LIV Goes On

LIVgoes on

EXPANDED SECOND SEASON IS HERE AS LIV GOLF LEAGUE SET TO LAUNCH IN MEXICO IN FEBRUARY

BY MATT SMITH

Following on from its highly successful — if controversial — inaugural outing, LIV Golf returns in 2023 with a bigger and better schedule on the cards.

Following on from the seven-event 2022 campaign, where Dustin Johnson and his Four Aces team grabbed the glory, the new season will see LIV Golf double its number of tournaments to 14, taking some of the top golfers across the globe.

The series’ international field is set to feature major winners including Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Henrik Stenson, Patrick Reed, Louis Oosthuizen, Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell.

Final team line-ups (including reserves) for the LIV Golf League will be announced ahead of the opening event in February, and 12 team franchises will compete in a global schedule for an unprecedented $405 million in prize money.

Similar in format to the first year, the LIV Golf League will feature simultaneous team and individual play, ahead of the Team Championship finale. The full 2023 league schedule is expected early in 2023 and will run from February to September, while avoiding clashes with the majors, international team events and other tours’ flagship events.

Seven of the 2023 destinations have already been confirmed, with the players heading to Mexico, Singapore, Spain, Australia and the US.

“LIV Golf is truly a global league dedicated to expanding the sport throughout the world, and these destinations for the league’s 2023 launch showcase our commitment to tournament play at the highest level,” LIV Golf CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman said. “These venues have played host to signature moments in golf, and we’re excited to build new traditions for the sport while delivering a first-class fan experience at some of the world’s best courses.”

Here is a look at the confirmed destinations:

LIV Golf Mayakoba

FEBRUARY 24-26 El Camaleón Mayakoba Golf Course, Mexico Par 72 • 7,024 yards

Mayakoba’s El Camaleón, one of the most diverse golf courses in the world, made history in 2007 shortly after its opening when it hosted the first PGA Tour event to be held outside the United States and Canada.

The Greg Norman-designed course will mark another first in February when it hosts LIV Golf’s first event in Latin America. Like the lizard it was named after, El Camaleón changes its look throughout the 18 holes, winding through tropical Mayan jungle, mangrove wetlands and Caribbean coastline. Two LIV Golfers could have an advantage here as it previously hosted the World Wide Technology Championship, where Graeme McDowell (2015) and Pat Perez (2016) are past champions. Mexican stars Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz will also feel right at home.

LIV Golf Adelaide

APRIL 21-23 The Grange Golf Club, Australia West Course • Par 72 • 6,934 yards East Course • Par 72 • 7,092 yards

One of South Australia’s most famous sporting venues, The Grange has hosted some of Australia’s top golf tournaments, including the West Lakes Classic, where Norman claimed his first professional victory in 1976. Reigning Open Champion Cameron Smith, along with fellow LIV Golf Aussies Marc Leishman and Matt Jones, will ensure the galleries are packed, as golf fans have been starved of big events in recent years.

While a final layout has yet to be revealed, it is expected to take in parts of both the West and East courses, wide fairways with plenty of expansive bunkers can be expected across both courses’ signature holes.

LIV Golf Singapore

APRIL 28-30 The Serapong at Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore Par 72 • 7,299 yards

Serapong is famous/infamous for its fast, challenging greens, undulating contours and iconic holes, and former Singapore Open champions Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia will be relishing a return to a happy hunting ground. Deep bunkers, huge lakes and stunning views across downtown Singapore will be the order of the day, and the April slot should mean less humidity and rainfall than the country experiences for most of the year.

LIV Golf Valderrama

JUNE 30-JULY 2 Real Club Valderrama, Spain Par 71 • 7,018 yards

Opened in 1974, Valderama rapidly achieved global recognition, and by 1988 was the host venue for the European Tour’s flagship Volvo Masters. In 1997, the Club hosted the 32nd Ryder Cup, where Europe claimed one of the tournament’s most famous victories over their American rivals. Other elite events to be held here include the WGC-American Express Championship and the Andalucía Masters.

Again McDowell and Garcia are past winners on this course, widely recognised as the “Augusta of Europe” for its championship pedigree and stunning surroundings.

LIV Golf Tucson

MARCH 17-19 The Gallery Golf Club (Arizona)

The South Course at The Gallery Golf Club is no stranger to hosting the globe’s best golfers. For two years, the desert layout on Dove Mountain was the venue for the Match Play Championship, with current LIV Golf member and former Open Champion Henrik Stenson claiming the title in 2007. The John Fought-designed layout has brought comparisons to Donald Ross’ famous Pinehurst No. 2 with mounded green complexes and expansive fairways.

MAY 12-14 Cedar Ridge Country Club (Oklahoma)

The championship layout at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow on the outskirts of Tulsa was created in the late 1960s by architect Joe Finger, turning a 200-acre dairy farm into one of the state’s best courses. Tripp Davis carried out renovations in 2016, reducing the number of bunkers in the process by almost a third. The redesign features a more modern course layout that challenges the game’s elite from the tips. Local crowds will welcome Oklahoman Talor Gooch, fellow former Oklahoma State University stars Eugenio Chacarra, Charles Howell III, Peter Uihlein and Matthew Wolff, and former University of Oklahoma hero Abraham Ancer.

LIV Golf Greenbrier

AUGUST 4-6 The Greenbrier (West Virginia)

The Old White is the signature course at The Greenbrier, one of America’s most prestigious and popular resorts. It’s also a familiar layout for many players, having hosted the PGA Tour’s Greenbrier Classic from 201019. Among the list of winners are LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann and Kevin Na. Named after the popular hotel on the grounds, The Old White was designed by Charles Blair Macdonald and opened for play in 1914 as The Greenbrier’s first 18-hole course.