As LIV Golf prepares to open its second season this week, the Saudi-funded rival tour was poised to announce some key player signings.
Belgium’s Thomas Pieters, a six-time winner on the DP World Tour and former Ryder Cup star, was expected to be introduced as a LIV signee ahead of the tour’s season-opening event this week at Mayakoba Resort in Mexico, numerous media outlets reported, citing sources.
Pieters, 31, who set a rookie record by winning four points in Europe’s 2016 Ryder Cup loss, was No. 34 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship last month. He also won the 2012 NCAA title with Illinois.
Pieters expressed frustration that he did not land a spot in last week’s Genesis Invitational, tweeting: “Sad to miss my favorite tournament of the year. Because well as #34 in the world, I just couldn’t get in.”
American Brendan Steele and New Zealand’s Danny Lee, both former winners on the PGA Tour, also were making the leap to LIV, according to ESPN’s Mark Schlabach. Steele, 39, is a three-time winner on tour and ranked No. 122 in the world. Lee, 32, a one-time winner on tour and the 2008 U.S. Amateur champion, was No. 259 in the world. Both were expected to be in Mexico for the season opener.
Also, South Africa’s Dean Burmester, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour who was ranked No. 62 in the world, will join LIV Golf and be part of compatriot Louis Oosthuizen’s Stinger GC team, according to a tweet by Tom Kershaw of The Times of London. Burmester, 33, who qualified for the PGA Tour this season via his top-25 finish in the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Finals, had made three consecutive cuts on the West Coast Swing to start the new year.
LIV was expected to finalize its 48-man, 12-team roster early this week as the tour expands to a 14-tournament schedule.
The recruitments would be a sorely needed coup in light of LIV’s recent legal setback after a federal judge ruled in favor of the PGA Tour relative to the scope of discovery in LIV’s antitrust lawsuit against the tour. The decision, which is being appealed, would open the door to public scrutiny of Saudi Arabia’s $600 billion-plus Public Investment Fund, which bankrolls LIV Golf, and fund governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan. READ MORE
LIV golfers will not receive world-ranking points in the tour’s season-opening event this week in Mexico, Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig reported, as LIV Golf’s application to the Official World Golf Ranking remains under review. READ MORE
CW Network will air the 14 LIV tournaments in all of the broadcaster’s U.S. markets, which total more than 120 million households, as part of the Nexstar-owned CW’s deal with LIV announced last month. First-round play on Fridays will be carried on the CW app. The Saturday and Sunday rounds will air at 1-6 p.m. ET on CW’s linear and digital platforms. READ MORE
An executive with DP World has called for a truce between golf’s warring parties as LIV Golf prepares to start its second season under a cloud of legal disputes with the major pro tours. Danny van Otterdijk, the chief communications officer for the UAE-based conglomerate that title-sponsors the European Tour, told Golf Digest Middle East he hopes “sensibility will prevail, and people will talk, and integrating the schedules will prevail. That is only good for the game of golf.” READ MORE
McIlroy (left) with Justin Thomas and Tiger Woods
Michael Owens, Getty Images
TAP-INS
The BBC has walked away from negotiations to broadcast the Masters, citing cost-cutting efforts at the network and ending a 56-year association with the tournament, according to a report by Tom Morgan in The Telegraph of London. READ MORE
The USGA announced qualifying dates and sites for its U.S. men’s and women’s opens. For the 123rd U.S. Open, to be played June 15-18 at Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course: 18-hole local qualifiers at 109 sites in the U.S. and Canada from April 17 through May 22, with the 36-hole final stage at 10 U.S. sites plus England, Japan and Canada from May 16 to June 5. For the 78th U.S. Women’s Open, to be played July 6-9 at Pebble Beach Golf Links: 36-hole qualifiers will be held at 23 sites in the U.S. plus Canada, Japan and Belgium from May 9 through June 7. READ MORE and MORE
Karin Sharp no longer is leading Scottish Golf as the national governing body appointed Fraser Thornton as interim CEO, though she remains with the organization, according to a report by Martin Dempster in The Scotsman. READ MORE
Topgolf Callaway Brands reported record revenue of $3.995 billion in 2022, an increase of 27.5 percent compared with 2021, as the Carlsbad, California-based company announced its fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 results. In the filing, the company raised its projected revenue to $4.415-$4.47 billion for 2023, representing annual growth of 10-12 percent. Company subsidiaries include Topgolf, Callaway Golf, Toptracer and TravisMathew. READ MORE
American Gordon Sargent moved into the top spot in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Sargent, a sophomore at Vanderbilt University from Birmingham, Alabama, and the reigning NCAA men’s champion, improved two places in the WAGR after he rolled to a seven-stroke victory recently in the John Hayt Intercollegiate, leading Vandy to the team title at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. READ MORE
The LPGA will trim the size of its 36-hole cut for weekend play from the top 70 and ties to the top 65 and ties at full-field events, effective with the LPGA Drive On Championship on March 23-26, the women’s tour announced. A tour spokesman pointed to being “consistent with other professional golf organizations” and “ensuring a manageable field size.” READ MORE
Adam Scott has been voted chairman of the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council, the tour announced. READ MORE
Kevin Breen, the superintendent at La Rinconada Country Club in Los Gatos, California, has been re-elected to a one-year term as president of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon