LIV Golf returns to D.C. area as less of a curiosity, more of an established entity

LIV Golf returns to the area this weekend as less of a curiosity and more of an established entity than its debut in the D.C. region two years ago.

For starters, its 2023 event was branded as “LIV Golf DC” to connect it more to the nation’s capital and its host club, Trump National, at a time when LIV was in its nascent stages and Donald Trump was preparing his 2024 presidential campaign. The Memorial Day weekend affair, won by Harold Varner III, doubled as part-patriotic pep rally, part-golf tournament.

This time around, the branding has been changed to “LIV Virginia” at Gainesville’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, even though both courses are a roughly 50 minute drive from the District. The feel on the grounds, with pulsing music emanating from the first tee and a stage just beyond it for post-round concerts, is also similar to last fall’s Solheim Cup hosted by RTJ.

“I think that LIV has made some incredible strides of getting to where we want this to be,” said Phil Mickelson, the six-time major champion and captain of LIV’s HyFlyers team. “It will get there. I don’t know the exact timeline.”

LIV’s more streamlined approach in its fourth season — along with a détente between it and the PGA Tour after a unification agreement signed two years ago to the day Friday — means the tenor among players is far less adversarial.

“We want all the best players in the world to be able to compete against each other more often and on a global scale, and the model that I was a part of for decades just didn’t allow for that,” Mickelson said.

RTJ is the eighth stop of 14 for the 54-hole, team-oriented tour. To a man, LIV players that are still eligible or able to qualify for majors cited their lighter schedule compared to the PGA Tour for keeping them more rested ahead of golf’s major championships — including next week’s U.S. Open at Oakmont.

“For me, being on LIV, I feel like it’s helping me a lot to better perform in majors. I feel more fresh,” said Joaquin Niemann, a three-time winner this season who leads LIV’s individual standings. “Obviously, there’s a few weeks that we travel a little farther away, but I’ve been pretty smart and conscious of my recovery, how I’m trying to prepare and feel more fresh for a major week.”

Defending U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, arguably the biggest star in golf on any tour and one of 13 from LIV who will play at Oakmont, also credits the shortened schedule for opening up more opportunities to grow his brand and profile.

“I think LIV afforded me the opportunity to spend more time thinking, strategizing, getting my body healthy, ready for majors, in a pretty unique way, he said. “For me, it was a great thing. I thought there was an opportunity to do other things in life.”

Though the rough around the Lake Manassas track isn’t as penal as Oakmont’s, there are still plenty of course similarities that Mickelson and others can use to prepare.

“We have greens that are rolling 14 to 15 on the Stimpmeter just like we will next week,” Mickelson said. “Short game, touch, chipping around the greens, rough, speed, lag drills and speed and touch on the greens, all of that’s critical here. Same thing as next week. It couldn’t be a better spot to get ready.”

LIV’s signature unorthodox touches are still present, from the “Birdie Shack” overlooking the pond and green on No. 14 and “Party Hole” on the par-3 fourth to the goat petting area paying tribute to the Bubba Watson-led RangeGoats GC.

But the tour has grown up and come into its own while still awaiting what the future of professional golf will look like post-merger, with many of the details and any actual reunification of the tours still to be figured out.

“I think over time that’s just going to continue to grow just like it has exponentially in the last three years,” Mickelson said, “and I think we’re not that far away from having it be what we all want it to be, which is all the best players in the world playing against each other.”