LIV GOOSEBUMPS GOLF: The Armchair View, by Grant Winter

I’ve been writing about golf, a game I love very dearly, for just over 50 years. Over the decades I’ve chosen to always venture out onto the course, notebook in my pocket and binoculars on hand. I like to walk the course so I can watch the players close up, enjoy nature and get some exercise at the same time.

But for reasons I need not explain here, this week I have been holed up at home, sitting on my couch for the duration of this fantastic LIV Golf showstopper, watching on television as the birdie and eagle putts have been dropping thick and fast. And I say fantastic, because it certainly has been just that.

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Maybe it’s because I’m old school, BUT I wasn’t mad about LIV Golf to begin with. But the goosebump golf the players have served up in front of 100 000 roaring fans at a wonderful course like Steyn City, with its immaculate fairways and greens as smooth as billiard tables, has helped soften my attitude.

We journalists are supposed to be impartial but, being South African, I’ve definitely been pulling for Captain Louis (he shot a brilliant seven-under 64) and his Southern Guards teammates, Charl (65), dodgy back but still making birdies, Gracie (also 64) and Burmy (65).

They got my heart pumping with their super combined barrage-of-birdies effort. They have put our home boys in first place for the coveted team title going into the final round. It's been an absolute blast watching them.

Bryson DeChambeau? How can you not like this guy, whose immense power, astonishing par-busting skills (two eagles Saturday!) and warm personality puts him in the class of, say, a Seve or a Palmer or even a Tiger? He smiles a good deal, is charismatic and danced on a tee-box on Saturday on his way to a 64 and leads by two on 21-under 192 for 54 holes.

Our very own Grace on 194, also after his exquisite 64, is his nearest challenger. Can this giant of American golf win here? You bet he can. Can he win the Masters in a fortnight's time? Ditto. Can Grace win here? Don't bet against it.

🤌 It didn't even touch the green

😍 This angle of @brysondech's slam dunk...#LIVGolfSouthAfrica | @Crushers_GC pic.twitter.com/orwwL77lID
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) March 20, 2026

I watched in almost disbelief as John Rahm, the man with the lightning fast swing, played the front nine in just 28 shots – six under as it’s a par-34 loop, and then birdied the 10th. They call him "Rahmbo", a play on his last name and the action movie character Rambo.

The nickname reflects his intense, aggressive and passionate style of play. Gosh, did he perform in this amazing sporting arena - a 64 for 18-under to be tied for third with Mexico's Abraham Ancer (also 65).

All day the players were driving prodigious distances, knocking the pins down (actually hitting the pins with shots from the fairways!) and rolling in the putts on the silky greens. A bunch of players put a bunch of consecutive birdies together. I know little of Rahm's fellow Spaniard Luis Masaveu. He made six in a row. Ancer, Puig and Detry? All potential winners.

Did I say something about goosebumps? I think we all felt them on a day to remember at Steyn City.