It’s no secret that the entire LIV thing kinda had the whole of the golfing scene up in arms when it was first announced, plenty of people saying the PGA Tour is where it’s at but can you really blame the players for wanting to move over to LIV for the huge money? The LIV has been quite the hit however, with some super entertaining tournaments and crazy results being recorded, largely due to the money on offer I would assume. When there’s big bucks on the line you get athletes going above and beyond their usual levels. It makes for amazing scenes.
Today we’re going to be taking a look at the 2023 LIV tour, specifically some of the participants for this season. There are plenty of big names that made the move over to LIV, with the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson to name a few opting to chase the bag and I really can’t blame them, they’ve already experienced the PGA tour and won titles left right and centre. Get your money boys, you’ve earned it. So we’re going to break down some of the biggest names and what they’ve achieved in their careers so far before making this decision!
So let’s start with some big ones, specifically, Bryson DeChambeau. Bryson has had a pretty solid career so far and at 29 has a lot to offer, he racked up 8 PGA Tour wins and 2 European Tour wins, all this since turning pro in April 2016. During this time he notched his first and only major to date when he won the US Open with a 6 stroke lead over Matthew Wolf. Bryson initially turned down the LIV tour when he was approached for it, saying he was committed to the PGA Tour, but on June 10th it was announced he was in fact joining. There is a lot of pressure and high expectations on Brysons shoulders and he is more than capable of rising to the occasion.
Then there’s Phil Mickelson, at 52 years Phil is still going strong. He has won 45 PGA Tour events in his illustrious career which has him tied 8th in the all time leaderboards alongside 11 European Tour wins. He has 6 majors to his name, 3 Masters, 2 PGA Championship and 1 Open Championship. Phil went Pro in 1992 and I don’t think there’s a single thing he could lower his head for, he has been one of the biggest names in the golfing world for as long as I can remember and he continues to maintain that presence. Though Phil had issues with the way the Saudis ran things, he still supported the LIV tour and it was announced on the 6th June 2022 he’d join up with the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson in the LIV tour.
Jason Kokrak will be looking to improve on his career best T14 finish in the 2022 Masters, can he go further?
Source: Southampton Golf Club
One name I want to pick out is the Ontario Born resident of Hudson Ohio, Jason Kokrak. He may be one of the lesser known names on the LIV tour but Jason has had quite a solid career, with 11 professional tour wins under his belt. He has never made a particularly big name for himself when it comes to one of the majors, but 3 PGA tour event wins is still something he can absolutely brag about. Just as a point of reference however, his best finish in a major is a T14 in the 2022 masters which in a way shows that, even at 37 years old, Jason still has a lot of good years ahead of him on the golf course.
With the recent news that the PGA tour would allow LIV tour participants to enter the Masters, I’d like to take a look at the upcoming Masters tournament and see how the experts feel like some of the LIV participants we’ve talked about today will do. It’s no secret that Rory McIlroy is the favourite and many golf purists will be hoping he does take the win, you can get Rory to win at +800 right now which would return $45 from a $5 stake, not bad for the 4 time major winner, he’ll be putting everything out there to try and get his first Masters win in April!
Since we spoke about Ohio native Jason Kokrak, I think it’s worth mentioning that recently Ohio legalised sports betting and because of this there are plenty of sportsbooks like BetMGM Ohio with some pretty good pre launch offers, so if you’re wanting to make the most of your money on the Masters it may be worth taking a look at those.
Back to the odds however, like we said, LIV participants have been allowed to enter the Masters so let’s take a look at some of those players and see how the experts think they’re going to fare. Starting with Dustin Johnson, the 2020 Masters Winner is +1800 to win outright, returning $95 from $5. 2010 Open winner Louis Oosthuizen finds himself quite far down the pecking order at +6600, this would see a return of $335 from $5 and Ohio native Jason Kokrak is even further back. He is being given odds of +10000 which would see a $505 return from a $5 stake.
So, Golf fans, firstly I’d like to ask you a few questions about the sport in general. What were your thoughts about the LIV tour when it was initially announced? Then, what are your thoughts on it now? I don’t think anyone can deny that the golf on display has been pretty good. Very entertaining. But, does the fact the pros moved for the money taint the tour a little bit? Should they be focusing on the pedigree of the PGA tour instead? Does what we think even matter in the slightest? After all, if you can get paid a lot more to do the same job, why wouldn’t you take that opportunity?
With LIV participants eligible to enter the 2023 Masters, how much more competitive do we feel this event will be?
Source: Masters Golf
Now, since the PGA tour announced recently that LIV participants were allowed to join in the 2023 US Masters, there are a lot more names in the hat for that, who are we most excited to see here? While not an LIV participant it’s understandable that everyone really wants to see Rory McCilroy, but I’m kinda feeling Dustin Johnson to bring out a masterclass and show the PGA tour what they’ve been missing since these big name players moved away from the tour and joined the LIV tour instead. Either way, there is a lot of exciting golf coming up in the next year for the fans and we’ll be here, soaking it all in!
