Fans flock to Sentosa to catch LIV Golf action
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Fans watching Bryson DeChambeau hitting a shot during the LIV Golf Singapore event at the Sentosa Golf Club on April 28, 2023.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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SINGAPORE – Instead of heading to Universal Studios or new attractions like Bird Paradise, Indonesian Alvin Kennedy will spend the bulk of his Singapore trip at the Sentosa Golf Club.
The Hipmi Golf Club Indonesia chairman, who has previously watched live streams of LIV tournaments, saw the staging of the Singapore LIV event this week
Alvin, 40, said: “LIV is very happening now and it’s quite near to Indonesia so we are very enthusiastic about it. We’ve watched regular tournaments before but we heard that LIV is quite different and we want to experience the hype and the atmosphere.”
His group were among the thousands who turned up at the Serapong Course when the inaugural LIV Golf Singapore event got under way on Friday with Talor Gooch, who won the Adelaide event
It is a four-way tie for second among Cameron Tringale, Sergio Garcia, Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith, who are a stroke behind.
The field had teed off in a lively atmosphere, with German DJ Martin Roth’s song Organic Cold Brewed Hipster Funk blaring through speakers at the tee boxes around the course. Major winners Garcia, Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau attracted the biggest attention as over 200 fans gathered at hole 3 to watch them start their round.
The Saudi-backed breakaway series has billed itself as golf’s revolution and its Adelaide event the previous week delivered a party atmosphere for a sell-out crowd of over 60,000
The first day of the Singapore stop, while more restrained, offered a glimpse of how the series is attempting to be different from traditional tournaments, with music playing in the background and food trucks set up along certain areas of the course.
Golf fan Fredrick Leong, who works in consulting, welcomed the change. The 32-year-old said: “It’s a bit more lively, it’s more casual. It’s a good change for the sport. Golf has been a bit more prim and proper with a lot of rules and regulations and now there’s this attempt to challenge the norm.”
For many, the appeal of watching the LIV event came from being able to catch some of biggest stars in men’s golf up close. The field of 48 golfers contains 13 Major winners, including six-time champion Phil Mickelson.
While the Republic has staged several international golf competitions in recent years, such as the DP World Tour’s Singapore Classic in February, it has been some time such a strong field of men’s players has been assembled since the heyday of the Singapore Open.
The first day offered a glimpse of how the LIV Golf series is attempting to be different from traditional tournaments.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Jonathan Ng, 32, who works in insurance, said: “For me, it’s the first time we’ve got LIV in Singapore and a lot of the players have never played in Singapore. They’re usually overseas so it’s cool to see the players and how they will fare in our Singapore conditions.”
Although Desmond Liew does not count himself a LIV fan, the 52-year-old golfer said what drew him to this week’s tournament was being able to watch world-class action.
He said: “We know the difficulty of the course so it’s nice to see how they perform. LIV has spent a lot of money on the tournaments and has really good players and as amateurs we can’t do what they do, they’re really good.”
Mexican Denisse Morales decided to head down to support Mexican-American Abraham Ancer and Mexican Carlos Ortiz from team Fireballs.
The housewife, 39, who attended LIV with her friend Min-kyung, said: “For us, it’s the first time to be in a tournament like this so we were just curious to have a look.
“We’re both amateurs or beginners. We know a little bit of the rules and how to play, it’s nice and interesting to be here to look at the swing, how they move, which iron they need to take to hit the ball.”
