By Matt Smith
LIV Golf announced a raft of new players on Tuesday, and one that may have gone under the radar could well become the most significant of the lot.

By recruiting India’s top man Anirban Lahiri, LIV Golf has tapped a new market and one that could hold massive dividends.

WATCH the LIV Golf action live here!

While Cameron Smith — the Aussie world No. 2 grabbed the headlines — Lahiri may well be the man LIV Golf wanted the most.

“I see this as an effort to correct my work-life balance,” Lahiri told the Hindustan Times. “I see this as a move to get back closer to my family and friends. I see this as something that gives me more time to enjoy my kids growing up.”

If you look at cricket’s Indian Premier League — an ambitious set-up that was not too dissimilar to LIV Golf in its early days — it is simple to see how a fledgling sports franchise could attract massive attention in a country of almost 1.4 billion people at the last time of counting.

Granted, India is a cricket-mad nation — one of the few that counts bat and ball ahead of football as its No. 1 sport — but by signing Lahiri, LIV could open the doors to a wave of new golf fans on the subcontinent of Asia.

Given LIV Golf’s free-to-view broadcasting on YouTube and websites such as Golf Digest Middle East, expect a whole new audience tuning in to see how Lahiri fares against some of the best players in the world, including fellow new recruit Cameron Smith, and the likes of Patrick Reed, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka.

Interesting times ahead, for golf fans new and old…

You may also like:
Why did Cam Smith join LIV Golf? 
It’s official: Smith joins LIV Golf
Saudi Open to debut on Asian Development Tour
Win a spot at the DP World Tour Championship Pro-Am
Aramco Team Series to be held at Donald Trump’s Ferry Point in New York
UAE arrive in Paris for Eisenhower Trophy
Cam Young opts to stay with PGA Tour
Swede dreams for Linn Grant
Cameron announces move to LIV Golf, but it isn’t Smith
LIV Golf announcements are imminent
Rory is the toast of the PGA
Lawrence is king of the mountains
Rory is the toast of the PGA Tour
On to Dubai as Sweden deny US title
EGF buoyed by Morocco trip
The biggest and strangest rule blunders in history
Chiara Noja named Golf Saudi ambassador
Scottie and Xander in for marathon finish at Tour Championship
19 LIV Golfers to tee up at BMW PGA Championship