It was a dream come true for local golfers in the area to get an opportunity to watch some of the best golfers in the game play the sport. Nearly 40,000 braved the heat to attend LIV Golf over a long weekend to watch their favorite Pro Golfers during the Pro tournament at the Bolingbrook Golf Club.

Golfer and Masters champion Jon Rahm won the tournament, defeating closest challengers Joaquin Niemann and Sergio Garcia by three strokes. It was Rahm’s second tournament win in last three starts. In addition to the $4 million he took home for the victory Sunday in Bolingbrook; Rahm also earned a $18 million bonus for the season points title.

LIV Golf, a Saudi Arabia-backed league, was initially supposed to have a Chicago tournament at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. Instead, it chose Bolingbrook Golf Club, operated by Kemper Sports and features a 7,104-yard layout designed by Arthur Hills and Steve Forrest.

Bolingbrook Golf Club, which opened in 2002, ranks second on the NBC Golfpass list of Top 50 public golf courses in the United States. It is for that reason and proximity to I-55 as to why the Bolingbrook golf course was chosen to host the event, according to LIV Golf.

LIV Chicago is believed to be the first “large-scale, high stakes” golf event to ever be held at the Bolingbrook golf course, according to a press release from LIV Golf. 

LIV Golf was formed in 2021 amidst controversy as many of the most popular players in the PGA Tour, like Phil Mickelson, Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson, took huge contracts and decided to play in the Saudi-backed league.

While traffic on I-55 and nearby streets were backed up for miles, spectators had nothing but good things to say about Bolingbrook.

“This was a world-class event held in our backyard,” said Jim Davenport of Bolingbrook. “Since I live so close I walked to the golf course and there was no need for me to be shuttled in.”

Saturday’s attendance of more than 15,000 spectators set a new single-day record for a LIV event in the United States.

Golf fan Aaron Sadlacek of Darien gave rave reviews to the tournament.

“They had buses to shuttle people in and everything truly went smoothly,” he said. “I brought my sons, and it was so much fun to get up close to the players. This golf course is immaculate, and I cannot wait to golf here before the season ends.”