LIV Golf, a rival league to the Saudi-backed PGA Tour, touts a relaxed approach to golf. Whether it’s the music playing in the background, fans cheering when a golfer hits a shot, or the players themselves acting a little more relaxed.
This weekend LIV Golf hosted Australia’s most successful event, LIV Adelaide.
CEO Greg Norman declared victory after a record week. Television ratings rose and his three-day attendance record for LIV Golf was set.
But just because the tournament was an overall success doesn’t mean it wasn’t still without its problems.
A fan threw a water bottle onto the course, hitting the caddy in the head and causing him to fall to the ground.
Then there’s the matter of Kevin Na, who finished T34 in the 54-player field.
On Sunday, a video was released showing Na acting like a child and cursing like a truck driver who couldn’t get out of the woods.
The video begins with Na standing and clearly frustrated as his ball is on Patron’s sandy path on the left side of the fairway.
A fan is blocking the path of Na’s shot, so the caddy asks the fan to move.
He then completely chunked the shot and the shot traveled about 20 feet forward.
“Fuck you,” Na can be heard yelling. He then slams the bag onto Caddy’s shoulder, muttering more expletives.
Things didn’t get any better.
Na’s next shot hit a tree and went out to the right. At this point, frustration boils over and the 40-year-old shows apathy towards the world.
He walks toward the ball and slams it into the fairway, dropping more F-bombs along the way.
It was an incredibly childish move from a former five-time PGA Tour winner. But in the big boy circuit this is completely unacceptable.
However, LIV Golf lets you avoid that. He clearly has no concerns at all about how he is acting. Why do we do that? He has already decided to join a Saudi-funded golf league.
Even I admit that there are elements in LIV that are beneficial to the game, especially to the fans. But creating an environment where professionals feel brave enough to act that way is not one of them.
Kendall Capps is the senior editor of SB Nation’s Playing Through.For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough On all major social media platforms.
