Graeme McDowell has no "regrets" on LIV Golf journey despite game's current state - “I think LIV has been a very healthy disruptor”
Graeme McDowell, who has been part of LIV Golf since its early days, has said that he holds no regrets about joining the Saudi-backed league.
McDowell currently plays for the Smash GC team, having spent his first two seasons with the Cleeks GC). He was a guest on the most recent episode of the "Fairway to Heaven" podcast and talked about the current state of men's professional golf and his experience at LIV.
This was part of what Graeme McDowell had to say:
"I don’t have any personal regrets. I hate where the game kind of is right now and that’s obviously not necessarily on me, that’s just with the powers that be within the game of golf. I think ultimately we’re going to come out the other side of this, with the game of golf in great shape."
"I think in any business there’s always disruption, inevitably there’s going to be disruption. I think LIV has been a very healthy disruptor to a sport that the business model was slightly wrong and things needed to change. Unfortunately change can be painful, but I think we’re through a lot of the pain now," he added.
Graeme McDowell also reflected on the beginnings of LIV Golf and the evolution that the circuit has undergone up to now.
"There’s no doubt it was difficult at the beginning," he said. "Especially being one of the original guys who were involved in the initial push where we had to go against the grain a little bit. It was hard."
"But as we sit here a third of the way through our third season, with the personnel we have on board now, with our team, with the product, with the media product that we have, I think the momentum is really, really strong. I feel ever more confident that it was the right decision to make. I’m very happy with where I’m at," he added.
Graeme McDowell has had a lengthy career in golf spanning 22 seasons as a professional. He clinched one Major title at the 2010 US Open and has achieved other notable results.
A look into Graeme McDowell's LIV Golf career
Graeme McDowell has played in all 24 individual tournaments played in LIV Golf so far, plus the 2023 Teams Championship. His best finish came at the 2024 LIV Golf Las Vegas, where he finished fifth with a score of 9 under.
McDowell has finished in two other top 10s (10th at 2022 LIV Golf London and 10th at 2024 LIV Golf Hong Kong). In the first two seasons, he finished ranked among the lower players on the tour in individual standings, placing 39th in 2022 with 13 points and 42nd in 2023 with 15 points.
In the first four events of 2024, McDowell earned more points than in either of his previous two seasons (22.75). With two Top 10 finishes this season, he also secured 45th place at LIV Golf Mayakoba and 31st place at LIV Golf Jeddah. This places him 18th in the season's individual standings.