After months of speculation, LIV Golf is finally headed down under.
The upstart league confirmed reports on Monday morning that it is in agreement to host its first-ever Australian event in the South Australian Province of Adelaide in the spring of 2023.
The Grange Club, a Greg Norman-redesigned course that was also the site of one of Norman’s first professional victories, will be the course to host LIV’s maiden voyage. Norman, LIV’s acting CEO and commissioner, is a native Australian whose long-stated desire to bring professional golf to the continent served as a key reason behind LIV Golf’s initial formation.
“From the beginning of my family’s journey to Australia on my father’s side via Port Lincoln, to my first professional win as a young 21-year-old Queenslander at the 1976 West Lakes Classic, it is only fitting to be bringing @livgolfinv to South Australia’s @grangegolfclub in 2023,” Norman shared in an Instagram post. “There is massive potential for Australia to play a bigger role in golf, and we at #LIVGolf couldn’t be more excited to showcase Adelaide for our league’s debut year.”
(Ed. Note: LIV Golf is entering its second season in 2023, but its officials have referred to 2022 as a “beta test,” making 2023 the league’s first “official” season.)
The news of LIV’s first event in Norman’s home country comes after a week fueled by rumors about Norman’s potential exit as the tour’s acting head (the league has denied such claims). The 67-year-old major champion has helped steward the controversial league through a tenuous opening year despite at-times heavy criticism from the outside world, but his efforts are judged ultimately by Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the chairman of the Saudi Golf Federation and LIV Golf’s principal financier.
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LIV Golf Australia will be played from April 21-23, 2023, according to the tour. It will be one of 14 events in the 2023 LIV season, up from 8 in ’22 and on par with the PGA Tour’s number of “elevated events” in the new year.
Notably, the Adelaide event will be contested less than two weeks after the conclusion of the 2023 Masters. It remains to be seen whether Augusta National will allow entrance for the upstart league into the year’s first major, though league officials and players have remained hopeful they will earn an invitation.