schwartzel made a quiet bogey in London to finish a wire-to-wire victory in the inaugural event. The focus afterward was entirely on his winnings. Branden Grace won by two in Portland, and it never really felt that close. Henrik Stenson won the New Jersey iteration of LIV Golf by two as well. There seemingly were no nervy shots along the way. Only Stenson preparing a jab for the cameras about having his Ryder Cup captaincy taken from him. Through three events, the talk was mostly about the money, little about the shots, even less about the courses and holes the winning was happening on. That flipped, if ever so slightly, Sunday night in Massachusetts. 

Do you like it? That’s up to you. It’s one of the most polarizing entities in sports, but it nailed the finish this week. Another LIV event kicks off just 12 days from now.