Dancers took over the first tee. A league CEO landed on a fairway by parachute. A six-time major champion arrived at his starting hole in a London taxi as trumpets played. At most golf tournaments, any one of these moments would be the biggest talking point of the week. At LIV Golf, they were just part of the show.

That was what made LIV Golf different. The Saudi-backed league wanted to change the way people watched golf. It brought loud music, big celebrations, and moments that traditional golf fans were not used to seeing. Some fans loved it, while others could not take it seriously. But one thing was clear: LIV always found a way to get people talking.

Now, LIV’s attorney has confirmed in bankruptcy court that the league will wind down. Before the final chapter closes, it is worth looking back at some of the strange and unforgettable moments it brought to golf.

Here are five of the most unforgettable ones.

1. The LIV Golf Flash Mob Nobody Asked For

“Golf but Louder” was LIV Golf’s slogan, and the league took it quite seriously in July 2023. They gave fans a show they probably never expected. Before the opening round at Centurion Club near London, a group of dancers took over the first tee for a planned performance. It was an unusual sight for a sport where fans are usually expected to stay quiet. Instead of watching a player prepare for his opening shot, the crowd found itself watching a dance show.

The video quickly became a talking point. LIV’s editorial director shared the clip, and it reached two million people within just two hours. 

Fans wasted no time making jokes, with one writing, “Can’t wait for LIV Golf: The Musical on Broadway.” But the dancing was only part of the story that week. Brooks Koepka had also told Sports Illustrated that he had “basically given up” on teammate Matthew Wolff. Wolff later called the comments heartbreaking. For a league trying to bring a new kind of entertainment to golf, the week offered plenty of drama, both on and off the course.

2. Phil Mickelson Pulls Up in a Black Cab, and a Jet Becomes a Party

LIV Golf wanted to make a big entrance from the very beginning, and its first event at Centurion Club in June 2022 showed just how far the league was willing to go. Organizers hired 25 London taxi drivers to take players to their starting holes. Phil Mickelson arrived at the third tee in a packed black cab with his golf bag, caddie, and a security guard. Moments later, he covered his ears as trumpeters played a welcome fanfare. It was quite a show for a golf tournament. But the bigger story came just 30 minutes after play began, when the PGA Tour suspended Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and 15 other members for joining LIV.

The money on offer was just as surprising as the grand arrivals. At LIV’s second event in Portland, Pat Perez shot an 80 in the final round and finished tied for 29th in a field of 48 players. Yet he still walked away with $900,000 after his 4 Aces team shared its prize money. That was more than the prize for finishing 24th at the 2022 Open Championship at St Andrews. 

Perez celebrated aboard LIV’s private jet as Queen’s “We Are the Champions” played. His wife, Ashley, called it “absolutely the coolest plane ever.”

Even the player who finished last received at least $120,000. That was the kind of money LIV brought to golf, and it was unlike anything the sport had seen before. For some players, it was impossible to turn down. For traditional golf fans, it was another sign that LIV was playing by its own rules.

3. Greg Norman, Stunt Man

Greg Norman never liked making a quiet entrance. At LIV Golf Boston on September 2, 2022, he took things to another level by parachuting onto the first fairway with a member of the Frog-X Navy SEAL team just before the shotgun start. After landing, Norman climbed out of his harness and pumped his fists as the crowd cheered. It was not even his first parachute stunt. The same team had landed at Trump National Bedminster in July that year, with one parachute carrying a LIV Golf banner.

But Norman’s unusual moments did not stop there. In Portland, he threw free beer cans into the crowd and even poured one into a fan’s mouth. At LIV Nashville in 2024, he walked onto the green to hold the flag while Bryson DeChambeau prepared to hit his tee shot on the par-3 15th. DeChambeau later admitted that he did not even realize it was Norman. Earlier that year, Norman also bought a Masters ticket from the secondary market after his son said he had been denied an invitation and the chance to buy one directly.

And even after Norman’s time as LIV CEO, the parachute shows continued. On March 22, 2026, golf legend Gary Player made a parachute landing on the final day of LIV Golf South Africa at Steyn City. Clearly, LIV’s love for dramatic entrances was not going away anytime soon.

4. The Press Conference Ejection With a Famous Bystander

Not every LIV Golf moment was about music, parties, or big celebrations. Some of its early headlines came from the way it treated the media. On the opening day in 2022, golf writer Alan Shipnuck was removed from Phil Mickelson’s post-round press conference. Shipnuck had written an unauthorized biography of Mickelson and published his controversial comments about Saudi Arabia in February. In a tweet about the incident, he described the security staff as “neckless security dudes” who were following orders from someone they refused to name.

Shipnuck later spoke about the incident on the Dan Patrick Show. He said he had to send three emails before receiving his media pass. According to him, LIV staff gave three different reasons for removing him, including having the wrong badge and missing a security scan. He also contacted Greg Norman, who replied that he had not heard about the incident. But a video appeared to show Norman standing in the background during the confrontation. LIV later apologized to Shipnuck.

And this was not the only problem with the media that week. Two days earlier, LIV officials had also removed Associated Press reporter Rob Harris from the media center. He was allowed back about 10 minutes later. For a league that promised to change professional golf, its early treatment of reporters looked like the same old press-room trouble.

5. The Champions Dinner Nobody Was Invited To

The Masters champions’ dinner is one of golf’s most special traditions. But LIV Golf decided to create its own version. At Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore, winners including Brooks Koepka and Talor Gooch sat down for a special dinner. Their caddies wore white jumpsuits, much like the ones worn at Augusta National. The five-course menu was also planned by Koepka and his caddie, Ricky Elliott.

However, there was an interesting twist to the whole event. According to Golf Digest, LIV had given up its attempt to earn Official World Golf Ranking points almost a year earlier. This made it harder for its players to qualify for major championships. They had to depend on past major wins, strong finishes at previous Masters tournaments, or special invitations. Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, and Dustin Johnson all own Green Jackets, but they could only watch the real Masters dinner from afar.

LIV may have managed to copy the food, the dress code, and even the ceremony, but it could not recreate the history behind Augusta’s famous tradition. The league had its own champions’ dinner, and the food was reportedly good. But for golf fans, there was still only one Masters dinner that truly mattered.

The league that wanted to change golf never managed to win over the people in charge of the sport. According to The National, the PGA Tour rejected a $1.5 billion offer from the Saudi fund. The deal would have kept LIV Golf running and made PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan co-chair of the PGA Tour Enterprises board.

Golf has always been known for its quiet fairways and calm atmosphere. LIV Golf spent five years trying to change that with loud music, big crowds, and a very different style of play. Some fans loved it, while others rolled their eyes. But whether people liked it or not, LIV always found a way to get their attention. And that was exactly what the league wanted.