The LIV Golf League announced on Wednesday that it would be expanding its series from 8 to 14 events in 2023, and increasing purses to an astounding $405M next year.
The unprecedented figure is a $150M increase from the $255M in prizing available to players during the startup’s inaugural season.
In a prepared statement, CEO and commissioner Greg Norman remarked “LIV Golf’s expanding global platform will add a new dimension to the golf ecosystem as we know it, one that provides an opportunity for players and fans around the world to help maximize our beloved sport’s true potential…Our franchise model will bring new energy and excitement to fans from all corners of the world, establishing a league of teams to connect and grow with.”
The news doesn’t bode well for the PGA as their attempts to close ranks and stop the flow of talent leaving for the LIV circuit have thus far proven unsuccessful. Commissioner Jay Monahan has already suspended dozens of players for their affiliation with the LIV tour, however the rival league has already signed a star studded field to multi year deals.
Amongst the household names who now call the LIV series home are Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau. Reports indicate that LIV has already approached 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matusyama about joining their league, and even offered Tiger Woods a staggering $900M offer to sign on as a competitor as well.
The upstart league recently inked 2016 Open champion Henrik Stenson to a multi year deal which forced the Ryder Cup committee to remove him as a captain for the European squad.
But the signings haven’t been limited to just players. Former NBC broadcaster and fan favourite David Feherty recently announced he would be taking his commentary to the LIV tour, with rumours that Charles Barkley was also in negotiations with the league to join their broadcast team as well.
While some have accused the LIV group of attempting to “buy legitimacy”, the reality is that money talks, and the one thing the startup league isn’t short on is cash. With their inaugural season finale scheduled for October 27th to 30th at Trump National Doral in Miami, it will be interesting to see how many PGA stars who have thus far resisted the lure of the almighty buck end up jumping ship in the offseason prior to the 2023 kickoff event.
The PGA was clearly banking on the LIV tour fizzling out by now, however it appears as though the exact opposite seems to be taking place.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Keith Allison. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.