LIV Golf’s Las Vegas debut has seen the Party Hole come to the world’s entertainment capital… but only some final-day magic from Dustin Johnson or Bryson DeChambeau can bring the course to life

Along the row of houses that run along the ninth fairway of the Las Vegas Country Club, most of the curtains are closed.

In more typical times, the outdoor pool – enclosed by iron fences – and landscaped fairways would provide a refuge from the arid desert. Also a certain peace, caused by the chaos that rolls over the nearby Strip. This is a part of the city that is always sleeping.

Well almost. Not this week. This week, America has touched down in Las Vegas and LIV Golf has arrived in Sin City – on the eve of the first-ever Super Bowl here, the Saudi-funded company is hosting its first-ever event in the desert.

This week, life at the country club moves to the thumping rhythm of electronic music. On the short walk from the clubhouse back up the fairway towards the ninth tee, the beat gets louder with every meter.

‘Golf, But Louder’ is the slogan printed on the galleries surrounding the tee box and green

This week LIV brought the Party Hole to the entertainment capital of the world. On the par-three 8th, around the tee and around the green, fans are invited to let loose in makeshift galleries. A DJ directs the audience from a stage at the edge of a water hazard. Towering high above the hole is one of the many resorts that tower over this course.

On the surface, Vegas should be a second home for LIV Golf. Both have become synonymous with expensive gambles and ostentatious flashes of wealth. ‘Golf, but louder’, the signs here scream.

So far there’s only been one problem: they built it, the people came, they turned up the music… but the party hasn’t come yet. At this rate, hole 8 won’t bankrupt any club. That may change on Saturday.

Las Vegas resident DJ Gryffin will perform a special set on the par-three hole on Saturday

Bryson DeChambeau holds the joint lead at LIV Golf Las Vegas after nine birdies in the second round

Gryffin, the resident DJ at XS nightclub on The Strip, is booked for an hour halfway through the final round. But more importantly? Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson make up the final group. On the eve of Super Bowl Sunday. The stars have aligned, now they must light the fuse…

LIV has already tried other tactics: Each member of the field has chosen a song to play as they attack the green. T-shirts are thrown through the crowd, ‘Party Hole Cam’ brings some fans to life. Cheerleaders from the Vegas Golden Knights welcomed the crowd to the course.

Sadly, nothing yet has recreated the scenes from last year’s LIV Adelaide, when Chase Koepka’s hole-in-one led to bedlam and beer binges. A few hours from here, the Waste Management Phoenix Open continues to show what can be done. This week we saw fans sprinting to secure their spot on the iconic 16th hole from the moment the gates opened.

Here, shortly after the shotgun start of this tournament, the galleries at either end of the hole were largely deserted. It had been raining and an elderly fan was watching from his home on the ninth fairway.

Those few fans dancing in the Party Hole’s “Birdie Shack” — “where our most hardened partiers congregate” — seemed primarily concerned with staying warm.

DeChambeau is tied at the top with Dustin Johnson, who is also at eleven under par

A few yards away, volunteers manning the 7th green held up signs asking for silence as players stood over their putts. Talk about a thankless task: you can keep fans from whispering, but you can’t quiet the house music blaring from half a dozen speakers.

By Friday afternoon, as Johnson and Tyrrell Hatton walked through the tunnel to the eighth tee, the galleries began to fill. It was a beautiful sight: fans gathered along the sparkling water as the sun shone over Las Vegas. Just a pity that the atmosphere remained lukewarm at best.

Johnson and Co were given a polite – rather than rude – welcome; a fan overlooking the tee box had a chicken salad with pecans.

Maybe that’s a problem with a shotgun start. By recapping the day’s play, fans are given just a few hours to blow the whistle. Heading into day three, however, this tournament comes to a boil. Gryffin will hope it’s a bit. A special appearance by Johnson – LIV’s resident DJ – wouldn’t hurt either.