Adelaide countdown: Innovations continue as LIV Golf train rolls on

CAPTION: LIV Golf Commissioner and CEO Greg Norman (left), star Australian player Cameron Smith and South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas pose ahead of the Adelaide event. Image courtesy Twitter.

By Rahul Banerji

Two interesting developments have emerged before LIV Golf Adelaide has even got under way – a new way of grouping players teeing off at the Grange on Friday, and talk of a women’s tour re-emerging.

On the men’s side, the 12 captains will play divided into four groups and the remaining members of each time will line up alongside each other instead of being split among separate flights as has been the case so far.

Thus, for example, while Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau has been drawn with Sergio Garcia of the Fireballs and HyFlyers leader Phil Michelson, Anirban Lahiri, Charlws Howell III and Paul Casey will go out as one group.

Each team will similarly tee off at the shotgun start as a homogenous unit, potentially making the race to the top even closer as this brings a Ryder Cup aspect into the fourth stop of the year for the LIV Golf train.

The lead groups are as follows: Tee 1 – Cameron Smith (Rippers GC), Brooks Koepka (Smash GC) and Ian Poulter (Majesticks); Tee 2 - Joaquin Niemann (Torque GC), Dustin Johnson (4Aces) and Bubba Watson (RangeGoats ); Tee 3 - Louis Oosthuizen (Stinger GC), Kevin Na (Iron Heads) and Martin Kaymer (Cleeks); and Tee 4 - DeChambeau, Garcia and Mickelson.

A possible reason this innovation was introduced at Adelaide is to give the all-Aussie Rippers (Cam Smith, Marc Lieshman, Matt Jones and Jediah Morgan) even greater support than they may have received otherwise.

“It’s going to be fun. Something different,” said Jason Kokrak of Smash. “If there’s any kind of nerves or pressure, it would take that off.”

“We play a lot of practice rounds together. We know each other’s games. I think we’re comfortable with each other. That goes team-wide for everybody, I would think.”

Defending team champions 4 Aces of Dustin Johnson lead the standings after the first three events, having finished second in the first two tournaments and third in Orlando.

The rest of Johnson’s pack, Patrick Reed, Pat Perez and Peter Uihlein, tee off on hole 10 on Friday.

“We’re just trying to get that first win of the season,” Johnson said. “I think it’s looking pretty good for this week.”

Meanwhile, German star Martin Kaymer is making his first start of the current season after missing the opening three events with a wrist issue.

On the women’s side, LIV Golf League commissioner Greg Norman was quoted as saying that the organisation was weighing the idea of a similar tour to the one launched for men last year.

“It’s a discussion we have internally on a regular basis.” The Aussie legend said in Adelaide.

"I have personally had discussions with individual LPGA Tour players, LET Tour players, (Ladies European Tour). They love what our product is showcasing. They ask all the time, 'How can we get involved?' We'd love to see a LIV ladies series’.

“We can only drink out of a fire hydrant so much, so we have a lot of opportunities and initiatives coming across our plate,” Norman added.

“Our focus is to make sure this year we produce what we’re producing (with the LIV Golf League) from day one, 2023, and then going forward we’re looking what are the best opportunities to build on to what we have today.”

The first major of the year on the women’s calendar, the Chevron Championship, is currently under way in Texas, USA.