Prize Money per Tournament: $20 Million for Individual Events
Total Prize Money for 14 Tournaments Set at $405 Million
The LIV Golf Invitational Series (LIV Golf), sponsored by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), is kicking off its new season in Mexico.
In its second year since launch, LIV Golf will hold its opening event over three days starting on the 24th (Korean time) at the El Camaleon Golf Course (par 71) in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Since its launch in June last year, LIV Golf has shaken up the golf world with its 'oil money' financial backing. This year, the number of tournaments and prize money have increased compared to last year. Last year, there were 8 tournaments with a total prize fund of $255 million (approximately 314.7 billion KRW), while this year the number of tournaments has increased to 14 and the total prize fund has risen to $405 million (approximately 516.5 billion KRW).
Compared to the PGA Tour, which set a total prize fund of $415 million (approximately 529.3 billion KRW) for 47 tournaments in the 2022-2023 season, LIV Golf has over 30 fewer tournaments but a similar scale of total prize money. This year, the prize money per LIV Golf tournament is $20 million (approximately 2.59 billion KRW) for individual events and $5 million (approximately 650 million KRW) for team events.
Since its inception, LIV Golf has attracted notable players such as Cameron Smith (Australia), Bryson DeChambeau (USA), and Brooks Koepka (USA), causing conflicts with the PGA Tour. Recently, however, it has struggled to add top-ranked players. Ahead of the new season, it announced the addition of Danny Lee (New Zealand) and Brendon Steele (USA) from the PGA Tour, and Thomas Pieters (Belgium) from the DP World Tour, but these signings are not considered major acquisitions. This appears to be due to the PGA Tour imposing sanctions such as bans on players transferring to LIV Golf.
The El Camaleon Golf Course, where this year’s opening event will be held, was designed by LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman (Australia) and opened in 2004.
After the Mexico tournament, two events will be held in March in Tucson, Arizona (17th-19th) and Orlando, Florida (March 31st-April 2nd). In April, tournaments will take place in Australia and Singapore; in May, in Oklahoma and Washington D.C. Following that, in June, Spain will host an event; in July, the UK; in August, events will be held in West Virginia and Bedminster, New Jersey; in September, Sugar Grove, Illinois; and in October, Miami, Florida. The final event will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in November, concluding with a team championship competing for a total prize fund of $50 million (approximately 65 billion KRW).
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