‘Golf, but louder’ was the premise of the LIV Golf Tour in their inaugural season of 2022.
With the 2023 LIV season about to kick off, will it again be noisy?
Here’s what we know about the 2023 LIV Golf season so far:
MORE TOURNAMENTS
Six tournaments have been added to the LIV roster in 2023 to create a schedule of 14 events in seven countries.
New events will take place in Mexico, Australia, Spain and Singapore this year while LIV’s London and Jeddah events also return.
Eight tournaments, five of which are at new courses, will take place in the US but last year’s Boston, Thailand and Oregon events have been dropped from the schedule in 2023.
LIV have shown a willingness to take their tournaments to golf markets neglected by other tours in an attempt to create a wave of goodwill among disenfranchised golf fans.
MEXICO STARTS THE SEASON
The El Camaleon course in Mayakoba, Mexico, hosts the first event of the 2023 LIV Golf season.
The course is the first to jump ship from the PGA Tour to LIV, having hosted the Mayakoba Classic for 16 years - including the most recent edition last November.
The El Cameleon course was designed by LIV commissioner Greg Norman and will feature at least two locals: Carlos Ortiz and Abraham Ancer.
LIV’s decision to kick off the season at a course that hosted a PGA Tour event just months ago seems like a giant middle finger to the PGA Tour but you have to respect the pettiness.
MORE PRIZE MONEY
Dustin Johnson pocketed more than US$35 million in LIV’s eight events last year but with more prize money on offer in 2023, he may well bank even more cash.
There will be US$405 million on offer this year, an increase of 63 per cent.
Each tournament will offer an individual purse of $20 million along with a team purse of $5 million.
The winning golfer will earn $4 million while the top team gets to divvy up another $3 million between the four of them.
Even the golfer who finishes last will earn $120,000.
LIV’s partnership with the Asian Tour has injected $5 million purses into 11 International Series tournaments, which is now the primary feeder pathway to the LIV Golf Tour.
54 HOLES, NO CUT
LIV’s 54-hole, no cut tournaments still don’t count as official world ranking events but LIV will persist with the shorter format in 2023.
The Friday to Sunday tournaments and are a breath of fresh air in the golfing ecosystem but the shotgun start — which sees every player out on the course at the same time — is a very attractive premise for fans watching at home.
Although golf has never been about being fair, a shotgun start is probably the most even way to run a tournament, rather than the overwhelming bias that is inevitably introduced into a tournament from having morning and afternoon waves.
A day’s play on the LIV Tour is done in under four hours and as T20 cricket has shown, less is more in the global sporting market.
THE TEAM FORMAT
LIV Golf have confirmed their full 12-team, 48-player field set to compete in the 2023 LIV Golf League.
For all the overheated debate about the LIV Tour being bad for golf, it seemed to capture an audience with its innovative format.
The teams component is a well-conceived idea that should continue to gain traction, although the question remains just how much fans will buy into it.
While the team names have been mocked by even LIV loyalists, it’s the kind of low-hanging fruit that should help modernise the game of golf.
Seeing professional golfers scramble while they’re well out of contention to help their team is refreshing and the air of inevitability that pervades some leader-dominated tournaments gives viewers a reason to tune in till the very end.
It’s public knowledge LIV golfers hold innumerable riches within their bank accounts but it’s gratifying to see life-changing payouts for some of LIV’s lesser lights.
Australian Travis Smyth was battling on the Asian Tour for several years but made the most of his opportunity when he made three LIV starts last year.
Smyth won over US$1million, of which nearly half came from the team purse.
However, he’s been relegated back to the Asian Tour for the 2023 season.
LIV’S 12 TEAMS
- 4 ACES
Dustin Johnson (captain), Patrick Reed, Pat Perez, Peter Uihlein - CLEEKS
Martin Kaymer (captain), Graeme McDowell, Richard Bland, Bernd Wiesberger - CRUSHERS
Bryson DeChambeau (captain), Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri - FIREBALLS
Sergio Garcia (captain), Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Eugenio Chacarra - HYFLYERS
Phil Mickelson (captain), Cameron Tringale, James Piot, Brendan Steele - IRON HEADS
Kevin Na (captain), Sihwan Kim, Scott Vincent, Danny Lee - MAJESTICKS
Ian Poulter (co-captain), Henrik Stenson (co-captain), Lee Westwood (co-captain), Sam Horsfield - RANGEGOATS
Bubba Watson (captain), Harold Varner III, Talor Gooch, Thomas Pieters - RIPPER
Cameron Smith (captain), Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Jed Morgan - SMASH
Brooks Koepka (captain), Matthew Wolff, Jason Kokrak, Chase Koepka - STINGER
Louis Oosthuizen (captain), Charl Schwartzel,Branden Grace, Dean Burmester - TORQUE
Joaquin Niemann (captain), Mito Pereira, Sebastian Munoz, David Puig
HOW DO YOU WATCH LIV GOLF IN 2023?
After the inaugural season was live streamed for free on YouTube and FaceBook, LIV has secured a full broadcast partner for 2023.
The CW channel in the US will show every LIV Golf tournament in 2023. However, the details on how to follow LIV golf in other parts of the world are still being finalised.
For Australian golf fans, the LIV Tour will be shown on the free 7Plus streaming app.
At this stage coverage will continue to be provided through the LIV Golf YouTube channel and FaceBook page.
LIV GOLF 2023 SCHEDULE
- LIV Mayakoba: February 24-26 (El Camaleon Golf Course, Mexico)
- LIV Tucson: March 17-19 (The Gallery Golf Club, Arizona)
- LIV Orlando: March 31-April 2 (Orange County National, Florida)
- LIV Adelaide: April 21-23 (The Grange Golf Club, South Australia)
- LIV Singapore: April 28-30 (Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore)
- LIV Tulsa: May 12-14 (Cedar Ridge Country Club, Oklahoma)
- LIV DC: May 26-28 (Trump National Golf Club, Washington DC)
- LIV Valderrama: June 30-July 2 (Real Club Valderrama, Spain)
- LIV London: July 7-9 (Centurion Golf Club, England)
- LIV Greenbrier: August 4-6 (The Old White at The Greenbrier, West Virginia)
- LIV Bedminster: August 11-13 (Trump National Golf Club, New Jersey)
- LIV Chicago: September 22-24 (Rich Harvest Farms, Illinois)
- LIV Miami: October 20-22 (Trump National Doral, Florida)
- LIV Jeddah: November 3-5 (Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, Saudi Arabia)