The long-term future of the LIV Golf League might be unsettled as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (LIV’s financial backer) works toward formalising a partnership with the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.
In the short term, however, the eighth of 14 events on the 2023 LIV schedule is set for this week at Valderrama Golf Club in Sotogrande, Spain, the first tournament since the framework deal between the three parties was announced.
There’s been genuine anticipation for this week’s tournament, given Valderrama’s past as a host site for the Ryder Cup, World Golf Championships event and an annual stop on the DP World Tour. And no doubt Spanish fans will be rooting hard for one of their own, Sergio Garcia, who in turn hope that support and his familiarity with the course might help him this week.
You can check the Australian streaming times via 7 Plus here.
“I mean, you may say that I do have a little bit of an advantage because of the amount of times that I’ve played here; that it’s my favourite golf course in the world and I love it,” Garcia said on Thursday. “But at the end of the day, it comes down to standing over the tee shots and the second shots and the putts and trusting it and pulling actually the right shot.
Garcia finished second at the LIV’s event in Singapore earlier this year, one of six top-10 in 14 starts.
“Yeah, it feels amazing to be here in Spain and Valderrama and Andalucía, you know, it’s just an unbelievable golf course. It’s in such good shape. Always is. Beautiful weather. Today the course was definitely a little bit spicier with that breeze. It’s in amazing shape, and we are all really excited to get going.”
The standard prize money payout is up for grabs in the no-cut, 54-hole event: a $20 million individual purse, with $4 million going to the winner. There’s also $5 million on the line in the team competition.
Here’s the prize money payout for the field at Valderrama. Come back after the tournament and we’ll update the post with names and individual paydays.
INDIVIDUAL
Win: $4,000,000 ($A6,000,000)
2: $2,250,000
3: $1,500,000
4: $1,000,000
5: $800,000
6: $700,000
7: $610,000
8: $530,000
9: $460,000
10: $415,000
11: $390,000
12: $370,000
13: $350,000
14: $330,000
15: $310,000
16: $290,000
17: $280,000
18: $270,000
19: $260,000
20: $250,000
MORE: LIV Golf’s $800 million spending spree shakes up Golf Digest’s ranking of the game’s highest earners
21: $240,000
22: $230,000
23: $220,000
24: $210,000
25: $205,000
26: $200,000
27: $195,000
28: $190,000
29: $185,000
30: $180,000
31: $175,000
32: $170,000
33: $165,000
34: $160,000
35: $155,000
36: $150,000
37: $147,500
38: $145,000
39: $142,500
40: $140,000
41: $137,500
42: $135,000
43: $132,500
44: $130,000
45: $127,500
46: $125,000
47: $122,500
48: $120,000
TEAM
Win: $3,000,000
2: $1,500,000
3: $500,000
