Greg Norman and LIV Golf Investments, Greg Norman, announced Wednesday a schedule of eight tournaments that will offer $255 Million for the total prize pool and include both individual and team play.
The names of the players were not included in the announcement, which could have an impact on their PGA Tour membership.
LIV Golf Investments was primarily funded by the Saudi Arabia sovereign money fund. It provided more than $400 million of “seed capital” to help launch the LIV Golf Inviteal series. This unique 54-hole stroke play format is combined with a team concept.
A total of seven events will be eligible for a $25 million purse. $20 million would go towards medal play ($4,000,000 for the winner), and $5 million each for the top three teams.
Just concluded the PGA Tour’s richest tournament with a $20,000,000 purse at The Players Championship. Cameron Smith won it. 18% of the prize money is paid to the winner by the tour.
Four tournaments are scheduled for the Saudi-backed rival league. One of the tournaments is at Trump National, New Jersey. This was originally intended to host the PGA Championship. However, the PGA of America voted against moving it following the riot at Congress on January 6, 2021. Congress was certifying Joe Biden’s victory.
The other two would be Pumpkin Ridge, Oregon’s golf club, which hosted the U.S. Women’s Open previously; Rich Harvest Farms, Chicago, which hosted a Solheim Cup once; and The International, a private, about 30 miles west from Boston.
The series will begin June 9-11 at Centurion Golf Club, London, one week before U.S. Open in Boston. It will end with a team championship at October’s end.
Norman stated in a press release that “our events are truly additive the world of golf.” We have tried our best to make it possible for players to participate in our events while also playing elsewhere. I believe that players will make greater progress in their rights to play wherever they choose. We will assist in any way we can and will give golfers the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Players joining the PGA Tour must play at least 15 tournaments. Tour members cannot play in another tournament if they are eligible for a PGA Tour event that is held within the same week.
The regulations state that conflicting event releases won’t be approved for tournaments in North America. The LIV Golf Invitational tournaments will be held opposite PGA Tour events: the John Deere Classic (July 1-3), Rocket Mortgage Classic (30-31 July), and an event that takes place in September, when the tour begins its new season.
Joel Schuchmann, PGA Tour spokesperson, stated that the tour has not changed its position from Commissioner Jay Monahan’s comments last week that was “moving forward” from the talk of a Saudi league in the past five months.
The PGA Tour’s top 10 players have stated that they will continue to play on it.
Monahan stated that there is too much momentum to keep us from being distracted by gossip about other leagues and their attempts disrupt our players, partners and most importantly our fans.
Norman’s plan seemed to have suffered a series of setbacks when Phil Mickelson was quoted saying that the Saudis were “scary mother(expletives),” and that he was only looking to leverage against the PGA Tour.
Mickelson stated that he’s taking time off to focus on his priorities. Since Feb. 6, Mickelson has not played at the Saudi International.
Norman stated that the series’ first year would see 48 players in 12 four-man teams. This was determined through a draft held the week before the event. The top three players in each event will receive $30 million from a prize pool, and the winner of the team event will receive $50 million.
It was not stated who signed up and there was no mention that there is a TV component.
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