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February 12, 2025 11 mins

LIV Golf seems to be growing with every event. 

Upon it’s arrival, the tour was rather controversial due to its financial backing from Saudi Arabia, but its popularity is continuing to grow. 

Professional golfer Ben Campbell joined the league in 2024 as a reserve player, but is making his official debut this year as a member of Bubba Watson’s squad. 

Campbell told Mike Hosking that it’s definitely getting bigger and bigger compared to previous years. 

“Even from last year,” he said. 

“The crowds have got bigger just the, the whole following had got a lot bigger.”  

“And LIV just producing such a good product – they're getting better and better and better at every event, which is exciting.” 

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I wanted to give you this insight and to live.
Golf winner arrived very controversial, of course, it was back
by the Soundias. It was money raining down on every title.
It's going to rip the game apart, all that sort
of stuff. So how's it actually unfolded? Where's it at?

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Ku We?

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Ben Campbell plays on the Asian too. He got to
play live last year as a fillain. This year is
joined full time as part of Bubba Watson's Range Goats team.
And last week and he came in as I said
before the news fifteenth collected half a million bucks just
like that. So this week they're all in Adelaide anyway.
Ben Campbell's with us from South Australia.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Good morning, Yeah, good morning to you. How are you
guys getting on listen?

Speaker 1 (00:31):
I'm really well now. Took me through this whole experience
live before. What we your thoughts live now that you're
in it?

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Yeah, I know.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
I think last year I was lucky I was a
reserve out here and yeah, I think it's definitely you know,
the events are different to you know, I think you've
got to go to them in person, see what they're
like this week here in Adelaide it's going to be amazing.
But I think, you know, it's I think definitely being
part of it now this year being member of the

(00:59):
range Go, it's it's definitely a cool experience and really
looking forward to this week.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
It's. Yeah, I'm really excited for the year.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
As it turned out the way you thought is the
sort of golf you thought, the crowds, you thought, the competition,
you thought it was a bit different.

Speaker 3 (01:13):
Yeah, I think it's very much the same. It's it's growing.
It's definitely getting bigger and bigger. I think, you know,
from even from last year, even just being a reserve
that the events at the start of the year to
the to the last few events, I think, you know,
like the crowds have got bigger, just the whole following
had got a lot bigger.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
And you know, and and Liver it just producing such
a good PRODC.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
They're getting better and better and better at every event
and which is exciting. And you know, we come back
here to Adelaide this year and you didn't think anything
could have got bigger, bigger than it had, but like
the grand stands are bigger here. I think there's five
thousand more people a day, So yeah, I think it's
just one of those.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
It's it's you know, growing as it every year.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Really, what's its success or your view of its success.
Is it people turning up to see individual golfers or
golf teams or is it just like like a well
marketed thing that you know, you get entertained by.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
I think it's a bit of everything.

Speaker 3 (02:11):
I think one thing I really liked last year being reserved.
I got to see some things probably the players didn't quite.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Get to see. I just enjoyed it.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
The kids coming out, Like I feel like parents taking
kids through golf tournaments. It's tricky, you know, like trying
to keep kids quiet and things like that is always difficult.
Where out here, the music's going, it doesn't really matter
if a kid makes a noise in someone's backswing. The
music sort of drowns it out. It's definitely a different experience.
It's it's different to your standard golf tournament. You know,

(02:45):
there's there's definitely people here that they might only see
a couple of golf shots, you know, but it's like
you know, people go to the horse racing and have
a great day at the horse racers and sort of
you know, see a few shots. But I feel like
it covers for every everyone's got sort of an option
that people can watch every golf shot.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
People can sort of listen to some music, watch a
couple of golf.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
Shots, and yeah, it's different and it's targeting a different market.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Does that diminish the game in your view, you know,
as a guy who's swung a club as whole life.

Speaker 2 (03:15):
No, not to me.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
I think you know, you look at the golf since
COVID in New Zealand, like the amount of young people
getting into golf. If we can have people that have
never been on a golf course before come out, enjoy
the time here, and then really you know, think, oh
well golf sort of I might actually give it a go.
If we can get more people playing the game, then
to me, surely that's got to be a good thing.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
And has that counteracted because when you know, when Live
came along, it was that animosity, big scrap. But what
they argued was you need big names, more names, Tiger Woods,
John Rahm. Whoever, it's not going to succeed. Are you
saying it is succeeding in and of itself?

Speaker 2 (03:52):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (03:53):
I think you look at watch the cards this week
and you know and and see it like it's an
amazing here in Australia. People come from, you know, all
over Australia. The amount of kiwis that have come over
this week is amazing. So you know, you've got some
of the biggest names in golf, you know, obviously Bryce

(04:13):
and Brooks, Jon Rahm. You know, there's there's some amazingly
big names here and you know here in Australia, it's
definitely taken off.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
So that pathway, I mean, where where's it at? I mean,
do you guys still talk about it? Do you talk
about the PGA and the other tours. Is there's still
that sort of that animosity or is that all settled down?

Speaker 3 (04:34):
I suppose it's sort of different from me coming from
the Asian Tour, like the Asian two has been backed
by Live Golf for the last I think it's three
years now, so I think from coming from the side
of the world, it's I don't think it's seends so
much that way. I think if you're in America then
it's it's probably still a little bit that way, but
it's I think it's definitely getting better.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
What about the pathways, I mean, announced into the Open
into the Master, if liv can get in, if you
can get to the big ones through Live that way
as a player, does that change everything potentially?

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yeah, I think that's that's huge.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
I think, you know, if you see what's happening, you know,
and that them all those sort of majors giving spots now,
it's definitely awesome for Live, it's great for the players,
and it's just you know, it's a sort of win
win for everyone, and I think it just shows that
it's probably getting seen now at that level.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
Good to hear. Now, listen to your part, as you mentioned,
part of the Range Goats, the team, the Range Goats
team itself, the team concept. I mean, is it necessary,
does it work, does it bring a different sort of
element to it?

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah, it definitely does.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
I think I hadn't sort of obviously obviously, you know
last week when from my first time planners as a
team member, I'd obviously field in a few times, but
like being part of a team, it was quite interesting
on the last whole obviously had a part for Bertie
and I'm trying to make it but I looked up,
I saw we were one shot off second and I
was like, okay, I've got to really got to the
knuckle down, and I actually did think of the team.

(06:02):
I thought like, let's be cool, we try and hold
us and get us into tide second and sort of
was lucky to lucky to do that and made the part.
So yeah, I think it's just gives a different perspective
on it and and it's and it's good. It gets
you know, people following teams. Yeah, and I think it's
it's it's definitely a good thing.

Speaker 1 (06:22):
What about the money you win half a million dollars?
Has that changed? I mean, the whole thing about liv
was look at the money. I mean, is winning half
a million dollars as you did for coming fifteenth? Does
that change your view of it?

Speaker 2 (06:35):
Nah?

Speaker 3 (06:35):
Not for me, not really. I think, don't get me wrong,
it's like great, but it's I think after what I've
gone through with injuries and things like that, it's it's
not so much the money. It's if I wanted money,
I would have been doing something else a long time ago.
But it's yeah, I think I think out here, it's
great for me. You know, I'm playing against some of

(06:57):
the best players in the world. John Rahm, you know
you're playing practor showns in tournaments. You know, Bubba Watson's
my team captain with you know, asking those guys some questions.
I remember last year hitting bung shots with Bryson when
we were struggling with the same shot and you're sort
of talking different ways how to hit it. Like he's
one of the best players in the world. So I think,

(07:17):
you know, from someone coming from New Zealand, you know,
being able to have that opportunity now to learn from them,
you know, it's only going to do my golf a
lot a lot of good.

Speaker 1 (07:27):
Do you really learn from Bryson? Given he's so weird
and he makes it all up.

Speaker 3 (07:32):
He's just like he's got all the numbers behind it,
and he's sort of he's you know, he does it
very different compared to a lot of the guys out here.

Speaker 2 (07:41):
But yeah, I think, you know, he's definitely you want
to see him with us.

Speaker 3 (07:46):
He's got like his flight scope out here, he's heading
shots from the rough to know what the spin does
and things like that. He's he definitely goes about a
different way, but it really works for him.

Speaker 1 (07:55):
What about the psychology of the money in the sense
that you enter a weekend knowing you will win something.
Does that change your approach as a player or not?

Speaker 2 (08:03):
No, not really.

Speaker 3 (08:04):
You know, you're still trying to just finish up as
high as your high as you can, and you're still competing.
You're still everyone's still trying to win. And I think,
you know, that's the thing out here that probably last
year what surprised me was how hard the guys are
working out here. You've got, you know, a guy like
Phil Nicholson who's, you know, obviously coming near the end
of his career, but how hard he still works. You know,

(08:27):
we talked about Bryson just before, but you know, Bryson's
sometimes the last person on the range, you know, grinding.

Speaker 2 (08:33):
You know, it surprised me last year.

Speaker 3 (08:35):
You wake up early and go to the gym and
the guys that are in there, you know, there's still
a lot of fight, you know, and the guys really
do want to play well.

Speaker 1 (08:42):
And is there what the camaraderie about living that sense
we're you know, we're the live gang, we hang out together,
we get on together. Or is it's still a very
individual sort of sport with egos and personalities.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
No. I think that's definitely been one thing. You know,
I think, especially at the start, those guys that came
out here. But you know, I've felt so welcome out here.

Speaker 2 (09:02):
The guys have been amazing. You know.

Speaker 3 (09:04):
I think I had an interview a couple of days
ago and told a story like my first event last
year in Mexico. Just the mount of guys I didn't
know anyone, the amount of guys coming up, welcome you. Hey,
if you need anything, just let us know. Yeah, And
that's been the one thing, you know, the guys that
I've always looked up to my life in the golfing life,
and then that coming up and helping out was it

(09:27):
was pretty pretty surreal.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
So I think, you know, think about it from a
business point of view as a startup. So you got
Greg Norman in there early, all those guys as a business,
as an idea, as a launch. Is this or has
this been as good as it gets?

Speaker 2 (09:40):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (09:41):
I think it's just it's growing, you know, It's like
a small business that starts up, and there's the learning.
There's that they're employing more people and the events are
getting bigger and bigger. So yeah, I think I can't
it's not going to go away. And I think it's
it just seems to be getting stronger and which is exciting,

(10:01):
and it's it's great to bring golf to some parts
of the world like this. You know that haven't had
a lot of a lot of big events. Okay, we've
had the Australian Open, but they have fifty four of
you know, some of the world's best players coming down
and that you know, it would be great.

Speaker 2 (10:15):
Hopefully we maybe get one in New Zealand one day exactly.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
By the way, have you seen this TGI golf?

Speaker 3 (10:20):
No, I haven't sort of seen too much of it.
Was I was in America at the start of the
year when it was just kicking off. But I actually
I've just seen a little bit of the stuff online,
but I haven't sort of seen too much of it.

Speaker 1 (10:30):
See, I don't get it. I mean, I watch you
on leve I watched the PGA, I like all of that.
But then do I enjoy watching you guys smack a
ball into a wall inside a stadium and then they
put on a g I mean, is that interesting?

Speaker 2 (10:42):
Yeah? I suppose it's just going to be time time.
You know, Tom's going to tell if it's if it's
going to take off off or not.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
But I suppose they're trying to trying to do something different,
try and get you know, some of the people that
might not watch golf.

Speaker 2 (10:55):
I'm not you know, I'm not too sure.

Speaker 1 (10:56):
So the year, Ben, talk to me about the year.
You got it all lined up? Are you excited?

Speaker 2 (11:00):
Yeah, it's going to be. It's definitely busy.

Speaker 3 (11:02):
Like the live schedule, We've got fourteen events from well
thirteen more from now till the twenty fourth of August.
So obviously i'll play play that and then I'll of
finish off the year with a little bit of sort
of the International series on the Asian Tour and try
and qualify for a couple of majors.

Speaker 2 (11:20):
So you know, it's great.

Speaker 3 (11:21):
The New Zealand Open having the British Open spot this
year is going to be awesome. So you know that
was great news to get announced just a couple of
days ago.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
Yeah, exactly. Hey, listen, mate, go well this weekend and
for the season. Good to have you on the program.
Appreciate it very much. Ben Campbell, New Zealand delivering the
Dream on the Live Tour. For more from the Mic
Asking Breakfast, listen live to news talks. It'd be from
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