The new series made a major announcement ahead of its third event this week at Trump Bedminster.
BEDMINSTER, N.J. — The LIV Golf Invitational Series is getting a face lift for 2023.
As previously reported, the upstart circuit led by Greg Norman and backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced on Wednesday that it will transition to the LIV Golf League in 2023 and will feature 48 players on 12 team franchises with a 14-event schedule. While dates and locations are yet to be announced, LIV said it plans to “expand LIV Golf’s global footprint across North and Latin Americas, Asia, Australia, the Middle East and Europe.”
In addition, LIV Golf will also expect players to compete in “numerous” International Series events on the Asian Tour, where LIV and the PIF have committed $300 million. That gives LIV players 25 playing opportunities for 2023, similar to what they’d play on the PGA Tour or DP World Tour.
Players will compete for $405 million in total prize purses and team captains will be able to make franchise decisions based on fan and sponsor interest. There are plans for promotion and relegation with the International Series.
LIV Golf has long been criticized as a way for the Kingdom to sportswash its human rights record. Saudi Arabia has been accused of wide-ranging human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners. And members of the royal family and Saudi government were accused of involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist.
In its first year, LIV Golf has already hosted two of its eight scheduled events for 2022, with the third set to shotgun start on Friday at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. Five of the eight events are in the United States (Portland, Bedminster, Boston, Chicago and Miami) with the other three in London, Bangkok and Jeddah.
The LIV broadcast, which is currently only available via live stream, recently added David Feherty to its talent sheet.
“When I leave New Jersey Thursday night, when I leave the golf course, if I don’t have an offer in hand, it’s over.”
That was Charles Barkley’s message to Greg Norman and the LIV Golf Invitational Series during a Monday appearance on the Dan Patrick Show.
The 11-time NBA All-Star and current TNT analyst has been flirting with the Norman-led series over the last few weeks, which will hold its third event this week at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. Last week Barkley told the New York Post that he’s playing in a pro-am for the Bedminster event after he had met with Norman for dinner in Atlanta to discuss what his role would be with LIV.
"When I leave New Jersey Thursday night, when I leave the golf course (#LIV Pro-AM), if I don't have an offer in hand, it's over."
“I’m not gonna keep TNT in limbo. To be honest with you, I don’t think it’s fair to them,” Barkley explained. “(LIV has) gotten plenty of play out of me coming to play up there Thursday. So I’m not just gonna be no show pony.”
The LIV broadcast, which is currently only available via live stream, recently added David Feherty to its talent sheet alongside former voice of the Premier League on NBC Arlo White – who is in his first foray as a golf announcer – as well as former Golf Channel analyst Jerry Foltz and Dom Boulet.
The series, funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has long been criticized as a way for the Kingdom to sportswash its human rights record. Saudi Arabia has been accused of wide-ranging human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners. And members of the royal family and Saudi government were accused of involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist.
Barkley said it has been “very stressful” since news broke of his interest in LIV and even called out players for being afraid to admit the decision to join the series is for the guaranteed money.
More PGA Tour winners are taking their talents to LIV Golf.
Tuesday the series announced 45 of the 48 players who will tee it up at its upcoming event at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on July 29-31, but three spots were left to be filled “in the coming days.” A day later the Greg Norman-led, Saudi Arabia-funded circuit announced Jason Kokrak and Charles Howell III would be making their debuts alongside Henrik Stenson, who broke the news himself earlier in the day after he was relieved of his captaincy of the European Ryder Cup team.
Kokrak, 37, is a three-time winner on Tour, all in the last two years. Howell, 43, also has three wins, most recently in 2018 and previously in 2007 and 2002. Stenson, meanwhile, boasts six PGA Tour and 11 DP World Tour wins over his career.
Get ready for three more players to join the LIV Golf Invitational Series.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Greg Norman-led, Saudi Arabia-funded upstart circuit announced the field for its upcoming third event at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on July 29-31, but three spots were left to be filled “in the coming days.” Teams have yet to be finalized, as well.
Paul Casey, a former UNICEF ambassador who once spoke out against competing in Saudi Arabia, will make his debut in the 54-hole, no cut team and player competition that boasts $25 million in prize money due to its backing from the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom. Speculation has run rampant on who will be the next to make the move to LIV after British Open champion Cameron Smith’s non-denial when asked if he was joining the upstart series.
“I just won the British Open, and you’re asking about that,” said Smith. “I think that’s pretty not that good. I don’t know, mate. My team around me worries about all that stuff. I’m here to win golf tournaments.”
Others who have been linked to LIV include fellow Aussies Adam Scott and Marc Leishman, Hideki Matsuyama, Bubba Watson and European Ryder Cup captain Henrik Stenson.
Meet the confirmed field competing at LIV Golf Bedminster:
“If you don’t take the money now, you will get nothing after the merger takes place,” Trump hypothesized.
The LIV Golf Invitational Series event at Trump National Golf Bedminster is still a week away, but the former U.S. president just couldn’t wait to stir the pot.
Donald Trump signed on to Truth Social on Monday and implored golfers to take the guaranteed money now and join the Greg Norman-led and Saudi Arabia-funded series.
“All of those golfers that remain ‘loyal’ to the very disloyal PGA, in all of its different forms, will pay a big price when the inevitable MERGER with LIV comes, and you get nothing but a big ‘thank you’ from PGA officials who are making Millions of Dollars a year,” Trump wrote on the social media platform. “If you don’t take the money now, you will get nothing after the merger takes place, and only say how smart the original signees were.”
It’s important to note a merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf is not currently on the table.
A New York City native, Trump’s comments come just days after families of 9/11 victims and survivors sent a letter to condemn the former president for hosting the Saudi-funded series. The letter expressed their “extreme pain, frustration and anger” and even included a quote from Trump’s 2016 comments on the 9/11 terrorist attacks from a segment on Fox & Friends: “…Who blew up the World Trade Center? It wasn’t the Iraqis – it was Saudi. Take a look at Saudi Arabia. Open the documents. We ought to get Bush or somebody to have the documents opened because frankly, if you open the documents, I think you are going to see it was Saudi Arabia…”
“The former President correctly speculated in 2016 that Saudi Arabia knocked down the towers and now the FBI has released the documents to prove him right,” Brett Eagleson, an advocate for the 9/11 Justice group, told CNN, “yet he is choosing money over America. So much for America First. A sad day.”
Supported by Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, LIV Golf has long been criticized as a way for the Kingdom to “sportswash” its human rights record.
In response to Sunday’s letter, LIV Golf sent the following statement: “As we have said all along, these families have our deepest sympathy. While some may not agree, we believe golf is a force for good around the world.”
Tom D’Angelo writes that the PGA of America was right in distancing itself from Donald Trump after one of ugliest days in nation’s history.
The PGA of America has made the right choice in distancing itself from a president whose actions and words incited one of the ugliest days in our country’s history.
Now it is time for those who play the sport that organization promotes and supports also to condemn those acts by outgoing President Donald Trump that led to the United States Capitol being stormed last Wednesday and five people dying, including a law enforcement officer who was beaten by the mob.
The board of directors of the PGA of America, which is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, announced late Sunday it is moving the 2022 PGA Championship out of Trump’s property in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Jim Richerson, PGA of America president, said in a statement that hosting the PGA Championship would be “detrimental to the PGA of America brand and would put at risk the PGA’s ability to deliver on many programs and sustain the longevity of our mission.”
"The PGA of America Board of Directors voted tonight to exercise the right to terminate the agreement to play the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster." — Jim Richerson, PGA of America President
Seth Waugh, CEO of the PGA of America, spoke to the Associated Press. “The damage could have been irreparable,” he said. “The only course of action was to leave.”
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization told ABC News the decision is “a breach of a binding contract and they have no right to terminate the agreement.”
The tournament was to be the first men’s major played on a Trump property. But after watching Trump supporters inspired by the president and his close advisors invade the Capitol, the PGA of America made its decision. The rioters were attempting to physically harm lawmakers voting to certify the election in favor of President-elect Joe Biden.
Trump received another rebuke Monday when Martin Slumbers, chief executive of The R&A, said the organization had no plans to stage any championships at Trump’s Turnberry property in Scotland, and will not do so in the foreseeable future.
“We will not return until we are convinced that the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself and we do not believe that is achievable in the current circumstances,” he said in a statement.
The New York Times reported in July that Trump reportedly instructed his British ambassador to work on making sure Turnberry would host a British Open.
Trump already had his moment at Bedminster in 2017 when the U.S. Women’s Open was held at the venue. The United States Golf Association received backlash for not moving the tournament after Trump had made repeated disparaging remarks about women.
United States president Donald Trump waves to fans during the second round of the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. (Photo: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports)
Trump National Doral outside of Miami lost a World Golf Championship event following the 2016 tournament. The Tour claims it was moved because of losing its main sponsor. The event was moved to Mexico City. During his campaign, Trump made disparaging remarks about people from Mexico saying “they’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
Trump is an avid golfer whose Trump Organization owns 17 courses worldwide, 12 in the United States, including Trump National Golf Club properties in Jupiter and West Palm Beach, located about five miles from his residence on Palm Beach. Reports have him playing golf as many as 340 days during his presidency, many of those at his property in West Palm Beach and at times with local golf legends past and present, including at least three times with Tiger Woods.
He enjoys the support from the golf world more so than any other group of athletes in the world, many of whom have publicly shown their loyalty. During his one term, Trump has awarded the Medal of Freedom to four golfers, Woods in 2019; Annika Sorenstam, Gary Player and the late Babe Didrikson Zaharias on Thursday, the day after the insurrection at the Capitol.
Sorenstam and Player rightfully received backlash for appearing at the White House about 24 hours after the Capitol was desecrated. Marc Player, Gary’s son, criticized his father for accepting the medal.
“I wish my father would simply & politely decline this ‘award’ at this time. Tone deaf. In denial. Wrong!!” Marc Player tweeted.
The PGA of America does not serve golf’s rich and famous. Rather, it represents the rank and file of about 28,000 club professionals. The organization runs the PGA Championship, Women’s PGA Championship, Senior PGA Championship and Ryder Cup when played in the United States.
Now is the time for those in the golf world to get in line with the PGA of America and disassociate themselves from a soon-to-be-former president. These supporters had no problem endorsing the president in his recent failed bid for a second term. It is time to condemn, at the minimum, his actions as he exits the White House and returns to Mar-a-Lago.
Many of these supporters have run in the same circles as Trump for years and call him a friend. All making a clean break is unlikely. But when his rhetoric over debunked claims of a fraudulent and rigged election emboldens his base to break the law by storming the Capitol in an attempt to attack lawmakers, condemning those actions – just as many of his allies in Washington have done since Wednesday – should not be difficult.
President Trump welcomed former Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings QB Brett Favre to Trump National in Bedminster, New Jersey.
With recent news swirling about President Donald Trump’s interest in getting the British Open to one of his Scottish courses, the leader of the free world turned his sights on a course closer to home this weekend, playing a round with one of the National Football League’s all-time greats.
President Trump welcomed former Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and New York Jets quarterback Brett Favre to Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
The photo was distributed by the White House on Saturday afternoon.
Just over a month ago, Favre told TMZ Sports in a video interview that Kaepernick’s willingness to sacrifice his NFL career to fight for social justice felt reminiscent of Tillman’s sacrifice for his country. Tillman, a safety for the Arizona Cardinals, chose to leave the NFL for the U.S. Army in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001. He was killed by friendly fire in 2004 while deployed in Afghanistan.
“I can only think of — right off the top of my head — Pat Tillman’s another guy who did something similar, and we regard him as a hero,” Favre said. “So I’d assume that hero status will be stamped with Kaepernick as well.”
On Tuesday, a report from the New York Times alleged President Donald Trump asked Woody Johnson, New York Jets co-owner and American ambassador to the United Kingdom, to help steer the British Open to Trump Turnberry in Scotland.
It didn’t take long for President Trump to refute the story, saying the following on Wednesday during an afternoon White House briefing: “No, I never spoke to Woody Johnson about that, about Turnberry. Turnberry is a highly respected course, as you know, one of the best in the world, and I read a story about it today … I never spoke to Woody Johnson about doing that, no.”
There are PGA Championships scheduled out to 2031, although venues for 2025, 2026 and 2030 are still to be determined.
In 2019, the PGA Championship was moved up from August to May.
In 2020, the PGA will slide back on the calendar but not because of another schedule overhaul. Rather, the global coronavirus pandemic has forced changes across the board for golf tournaments.
On April 6, the PGA Championship was tentatively rescheduled for Aug. 6-9, while staying at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh indicated on April 14 that every effort will be made to stick to those dates, even if it means no fans on the grounds.
There are PGA Championships scheduled out to 2031, although venues for 2025, 2026 and 2030 are still to be determined.
Future locations
2020
TPC Harding Park, San Francisco, Aug. 6-9
2021
Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Ocean Course, Kiawah Island, South Carolina
2022
Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster, New Jersey
2023
Oak Hill Country Club, East Course, Pittsford, New York
2024
Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville, Kentucky
2027
Aronimink Golf Club, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
2028
The Olympic Club, Lake Course, San Francisco
2029
Baltusrol Golf Club, Lower Course, Springfield, New Jersey
2031
Congressional Country Club, Blue Course, Bethesda, Maryland
