PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan meets with players before the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego, warning them that they would not be able to compete as tour members on a proposed rival circuit that was known then as the Premier Golf League.
On eve of the WGC Mexico Championship, then-world No. 1 Rory McIlroy declares emphatically about LIV Golf, “I'm out. … I would like to be on the right side of history with this one.”
As talk of a rival tour intensifies, the PGA Tour and the European Tour announce a “strategic alliance” in which they intend to work together on commercial opportunities, cooperate on scheduling and share global media rights.
In seeking a partnership with an established tour, representatives of Saudi-funded LIV Golf meet with European Tour CEO Keith Pelley in Malta. In their 2022 lawsuit against the PGA Tour, the LIV Golf plaintiffs claimed that “under pressure from the ‘mighty power’ of the PGA Tour,” the European Tour rejected any attempts for an agreement with LIV Golf.
Greg Norman is introduced as CEO of LIV Golf. Norman, a two-time Open Championship winner and World Golf Hall of Fame member, hails LIV Golf’s new relationship with the Asian Tour as “only the beginning” as the nascent tour seeks “to create additive new opportunities across worldwide professional golf.”
Speaking in the Bahamas before the Hero World Challenge, which benefits his TGR Foundation, Tiger Woods declines any interest in LIV Golf. “I’m supporting the PGA Tour,” said Woods, the 15-time major champion who shares the tour’s all-time lead with 82 victories. “That’s where my legacy is.”
In an interview with John Huggan published on GolfDigest.com before the Saudi Invitational, Phil Mickelson references the “obnoxious greed” of the PGA Tour as he speaks about media rights, his legacy and his interest in LIV Golf.
In an interview with Alan Shipnuck published on FirePitCollective.com, Mickelson talks about his involvement with the Saudis and their proposed golf league, branding them as “scary mother------- to get involved with” but rationalizing his involvement as “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.”
Reputed LIV Golf recruits Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau offer statements joining a wave of players to pledge fealty to the PGA Tour in the wake of Phil Mickelson’s published comments. In response, Rory McIlroy says: “Who's left? Who's left to go? I mean, there's no one. It's dead in the water, in my opinion. I just can't see any reason why anyone would go.”
Minutes before a players meeting at the Honda Classic, Phil Mickelson issues a statement on social media saying, “I am deeply sorry for my choice of words,” and that he was taking an indefinite leave of absence from the PGA Tour. “I know I have not been my best and desperately need some time away to prioritize the ones I love most and work on being the man I want to be.” It was revealed in a later court filing that Mickelson had been suspended by the PGA Tour.
Greg Norman fires a written missive at PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan that began, “Surely you jest. And surely, your lawyers at the PGA Tour must be holding their breath.” His letter ended: “Commissioner – this is just the beginning. It is certainly not the end.”
At his annual news conference before the Players Championship, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan vows not to be “distracted by rumors” about a rival tour and that his organization “always will be focused on legacy, not leverage.”
LIV Golf announces its inaugural schedule: an eight-event series of invitational tournaments with $255 million in prize money.
The PGA Tour denies conflicting-event releases to players who had sought permission to compete in LIV Golf’s inaugural event one month later in England.
Speaking to media in advance of LIV Golf’s inaugural season, CEO Greg Norman brushes off the Saudis’ involvement in the 2018 slaying of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Saudi national, saying: “Look, we’ve all made mistakes, and you just want to learn from those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward.”
LIV Golf releases the 48-man field for its inaugural event, to begin nine days later at Centurion Club near London. Dustin Johnson, who had declared three months earlier that he was “fully committed” to the PGA Tour, was among the most prominent LIV recruits.
Kevin Na becomes the first player to resign his PGA Tour membership after having signed with LIV Golf.
Phil Mickelson announces on Twitter that he will end a four-month hiatus from the game and play in LIV Golf’s inaugural event later that week.
LIV Golf debuts with its LIV Golf Invitational Series event at Centurion Club near London, prompting the PGA Tour to ban all of its members who participated without a release from the tour.
Charl Schwartzel wins LIV Golf’s inaugural event, posting a 7-under 203 total for 54 holes at Centurion Club, earning $4 million for the victory and another $750,000 for his share of the winning four-man team.
LIV Golf announces the signing of Patrick Reed, a former Masters champion and Ryder Cup player.
Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka reportedly signs with LIV Golf.
Less than three weeks after LIV Golf’s debut, PGA Tour and DP World Tour strengthen their strategic alliance, announcing a “joint venture partnership” and extending their agreement through 2035.
Branden Grace wins LIV Golf’s second event, at Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon, where he shot 13-under 203, earning $4 million for the victory and another $375,000 as part of the runner-up team.
Henrik Stenson, the 2016 Open champion and Europe’s captain for the 2023 Ryder Cup, signs with LIV Golf for a reported $50 million bonus. That same day, he is dropped as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain.
TV analyst David Feherty, a longtime featured commentator on CBS and then NBC Sports/Golf Channel, joins LIV Golf’s broadcast team.
LIV Golf announces the launch of its 14-tournament 2023 league with 48 players and 12 established team franchises, plus a promotion and relegation system.
Bubba Watson signs with LIV Golf, but the two-time Masters champion forgoes his tournament debut while recovering from a torn meniscus in his right knee.
Henrik Stenson wins at Trump Bedminster in his LIV Golf debut, earning $4 million for the victory plus another $375,000 for being on the runner-up team.
In an appearance on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman discloses that Tiger Woods turned down an offer of $700-$800 million to sign with the rival tour.
Eleven LIV Golf players file an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour, challenging the tour’s suspension of players competing on the rival tour. The “LIV 11” are Abraham Ancer, Bryson DeChambeau, Talor Gooch, Matt Jones, Jason Kokrak, Phil Mickelson, Carlos Ortiz, Pat Perez, Ian Poulter, Hudson Swafford and Peter Uihlein. (Ortiz would later withdraw from the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California.) Within the 106-page lawsuit, Gooch, Jones and Swafford seek a temporary restraining order to compete in the next week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first tournament in the three-event playoffs for which the three had qualified.
The PGA Tour responds to the temporary restraining order, saying the defecting players were rightfully disciplined because they breached tour regulations by competing on a rival tour for which they had not obtained a release.
Judge Beth Labson Freeman of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California denies the plaintiffs’ request for a TRO and suggests that attorneys for both parties try to agree on a trial date for late 2023 on the plaintiffs’ antitrust claims.