Shorts make debut on competition day at LIV Golf International, Boston

LIV Golf announced on Friday night that players would be allowed to wear shorts during competition rounds, starting immediately. Of the 48 players in the field, 40% took advantage of the new rule and wore shorts. It’s believed to be the first time an elite professional golf league has allowed shorts to be worn during a round.

‘The players asked about it,’ LIV Golf CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman said. ‘We did a survey a couple of weeks ago. It was a pretty significant positive response about wearing shorts. Just gave them the option of doing that.’

Norman credited Phil Mickelson, the Hy Flyers GC captain, for being ‘the most desirable to have it. … I followed his lead, listened to him a little bit.’

Mickelson was one of the 19 players who wore shorts Saturday.

‘This is a long time coming in the game of golf,’ Mickelson said. ‘I think it just takes a disruptor like LIV to get things done. They’ve been leading in many ways, and I’m very happy that they are leading in this particular area… I have a lot of friends on Tour and I hope for their sake the Tour follows. I think it’s good for golf. I think it’s great for the players. It feels good. It’s more comfortable, especially when we start getting into some hot temperatures, and I just think it’s a great thing.’

Sergio Garcia was another player who took advantage of the relaxed rule. ‘I’ve been wanting to wear shorts playing for a long while,’ the Spanish star said after shooting a 64. ‘I think it’s just another step forward towards getting more connected with the fans, making the game younger, fresher. I’m glad that we all decided to take this step forward, and it’s fun.’

Of the 29 players who continued to wear pants, some simply did so because they had no other option.

‘I love it, wearing shorts,’ said LIV Golf newcomer Joaquin Niemann. ‘I just didn’t have anything clean for the moment. I’ve got to pack better for the next event.’

As for the 4 Aces GC, the two-time team champion who hold the 36-hole lead, captain Dustin Johnson didn’t want to tempt fate by making a switch to shorts.

‘Pat [Perez} texted me last night and said, ‘Are we wearing shorts?’ and I texted back, ‘No, we’re going to wear pants,’ so I think we all wore pants,’ Johnson said. ‘It was only because I think if we would have started or known before the tournament started, we probably would have worn shorts, but in the middle of the tournament I don’t like switching it up. I’m going to wear pants again tomorrow, too.’

Johnson said he expects to wear shorts in upcoming LIV Golf events in Bangkok and Jeddah.

Commissioner Norman said he has ‘always been a big believer of [wearing shorts], coming from Australia. … The time was right. LIV is the future of golf and we just want to open it up and make sure the players are as comfortable as possible.’