It was a different golf experience than what Tulsa golf fans are used to, however, the LIV Golf Tournament at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow may have created some new fans, especially among the younger observers.

“It’s a lot more laid back than the PGA events,” golf fan Cole Eveland said. “The golfers seemed more approachable and were willing to interact with the crowd more than at the PGA events. My friend and I really enjoyed it, and so did his dad, but his grandfather said, ‘This isn’t golf.’”

“This is just a lot of fun,” said an anonymous observer.

So maybe it’s not your grandfather’s idea of a golf tournament, but it certainly has great appeal to the more casual fan.

LIV features not only individuals competing against one another, but all the golfers are grouped in teams, and so like with college golf, there is a team competition as well. Plus, you throw in live music on the stage near the clubhouse, live video boards throughout the course, and just an all-around party attitude, you can understand why it may be more appealing than the traditional tournaments that have come to Tulsa in the past.

I saw many kids get autographs from the golfers as they walked from one hole to the next, and golfers giving high-fives to fans as the walked along the ropes. That’s not typical at the U.S. Open or PGA Championship.

The local stop on the LIV Golf tour was won by one of the top-ranked golfers in the world, Dustin Johnson. The winner of the 2016 U.S. Open and 2020 Masters, finished the three-round event in a three-way tie with Cameron Smith and Branden Grace, all at -17. Johnson won in a playoff.

Johnson had led after the first two rounds, and led in the third round until scoring a triple-bogey (7) on hole 10.

“I was able to battle back and made a nice birdie on the next hole on 11, hit some really nice shots on 12 and 13, just so did Grace,” Johnson said. “We all missed really short putts on 12 and 13. But yeah, just played solid. Obviously made a really nice putt on 18 in regulation and then another good one in the playoff.”

Johnson was asked how this win compares to his playoff win in Boston.

“I mean, all wins are good,” he said. “It would be the same. I want to win as much as possible. But, obviously winning in a playoff, too, for the second time, next time I’d like to win without going into a playoff, would be a lot less stressful.”

Johnson said he’s feeling good about his game right now and ready to play in the PGA Championship at Oak Tree this weekend.

“I feel like I’m doing everything really well right now, so yeah, I’m really looking forward to next week. I think I did pretty well there in ‘13.   Obviously, that’s a long time ago, but yeah, I’m looking forward to it. Obviously, it’s a really good golf course. It’s going to be tough. I like tough golf courses. It’s going to play tough, and from what I hear the rough is really deep.

Yeah, looking forward to it. I feel like the game is in really good form going into next week, so we’ll see what happens.”

Grace talked about finishing third behind Johnson and Smith after the playoff.

“I played really well,” Grace said. “When you get to put yourself in that situation, you’re doing something right. Played really good. Made putts when I needed to, especially on 17. Had a good two-putt on 18. I thought I made my putt on the first playoff hole. But it was going to be one of those days where you had to dig deep, play well.”

Winning the overall team competition was Stinger GC, whose players are Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace, and Dean Burmester.

The competition was back and forth between the Stingers GC and Johnson’s Four Aces.

“Yeah, I was just the scoreboard watcher today,” Oosthuizen said. “I saw my team had it all under control. But yeah, it was interesting to see. Dean made like a 12-footer on 16 and then birdie. Branden birdied 17. We were driving down, we saw DJ miss the short putt on 17, and then obviously him birdieing 18.”

We’ll have to wait to see if the LIV Golf tour returns to Tulsa in the future, but if it does, there will be a lot of fans ready to go out to the course and cheer on their favorite players and teams.

TULSA BEACON RADIO

My guest this week on “Tulsa Beacon Weekend” will be author, speaker and business consultant Tim Redmond. The show airs on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. CST on 970am KCFO.