Golf Wars Book Review

Golf Wars Book Review

Golf Wars: LIV and Golf’s Bitter Battle for Power and Identity
by Ian Carter

Grade: A
Teachers’ Comments: A fresh perspective, told in an interesting framework by a veteran BBC reporter..

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on Amazon

It will be quite some time — maybe even decades — before the story of LIV and its challenge to golf’s establishment is fully understood. That is partly because LIV is an ongoing story and partly because it is a complex mix of national interests, international ambitions, interpersonal relationships and financial skullduggery.

While Golf Wars is not the only book about the subject (I previously reviewed Alan Shipnuck’s LIV and Let Die), as the longtime BBC golf correspondent, Carter brings an interesting perspective as a non-American reporter.

Golf Wars begins with the obligatory “how did we get here” chapters, covering Andrew Gardiner — who invented the format but had it hijacked by LIV; Greg Norman; Phil Mickelson’s flip; Saudi ambitions; and the Donald Trump connection (confirming in some ways what I have thought about LIV).

The meat of Golf Wars is in Carter’s coverage of the 2023 pro golf season. The latter two-thirds of the book is structured around Carter’s “diaries” of the Masters, US PGA, US Open, Open Championship and Ryder Cup.

It is an interesting and informative choice, as the Majors and the Ryder Cup brought the PGA TOUR/DP World Tour – LIV divide into focus.

For those who have been following the events regularly in the news, there will not be much new in Golf Wars. Those readers, however, will (as I did) still find value in the narrative thread that Carter weaves. It was interesting to see Carter’s perspective on how the pieces fell fell into place.

More casual golf fans — and those who do not follow the news — will find in Golf Wars swift coverage of the events that have led to professional golf’s great divide.