LIV Golf: TNT Sports make impressive debut

Sky Sports have been the undisputed home of live televised golf in the UK for more than 30 years, they currently hold the rights to the Masters, PGA Championship, US Open, The Open, PGA TOUR, DP World Tour, LPGA, Ladies European Tour, Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup, the Senior Majors and the biggest events in the amateur game. But since 2022 there has been one significant element of golf which they have not covered - LIV Golf.

In the UK we began with three seasons on YouTube in 2022, 2023 and 2024, along with DAZN, and then in 2025 ITV assumed the UK rights for LIV Golf, and it was seen as a significant moment, with the return of golf to free to air television in the UK. Sadly, ITV did not make LIV Golf a priority, and their coverage was a basic simulcast of the worldwide feed without any additional ancillary coverage. The events were almost exclusively shown on ITVX, their streaming service, with a limited amount of air time on ITV4, and no coverage whatsoever on ITV1.

This was particularly disappointing when it came to LIV Golf UK at JCB Country Club, and as a viewer from afar I migrated to DAZN pretty quickly. If I noticed this lack of real commitment, it is pretty certain that the management of LIV Golf did too. So when TNT Sports was announced as the UK broadcaster it was not a real surprise, and from the off it seemed as though they were keen to show more commitment to presenting LIV Golf to the UK audience.

In the press release they said: As LIV Golf’s U.K. and Ireland broadcast partner, TNT Sports will look to dedicate on-site presentation, delivering comprehensive coverage across the LIV Golf season.

Scott Young, Executive Vice President, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe said: “Showcasing some of the world’s best male golfers playing on LIV Golf is a positive addition to TNT Sports’ portfolio of premium live sport, further placing our channels and platforms as a leading destination for all the sports you love. It also allows us to further reward our existing base of fans by bringing them huge golf events throughout the year as part of their subscription.

"LIV Golf has an incredible energy and a host of world-class players and we’re excited to bring TNT Sports’ storytelling and production know-how to help bring competitions to even more sports fans. With iconic venues, top players and a compelling newly refreshed format, this partnership allows us to bring fans even more of the stories and action than ever before.”

TNT Sports were true to their word, so let's look at some of the aspects of the broadcast on day one of LIV Golf Riyadh:

1. On-course Presentation

TNT Sports came on air 30 minutes before play began, and will do so every day of the season, and the coverage was hosted by the dependable, experienced and flexible Craig Doyle, who was joined by 2014 Alfred Dunhill Links Champion Oliver Wilson. Doyle is one of TNT Sports flagship presenters, presenting coverage of Prem Rugby, the Quilter Nations Series, Cycling and was a prominent face during their coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. He has previously worked for BBC and ITV covering a range of sports including MotoGP, Football, and Rugby, as well as contributing to coverage of the Olympic Games in 2004.

Craig and Oliver were joined for a short time by LIV Golf world feed talent, Rachel Drummond, and from their broadcast position by the putting green Drummond and Wilson provided great insight into a player's preparation for a round of golf. Doyle and Wilson were honest about LIV Golf and mentioned people's opinions of it and their perceptions of it before they visited an event in person.

Craig sat down for an interview with LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neill and the interview was honest and conversational, and the right questions were asked, and answered. This is something we have not ever seen before during a LIV Golf broadcast, because so far it has been a completely LIV Golf produced broadcast. The opening to the coverage felt similar to TNT Sports, and former Eurosport coverage of Cycling and the Olympic Games, which is as high a compliment as I can give.

I would like to have seen more coverage of and content relating to Majesticks GC, as the UK's LIV Golf franchise, and perhaps more on Tom McKibbin, Graeme McDowell, Paul Casey, and maybe that will come in the days and weeks ahead. At the mid-way point of the round, with 9 holes to play Craig and Oliver returned for more insight, and discussion, relaying their experience of the day so far.

An additional interview was broadcast with Jon Rahm discussing playing under the lights in Riyadh.

2. Golf coverage and commentary

The golf coverage is still LIV Golf produced, with the entire LIV Golf broadcast team including Arlo White, David Feherty, Jerry Foltz and Su Ann Heng, but this season they are joined by Host, Henni Zuel, and co-commentators and pundits, Nicolas Colsaerts and Brett Rumford. Rachel Drummond contributed with on-course interviews, and Zuel commented on the team leaderboard at points throughout the broadcast. As usual the coverage was excellent, fast-paced but now not the overwhelming barrage of shots shown in the first couple of seasons. It remains to be seen if TNT Sports do assemble their own full broadcast team in the future, but they could do and have some crossover with the LIV Golf worldwide feed team.

Oliver Wilson will be at every LIV Golf event for TNT Sports this season, marking his entry into Golf broadcasting, so he clearly would be a part of any future TNT Sports full broadcast team.

3. Advertising

Previously the UK audience has seen LIV Golf pretty much uninterrupted by advertising, but it was inevitable that TNT Sports would not broadcast ad-free. However, the advertisement breaks were sympathetically scheduled within the worldwide feed broadcast

Overall it was an impressive debut in golf broadcasting, and I would love to see TNT Sports fill the vacancy of broadcaster of the Asian Tour in the UK. The tour has been without a permanent broadcast partner in the UK since Premier Sports in 2023, and covering at the least the 10 International Series events would create more storylines to tell throughout the year. It would also be an interesting prospect if TNT Sports carried coverage of the US college scene, especially with LIV Golf recruiting a number of players from the US College system including Michael Le Sasso, Caleb Surrat, David Puig, and Josele Ballester.

I don't envisage TNT rivalling Sky for any of the traditional tours or Majors at this stage, but maybe in the future they could, especially with the DP World Tour.

SHANK, by Matt Hooper