After months of rumors and conjecture, not to mention public-relations challenges and a stern response from the PGA Tour, the Greg Norman-run LIV Golf Invitational Series took another step into existence Wednesday with the announcement of an eight-event schedule that will begin in June and feature four events in the United States.
The most pressing question – which players will join the new league – remains unanswered, but Norman, the CEO of LIV Golf Investments, said invitations will be sent shortly to 250 players giving them the opportunity to join the new initiative.
Another question – where does Phil Mickelson stand in all of this – also remains unclear, but Norman said the door remains open for Mickelson to join the new series should he so choose.
In the meantime, the schedule announcement offered a substantive step forward for an organization that has been criticized for being long on concept but short on specifics.
“I believe players will increasingly make progress in achieving their right to play where they want and when they want,” Norman said Wednesday morning.
“We will help in any way possible. But in the interim, we see a global pool of talent we can tap into to develop and promote. In many ways, we’re a startup enterprise. We have a long-term vision that will start modestly and grow. Mark my words: Players, including the game’s biggest names, will increasingly join us. And make no mistake: We are here for the long term.”
The new series, with eight events with total prize money of $250 million, will begin play June 9-11 at Centurion Golf Club near London before moving to the United States for four events.
Norman stressed again that the LIV Golf Invitational Series sees itself as “100-percent additive” to the professional game and prefers to work with the PGA Tour rather in competition against the tour.
As a point of comparison, the Players Championship last week had a $20 million purse, the largest in professional golf history. Each of the first seven LIV Golf Investment Series events will have $25 million purses (divided among 48 players) with the season-ending individual championship being worth another $30 million and the team championship worth $50 million divided among four players.
The first seven events will award $20 million for the individual competition and $5 million split among the top three teams.
Each event will be 54 holes, Friday through Sunday, with a shotgun start and include both individual and team competition.
The first U.S. event will be played July 1-3 at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club near Portland, Oregon, followed by July 29-31 at Trump Bedminster in New Jersey, Sept. 2-4 at The International near Boston and Sept. 16-18 at Rich Harvest Farms near Chicago.
In October, the series will be Oct. 7-9 at Stonehill Golf Club in Bangkok, Thailand; Oct. 14-16 at Royal Greens Golf Club in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and the team championship will be played Oct. 28-30 at a site to be determined.
Norman stressed again that the LIV Golf Invitational Series sees itself as “100-percent additive” to the professional game and prefers to work with the PGA Tour rather in competition against the tour.
Commissioner Jay Monahan – who has ignored requests from Norman’s group to have a meeting – made it clear last week that the PGA Tour intends to enforce its membership rules that would lead to any player joining the new league to be suspended, perhaps permanently, from the PGA Tour.
“At the end of the day, I just want Phil to know from a player’s perspective, and as the CEO of LIV, that we will welcome him back any time he wants to come back and play the game of golf.” – Greg Norman
Norman said he has not spoken with Mickelson since the controversial comments in which Mickelson sharply criticized both the PGA Tour and the Saudi government, which is largely funding LIV Golf Investments. Mickelson has stepped away from competitive golf for an undetermined amount of time and could face a suspension from the PGA Tour when he returns.
If Mickelson wants to join Norman’s new tournament series, he can do that.
“At the end of the day, I just want Phil to know from a player’s perspective, and as the CEO of LIV, that we will welcome him back any time he wants to come back and play the game of golf,” Norman said. “It’s up to him. It’s on his time schedule.”
Less than four weeks ago, Mickelson’s harsh comments about the Saudi-backed league along with public declarations of loyalty to the PGA Tour during the Genesis Invitational led some to speculate that Norman’s group would abandon its quest. Rory McIlroy declared the proposed new league “dead in the water.”
While the challenge of convincing players to risk losing their PGA Tour membership to join a radically different league remains – a case Norman believes his group will win in court – the goal has not changed.
“The PGA Tour’s reaction to where we were positioned at that given time was very strong,” Norman said. “They put down a tree on our road, right, another obstacle to put in our way. But I can tell you that no matter what obstacle they’ve put, then we work our way around it.”
It probably was not a coincidence that the Premier Golf League resurfaced the evening before the LIV announcement. A letter dated February 14 was sent to Rory McIlroy, who had just been elected chairman of the Players Advisory Council, as well as all members of the PGA Tour Policy Board.
The missive essentially called for the PGL to merge its plan with the PGA Tour to create a new, for-profit entity with broad ownership by PGA Tour players as well as DP World Tour and Korn Ferry Tour players. The plan called for 18 events carrying $20 million purses. Each event would have a team component, and there would be a season-ending team event with a winner-take-all purse of $20 million.
Sources at the PGA Tour told Global Golf Post that the letter received brief consideration and was dismissed. There was no communication between the tour and the PGL, which undoubtedly prompted the wide release of the letter in social media.