LIV Releases Schedule, $250 Million In Purse Money And A Return Visit To The Magical Royal Greens

/

Greg Norman and friends rolled out a schedule for eight events beginning in June offering big money and venues that scream “not quite good enough” for big time tournaments. The league does not yet have a television partner though in the era of streaming they have more options than a few years ago. The bigger issue will be attracting players after the last few weeks of bad news and inability of the Kingdom to stay out of the news.

From Bob Harig’s SI.com story where Greg Norman says the PGA Tour forced a change in plans and also the chances of a lawsuit:

“We had to react,’’ Norman said. “No question the PGA Tour’s reaction to where we were positioned at that time was very strong. They put down a tree in their road to put another obstacle in our way. But no matter what obstacle they put forth we work our way around it. And that’s why we are here today. It’s up to the players.

“We are going to give them opportunities to play where they want to play and choose. We are not going away. We are here for the long haul.’’

The LIV Golf Invitational (oh what a name!) 2022 schedule would allow a player to use their three waivers per season if allowed to play these without a full commitment (thanks to the wraparound schedule putting the first three events against the 2021-22 schedule and the last four against the 2022-23 schedule):

• June 9-11: Centurion Golf Club – London

• July 1-3: Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club – Portland

• July 29-31: Trump National Golf Club Bedminster – New Jersey

• Sept 2-4: The International – Boston

• Sept 16-18: Rich Harvest Farms – Chicago

• Oct 7-9: Stonehill Golf Club – Bangkok

• Oct 14-16: Royal Greens Golf Club – Jeddah

• Oct 28-30: Team Championship

Time will tell who plays and how long before waivers are denied. Though with the wraparound schedule it would appear four of the individual events are played after the 2021-22 PGA Tour schedule’s window.

Meanwhile, they’re exited about the LIV Tour over at Golf.com, where they also have a partnership with Saudi Arabia to promote Nicklaus designs and buddies trips to the land of beheadings.