Church Bells and a Baby Caused Havoc at LIV Chicago 

LIV Chicago was an interesting event from all aspects, whether good or bad. However, there is an untold story that happened Sunday afternoon during the final round. The field was roughly halfway through their round as I made my way back to a very secluded tee box which was the 11th hole, Par 5. Many spectators were not aware of where the players were teeing off on this hole. My brother made the journey with me back to the teeing area as we awaited the next group. 

As we were waiting, the volunteer working the tee box greeted us and said we shouldn’t be back there, but if we wanted to stay, we must stand still and quiet behind the golfers where the hole signage was. We did as such, however, a couple trickled in with their baby, as this had a recipe for disaster written all over it. The next group of Charl Schwartzel, Charles Howell III, and Laurie Canter made their way back to the tee box. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by LIV Golf (@livgolfinv)

(The 11th tee box)

Schwartzel had honors on the tee, so he began his pre-shot routine. As Schwartzel did as such, the couple’s baby began to cry. Charl seemed bothered by the whole situation as Howell looked back at the couple as well. Laurie Canter made no reaction to the situation. The baby had finally stopped crying, and Schwartzel was able to settle back in, but during his backswing, the church bells went off. 

Charl Schwartzel hit his drive well left of the fairway, which frustrated him immensely and resulted in slamming his driver into the teeing area several times. The Masters Champion proceeded to hit his provisional in the same general area but a little more playable this time.   

Howell and Canter didn’t have any extra noises or distractions during their swings. Given the situation, we didn’t follow this group for the remainder of the hole but checked Schwartzel’s scorecard, which revealed a 5 (par). Seemed nearly impossible that he would find his first ball from a wayward shot and scrap his way to get a par on a hole playing 626 yards after the debacle on the tee box. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Laurie Canter (@lauriecanter)

Even after all that, Schwartzel still went home with nearly 740k by finishing T-6th in the stroke play event.