LIV teammates to play together in groups at Adelaide

LIV Golf has announced a few minor changes ahead of their Adelaide tournament this week. The team captains will play together in the first four groups, and the remaining members of each four-man team will play in three-man groups for the rest of the day.

This has caused some contention — while LIV is an individual golf tournament, there is a separate pool of prize money for team wins. Some onlookers are concerned that having members of the same team teeing off in the same group will discourage golfers from challenging a bad drop, or any other potential impropriety.

The golfers and their caddies could also share information about the holes and greens with each other, which is not allowed in the sport. Brooks Koepka and Gary Woodland just came under fire for allegedly doing this during the Masters two weeks ago. Both players strenuously denied it, and Jon Rahm went on to win the event by beating Koepka on the final day.

And of course having any tournament with Patrick Reed and the ability to cheat is a cause for concern.

The tournament tees off on Friday, April 21 in the standard shotgun start, which involves players starting at the same time on different holes. LIV Golf Adelaide is played at the Grange Golf Club in the tour’s inaugural visit to Australia.

There are other forms of team golf, such as in NCAA collegiate play, but those players are split into groups with players from other teams for this exact reason. But with LIV scrambling to outdraw minor league football in terms of television viewership, anything to change the narrative that the tour is circling the drain quickly might be helpful.