6 takeaways from the opening LIV Golf event in London

The action on the course might not exactly subscribe to LIV Golf's slogan of "Golf, But Louder," but the rival league is certainly making plenty of noise in the sporting world this week.

The opening event of the Saudi-backed venture teed off on Thursday, but it was the announcement of the field list, which included Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, that attracted the most attention.

Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, and Pat Perez have since signed on to begin play with LIV Golf at the second event in Portland, with Matthew Wolff and Bubba Watson rumored to also be joining the circuit.

With the opening tournament in the books, here are some quick takeaways from our first experience with LIV Golf.

Commercial-free viewing is outstanding

One of the biggest criticisms of PGA TOUR golf on television is the endless amount of commercials. With massive media deals spread out amongst broadcasters, a regular TOUR broadcast seriously lacks flow with commercial stoppages - often the same ones - happening on a regular basis. LIV Golf is under no such restrictions, with the tournaments playing commercial-free on YouTube.

The lack of advertisements certainly speeds things up, although the broadcast could probably relax their "Don't blink" graphic that comes up as they skip between shots.

There's no cut away for the FedEx file, an update on the Comcast Business top 10, a FedEx Cup standings report, or an interview with the CEO of the main sponsor.

While the quality of golf being played certainly leaves plenty to be desired, the amount of shots shown and flow of the broadcast is outstanding through one event.

Broadcast has hits and misses

The actual broadcast was a mixed bag, with picture-perfect visuals often overshadowed by a massive scoreboard down the left side of the screen throughout play. It's difficult to divert your eyes to the action with the colorful board taking up such a large portion of the screen.

Despite the size of the scoreboard, the names are still abbreviated and can be very difficult to read. With all due respect to the players in the 48-man field, many of the players participating aren't well-known and are difficult to identify by their abbreviations.

The announcer team acted more like LIV Golf cheerleaders than professional broadcasters at times, endlessly raving about the fan experience for the sold-out crowd. This came despite tickets being offered for free in the build-up to the tournament. Outside of the grouping of Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, and Sam Horsfield, the course looked barren from a fan perspective on the opening two days.

Lead analyst Jerry Foltz was particularly over-the-top, including this gem on the news that the controversial Reed had joined LIV Golf:

A strong opening-round viewership that almost hit six digits was virtually cut in half for Round 2, with an average of just over 50,000 people tuning in.

The numbers on Saturday were much closer to Round 1 viewership, with over 90,000 people watching down the stretch. That is a very solid number for the first event that lacked star power at the top of the leaderboard.

With the Portland event sure to attract bigger names, expect viewership numbers to continue trending upward.

Mickelson remains the central figure

With a rumored contract of $200 million, Mickelson is viewed as the centerpiece of LIV Golf, regardless of how the 51-year-old performs on the golf course.

The six-time major winner re-emerged in the public eye from his monthslong absence clad in a leather ensemble with fresh stubble at the pre-tournament event in London.

Mickelson continued to make headlines with his arrival on the first tee Thursday in an Augusta National vest. He then gave us the usual Mickelson-style golf experience in spraying the ball all over the place to drop outside the top 25 after 36 holes.

After an opening-round 69, Mickelson faded heavily on Friday and Saturday, finishing at 10-over for the tournament ahead of only 11 players.

With his resume and colorful personality, Mickelson will attract crowds regardless of his play, but at some point, the California native will need to be in contention down the stretch to make his signing worthwhile.

The actual golf is rough

There's really no getting around the fact the actual golf played this week outside London was poor. Only eight players broke par over 54 holes, despite the course being set up for prime scoring.

The lack of top talent was evident, with the leaderboard entering the final round showing names like Hennie du Plessis and Peter Uihlein representing the best chance of catching Charl Schwartzel at the top.

Johnson seemed stuck in neutral all week but managed to sneak just inside the top 10, while other known names such as Sergio Garcia, Kevin Na, Lee Westwood, and Graeme McDowell all struggled.

There will be help on the way with bigger names involved in the Portland event, but with all of these players already collecting big sums of money to participate, the lack of buzz on the course was evident.

Team format needs work

It's impossible to watch 10 minutes of the LIV Golf broadcast without hearing someone wax poetically about the incredible team format, but it was largely a flop in the first event.

With the top three of Schwartzel, du Plessis, and Branden Grace all on the same team, the result was never in question for Crushers GC, which eventually won by a whopping 14 strokes.

The format could be simplified with all four players' scores counting each round. But currently, it's just two scores that matter in the opening two rounds and three of four players' scores that count on the final day.

LIV Golf will have to simplify the team format to make it pop more than it did in London.

LIV Golf is here to stay

The golf left plenty on the table, the broadcast was choppy at times, and the team competition was a snooze. But after one tournament, it's clear that LIV Golf is here to stay.

The likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler, and Sam Burns are battling at the Canadian Open for the $1.55-million payout to the winner. The 19th-place finisher at St. George's in Toronto will pull in just over $123,000. In London, Andy Ogletree shot rounds of 82, 77, and 75 to finish an outrageous 31 shots behind Schwartzel for the event. He'll still take home $120,000 for his work.

The significant six-figure deal Johnson got to jump ship to LIV Golf has been well-documented, and the two-time major champion takes home $625,000 for his eighth-place finish in London. That's just $373,000 less than he's made on the PGA TOUR all season.

The product will only improve with better talent joining the circuit. And with the money mentioned above readily available, that's virtually guaranteed to happen going forward.