Notebook: Branden Grace Becomes First Player to Withdraw From LIV Golf Event
BANGKOK – Branden Grace become the first LIV Golf player to withdraw during an event when he had to pull out Saturday due to an issue with his rib cage.
Grace, a South African who holds the record for the lowest score ever shot in a major championship – a 62 during the third round of the 2017 British Open at Royal Birkdale – began experiencing pain on the second hole at Stonehill in the second round of the LIV Golf Invitational Series Bangkok event.
He received treatment from a physical therapist after hitting his tee shot at the third hole and then completed the hole but was unable to continue.
Grace, 34, was a first-round co-leader of the event with Richard Bland and Eugenio Chacarra after shooting a 65. He trailed Chacarra by one stroke when he withdrew.
“He hit a great tee shot at the first and everything looked fine,’’ said Bland, who was playing in the same group. “But when he hit the shot at the second he was struggling. And from that point, it was clear he could not pull the trigger. It’s a shame because he was really playing well.’’
The injury was potentially painful as well in a financial sense. Grace came into the week trailing Dustin Johnson in LIV’s individual champion race which concludes following next week’s tournament in Jeddah. Johnson has 118 points and Grace is second with 79.
But with Johnson struggling a bit and Grace potentially contending, there was an opportunity to close the gap. The individual title is worth an $18 million bonus, with $8 million for second and $3 million for third.
Grace was not replaced in the field for the team portion, meaning his Stinger team consisting of South Africans Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Shaun Norris had to have their scores count in the second round as well as Sunday. The team came into the tournament in second place in the team standings, with the top four through Jeddah earning a first-day buy at the season ending team championship later this month at Doral.
After withdrawing, tournament officials said Grace was headed to get an MRI and it’s unclear if he will be able to play at next week’s tournament.
Does LIV Golf Have Its First Sponsor?
Without warning and with no fanfare, LIV Golf apparently has its first on-site sponsor. At least the first public one. Bangkok Bank has signage on the 16th hole as well as some small signage on the driving range. It is the first time that there has been any kind of noticeable on-course advertising at any of the six LIV Golf events.
LIV officials acknowledged that they had a deal for this week with Bangkok Bank, but no details were disclosed.
World Ranking Chatter
The subject of the Official World Golf Ranking is never far from the surface this week. LIV Golf made a bold move in partnering with the developmental MENA Tour as a way of trying to get approved quicker. The OWGR said on Thursday that it would not be approving the plan in the short term as it needed a review period.
So it appears that LIV Golf will go at least into 2023 before world ranking points are awarded – if at all.
“We were excited about (the MENA Tour possibility), but I don’t think it’s over,’’ Sergio Garcia said. “We’re still fighting on it and trying to get what we think we deserve. Hopefully it’ll come around soon.’’
Asked if he believed there might be another system to explore if the OWGR does not approve, Garcia said: “If that keeps happening, probably. But at the end of the day, we’re very happy where we are. If they keep blocking us, it’s because they see us as a threat. So that’s a good thing to have.’’
Weather Warning
The tournament has been extremely fortunate to avoid bad weather to this point. It is the rainy season in Thailand, and thunderstorms have been part of each day. At one point on Friday afternoon, certain areas of the course had to be evacuated due to strong winds. But it was an hour after play had concluded.
With the threat of more poor weather on Sunday afternoon, tournament officials decided to move the shotgun start up by one hour and 15 minutes. Instead of starting at 10:15 a.m. local time, it will begin at 9 a.m. (10 p.m. Saturday ET).