John Middlekauff’s LIV Chicago reaction + LIV Indianapolis predictions | Go Low Golf

John Middlekauff recaps his weekend with Colin Cowherd at LIV Chicago at Bolingbrook Golf Club. John reacts to meeting LIV golfers such as Sergio Garcia and Brooks Koepka. John applauds LIV Commissioner Scott O’Neil for developing the LIV experience into something that was enjoyable for people of all ages, and is optimistic of the future of LIV golf. John wraps up by predicting LIV Indianapolis and believes that Jon Rahm has a good opportunity to secure his first win of the season.

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[Music] live Chicago. Listen, a lot of people are like, “Why are you talking about this?” Like, they bought space, you know? I love golf and they gave me access. They took me to a tournament where I got to meet Brooks Keepa. I don’t know. He won five majors. He the the course I play at TPC, he won that tournament twice. Kind of a important figure in the history of golf. Sergio Garcia, Masters champ there, starts talking to us, you know. I mean, PJ Tour has never given me that access. Now, at the end of the day, like I’m not pretending I’m more into live at my house on the couch than I am watching the uh the TPC Memphis, right? But like when you are at the event, it is pretty sweet. Now, we got access to go on the driving range and I I’ve been to a bunch of PGA tournaments and majors over the years. So, it’s not like I’ve never seen professionals hit shots, but we got to stand 5t away and watch these guys just bang balls. And I I’ve never been to a driving range of a professional golf tournament. And obviously, they got, you know, from Dustin Johnson to Keepa to Rahm to to Neman. I I didn’t see Bryson or Phil hit balls, but even their random guys hitting balls. Like it’s watching Kepka just stripe like three irons, you’re like, “How’s this guy off right now? He looks fantastic.” So, it was a very, very cool experience being live there and watching these guys. Now, a reason this works in Chicago, like a party city, there was, I don’t know, 25, 30,000 people throughout the course. I mean, it was jammed. the music thing, which I originally thought was a little weird on TV and like not really my cup of tea. When you’re there, to me, it adds to the experience. The music adds to the in-person experience. Liv is a cool in-person experience. I personally, and listen, I we we spent all day with Scott O’Neal, who if Scott O’Neal was a stock, I would bet on Scott O’Neal. And I think the smartest thing that Liv did and the PJ tour did in hiring guys to run their businesses is not hiring golf people. Scott O’Neal is not a golf golfer. He’s not some country club guy. Neither is Brian Rolap, the new CEO of the PGA Tour Commissioner. And here’s the thing, they understand like how do we figure this out moving forward together? How do we get our guys in some of your events? like you guys completely changed everything and roll comes from the NFL. Like he’s no dummy. He’s going to want Bryson Dshambo in some of his tournaments. He’s going to want John Rom at the Waste Management. He’s going to want Dustin Johnson and Brooks Kepka to play in some of the Florida tournaments. This is a [ __ ] business. This this isn’t like emotions are high. That was cool a couple years ago. Those days are over. How do we figure this out moving forward? And I think the one thing Scott O’Neal gets and this is a guy that worked for Josh Harris with the Sixers and the and the Commanders, he worked for David Stern. Like he just kind of gets business. And Greg Norman like put a stink on this thing and rightfully so because everyone thought he was a DAG. Everyone thought he was a complete loser and had a vendetta against the PJ tour which became very obvious. Scott O’Neal doesn’t, you know, and one thing watching Scott operate is I think he kind of gets where his bread’s butter, like watching him interact with the players, talking to him about what he’s doing to try to get these guys back in the mix. And also just understanding like the power of these individuals and I go right to them. It was like, okay, this guy’s just an impressive businessman. This is just type person you bet on. You know, it’s like I I was BSing with him and he’s a Philly guy. He’s like, “Oh, Howie’s one of my good buddies.” So, we took a pick. I sent it to Howie. And Howie’s like, “I [ __ ] love Scott O’Neal.” I mean, the type people that this guy, you know, Greg Norman was toxic. And sometimes when you have a toxic person in any different line of work, like there comes to a point where like you just got to throw the guy overboard because whatever your chances are for success, you have no chance with that individual. We we all know these people in our communities like you can’t do business with that guy. I mean, I I have a lot of friends that are in some sort of um I I would say part of the construction industry, construction, real estate, and you hear it all the time. Don’t mess with that guy. He’s a scumbag. That guy’s a bad guy. That guy will totally screw you the moment you’re not paying attention, right? and and those type people, the faster you learn, don’t waste your time doing business with them, the faster it is to be successful in life because that person won’t just screw you over, but they’ll just derail anything you’re trying to do. And I think Greg Norman became that fixture with uh you know, anything that Liv was attempting to accomplish. And I think Scott, uh, again, I’m not just saying this. I’ve never even met the guy up until I went there and just talking to other people that know him and then just spend the day with them. Like I I’ve been lucky enough in my short uh 40 years on this planet to just be around some pretty high level people in some different businesses. And I was just really really impressed. I really was. And to me, the thing that was most impressive, and like I said, the same thing for Rollap, and this was smart, like you don’t like don’t hire these stiff country club guys to these are businesses. The days of like Jay Monahan, you got to do this. Like, get the [ __ ] out of here. Greg Norman, like screw you guys. That’s not a way to do business. So, I I was blown away by the in-person experience, which everyone was having a good time. And I I just I’ve been to a lot of golf events and that’s like sometimes golf events on TV that can look boring and then you go there can be pretty fun. The thing with live the music, the atmosphere kind of even takes it to another level. And u I I I think I saw Bryson tell McAfee today that that was easily now Chicago is a pretty special event town. A lot of younger people out there and um had a good time. But again, like I I’m if you’re good to me and I think you’re impressive, like I’m going to buy into you. People often say like about my about football is a good example. Like yeah, I grew up with the 49ers, but like who am I going to like it’s not like Kyle Shanahan text me? I don’t know the guy. I mean it’s if I did, I would like them even more, but it’s like I can just get on the horn and text Jason Light. You think I’m not going to root for the Bucks? John Schneider came on my podcast, never even met the guy. You think I’m not going to root for the Seattle Seahawks? I mean, Andy Reid essentially and how he hired me and changed the course of my life. You think I’m not going to root for those guys? Right. I’m I’m Life’s pretty simple. If I if I meet you, if you impact my life, if I’m impressed by you, like I I’m going to root for you. So, I I think like I am not the pretend to be some live die hard here, but I I was really really impressed by Scott O’Neal. Um, so I I think that I am optimistic that things are going to change. I I don’t know how, but I I I do think that there will be some dramatic movement over the next 18 months and get some of their guys potentially playing in some more tournaments. Uh you know, Liv this week has their individual championship. Obviously, the RDER Cup is right around the corner. John Rom easily could have won in Chicago. He has yet to win this year. You know, I I I think ultimately the RDER Cup, we lost some when Tiger and Phil didn’t play that well, just like last time I think in Rome, Scotty Sheffler did not play that well. If they go into this Ryder Cup and John I I mean it wouldn’t shock me at all if he wins this week in Indianapolis. Uh he’s playing really, really well. If Rory looks good these next couple weeks and all of a sudden the RDER Cup is led by Rory Mroy and John Rohm like we’re going to need we’re going to need Scotty to be on his agame. Luckily he is. and then some other people to help him out because I I I think I think John Rom’s got a lot of momentum. And I also think just big picture for next year, I’ll be a little stunned. You know, this this year for the first time in a couple years, he was right there with Scotty with nine holes to go in the PGA Championship. Um I I I would expect him to be a major major factor in at Augusta come the spring. You know, it’s a course that he’s very comfortable with. He’s obviously won there before. played well there many times. It’s just kind of an event. He’s a historian of the game. Means a lot to him. So, I I I think Rahm, who kind of dipped once he left originally for Liv, has kind of got his swag back, you know, and the other thing that you see out at uh what I saw at Live Chicago and Bryson going on Pat McAfee, what he’s kind of become for the sport, I was telling this to Colin, I was I was saying this to Scott O’Neal. I I I think currently Bryson is the Steph Curry of golf. He’s just the guy that every casual person kind of knows and everyone pays attention to. The YouTube golf changed it. Hitting long shots changed it. How good he is changed it. If you just say, “I’m at a tournament and every single guy in the world that matters is at that tournament.” Who if you just pull casual people like who do you want to see hit a shot right now? I think most of them would say Bryson. and he’s another guy that’s going to the Ryder Cup with Rahm that you know he he to me he was playing excellent early in the season. Um we’ll see how he is coming in the Ryder Cup. I mean he’s going to be a major factor at the RDER Cup in terms of how many times he plays, but he he brings a buzz there that is really it’s really hard to deny. I mean it’s he’s he by far to me Rom might be their best overall player. Like I think if you just put Rom verse Bryson and they played at 10 different courses in 10 different environments, I I I think Bry I would say Rahm’s probably just the has more [ __ ] to his game. Uh can just do more. But I I I think Bryson is the more just electric, the showman. There’s the element of like he’s kind of like Phil, you know, and I think he’s kind of the modern day Phil of just shaking hands, kissing babies. kind of just at this point in time in his life just kind of gets it.