Reigning British Open champion Cameron Smith and two-time main winner Dustin Johnson are among the many huge names as the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf League opens its 2023 marketing campaign on Friday.
The sequence of 54-hole occasions providing report purses of $25 million expands to 14 stops in seven nations, beginning at Mexico’s Mayakoba resort.
Several huge names had been lured to LIV Golf from the US PGA Tour, prompting a PGA ban that arrange a courtroom battle scheduled to start in January 2024.
Top-ranked Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler had been amongst those that stayed with the PGA as a break up within the sport introduced chaos, however to date LIV gamers stay in a position to play in majors in the event that they qualify.
LIV Golf continues to battle to earn world rating factors, however with new gamers making the bounce the 2023 season might see top expertise from LIV and older excursions assembly solely on the 4 majors, including to the stress round April’s Masters showdown at Augusta National.
Johnson gained final 12 months’s particular person LIV Golf crown after taking a title in Boston with an eagle on the primary playoff gap and led an all-American 4Aces squad to the staff title.
Australia’s Smith, the 2022 PGA Player of the Year, gained his first main title at St. Andrews however made the bounce to LIV Golf after the US PGA’s Tour Championship.
Smith captured the Chicago title in September in his second LIV begin and in November claimed his third Australian PGA Championship triumph as LIV gamers stay eligible for DP World Tour occasions amid an ongoing courtroom battle.
Critics model LIV Golf as a bid by Saudi Arabia, which backs the circuit through its Public Investment Fund, to “sportswash” its human rights report.
But LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman sees the league carrying the game to a youthful viewers with fast-paced shotgun begins, on-site concert events and elevated interplay between stars and followers.
“In less than a year, LIV Golf has reinvigorated the professional game and laid the foundation for the sport’s future,” Norman stated.
“Our league format has already begun to build connections with new audiences around the globe. Major champions, current and future Hall of Famers, and up-and-coming stars are all committed to creating this new platform for world-class competition as the sport evolves for the next generation.”
PGA officers have made modifications to fight defections, together with the creation of elevated occasions with prize cash boosted to $20 million at 9 tournaments and to $25 million on the Players Championship.
LIV Golf, nevertheless, boasts 13 main winners, together with Johnson, Smith, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Henrik Stenson, Bubba Watson and Charl Schwartzel.
The sequence consists of stops in April at Adelaide and Singapore, occasions on back-to-back weekends firstly of July at Spain’s Valderrama and England’s Centurion programs and a November season-ender in Saudi Arabia.
US occasions embrace three at programs owned by former US President Donald Trump — May at Trump National close to Washington, August at Trump National in Bedminster, New Jersey, and at Doral in October.
Other US stops embrace Tucson and Orlando in late March and early April, Tulsa in May, Greenbrier in August and Chicago in September.
