Greg Norman’s rebel LIV Golf International Series, the new direct competitor to the powerful PGA Tour, begins with the first of eight events this week at Centurion Club in outer London.
Paid for by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the controversial series has been scrambling to gather the best field it can as regular members on the PGA Tour shy away from the concept amid threats of bans from the PGA Tour itself. Norman has countered these threats saying the PGA cannot legally ban players who wish to play.
It’s messy and it’s a little obscene. The field in the LIV events will be limited to 48 players with no cut over three rounds. The winner will pocket $US4 million and last place a handy $US120,000. By contrast, well over 100 players regularly tee up on the PGA Tour each week with roughly half the field cut after two days and they receive no prize money. The winner’s PGA purse is somewhere between $1-2 million.
The two biggest signings to date are former World #1 Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickleson. Both have received substantial sign on fees with reports quoting between $US100 million and $US200 million each. Phil has earned around $100 million in prize money over his PGA career, so he stands to make more for just signing to play.
Six Aussies have added their names to the payroll. Matt Jones is the best known – currently ranked in the World Top 100. The others are known by only the keenest golf fans – Jed Morgan (World #235), Blake Windred (259), Wade Ormsby (265), Travis Smyth (395) and Kevin Yuan (1404).
Only three players in the Top 50 are teeing up, with 14 others ranked inside the Top 100.
As an example of how much money is on offer and how tempting it must be to players to sign with the breakaway Tour (particularly those outside the top 100) the PGA Tour website shows Wayne Ormsby has career earnings of $178,000. This week he is guaranteed $120,000 for finishing last. Play two events and he’s made more money that he has in his PGA Tour career. Morality and the questioning of Saudi human rights issues aside, you have to ask why Ormsby wouldn’t take the cash, especially at 42 years of age. There are many other players with much bigger bank balances (Louis Oosthuizen, Sergio Garcia, Charl Schwartzel) that agreed and the afore mentioned have resigned from the PGA Tour to play in the LIV Tour.
The four majors are not run by the PGA Tour and therefore players may still be able to play if the event sees fit. Next week’s US Open has said any player that is eligible to play can play regardless of whether they are on the new LIV Tour or not.
LIV FACTS
- Tournaments played between June and Oct.
- 48 players, no cut
- Individual and team event (eight teams of 4 golfers drafted by appointed captains compete for more additional prizes)
- Shot gun start to speed up play
- Played over 3 rounds (54 holes)
- Televised on LIVGolf.com, YouTube and Fabebook
- $US400 million pledged for the 2022 season, $US225 million in prize money
It’s an interesting time for golf – watch this space!