- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,130,362
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images attach
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
A major criticism of LIV Golf is how it leaves players unprepared for major championships.
The golf courses LIV goes to simply don’t give players anything like a major championship test. For the most part, they’re resort courses all over the world.
This was especially clear at The Masters, when only one LIV player finished inside the top 30 at Augusta National, and Bryson DeChambeau missed the cut.
LIV players did rally at the PGA Championship, as Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith got in the mix, but again DeChambeau looked out of his depth.
But this shouldn’t be as much of an issue at the US Open because of the golf course LIV are heading to just before.
You must be registered for see images attach
Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
LIV Golf players will be better prepared for the US Open
Before the players head to Shinnecock Hills for the US Open, they will play LIV Andalucia at one of the toughest golf courses in the world.
Real Club Valderrama in Spain will be the challenge put to the LIV player, a historic golfing venue, and a proper test.
Widely known as the best golf course in Spain, Valderrama hosted the 1997 Ryder Cup, the first Ryder Cup hosted in Continental Europe. It hosted the Open de España in 2016 and a LIV event in 2023 won by Dustin Johnson.
Valderrama demands absolute precision over raw power. The course is famously lined with thousands of oak trees, and their overhanging canopy creates incredibly narrow fairways and severely punishes even slightly offline tee shots, leaving golfers with no clear line to the green.
The greens are small, elevated, notoriously fast, and heavily guarded by deep bunkers. Missing a green on the wrong side practically guarantees a bogey.
While it’s a different prospect than Shinnecock, there can be no accusation that the LIV players weren’t tested before this year’s US Open.
Continue reading...
