(Reuters) – LIV Golf added three new stops in the United States to its 2023 calendar on Wednesday announcing events in Tucson, Tulsa and West Virginia.
The three events set for the Gallery Golf Club in Tucson (March 17-19), Cedar Ridge Country Club in Tulsa, (May 12-14), and The Greenbrier in West Virginia (Aug. 4-6) will be part of the a 14 tournament schedule that LIV Golf said will be unveiled in full in the coming weeks.
LIV Golf announced in November it had a multi-year commitment to bring league events to Australia starting at The Grange Golf Club in Adelaide (April 21-23).
Last year in its inaugural season LIV Golf staged eight tournaments of which five were in the United States, including two at former-U.S. president Donald Trump properties.
None of the three events announced on Wednesday were on last season’s schedule.
“LIV Golf’s expansion to new U.S. markets adds to the growing excitement for the league launch in 2023,” said LIV Golf CEO and commissioner Greg Norman in a statement. “More fans across the country and around the globe will experience the LIV Golf energy and innovative competition that has reinvigorated the sport.”
LIV Golf League, which will play from February to September, will feature simultaneous team and individual play, with golfers competing for an unprecedented $405 million in prize purses.
None of the breakaway series tournaments will clash with golf’s four majors, international team events or heritage events.
The Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf series has lured players with the promise of guaranteed, big-money paydays and a reduced schedule, while the U.S.-based PGA Tour has suspended members who opted to join the rival circuit.
Among the more high-profile players to join LIV are World Golf Hall of Fame member Phil Mickelson, twice major champion Dustin Johnson and 2020 U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau.
Critics say LIV Golf, which is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, amounts to blatant “sportswashing” by a nation trying to improve its reputation tarnished by a history of human rights abuses.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Editing by Christian Radnedge)
