LIV Golf has released the first part of its 2025 schedule, with four events in February and March across the Middle East, Asia, and Australia.
The biggest takeaway from this news is that a deal between the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), LIV Golf’s funders, and the PGA Tour, looks nowhere near imminent. LIV Golf purposely scheduled their events to coincide with some of the biggest, most popular tournaments on the PGA Tour, signaling that the rivalry between the two circuits has never been stronger.
That also aligns with what PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said last week at the Tour Championship, as he provided no update on the status of the negotiations between him, his constituents, and the PIF.
“When you look at where we are right now, we’re in regular dialogue. We have the right people at the table with the right mindset,” Monahan said on Aug. 28, 2024.
“At the same time, these conversations are complex. They’re going to take time. They have taken time, and they will continue to take time.”
Despite Monahan adding that these conversations have been “productive,” the commissioner noted that nobody has agreed to a set deadline to strike a deal—or when golf’s great schism could come to a close. Talks have not progressed as many thought they would have, and the tour does not seem as gun-ho about a deal with the PIF after it scored a $1.5 billion investment from the Strategic Sports Group (SSG) in February. That signals an unfortunate reality for the top of the sport, an actuality that has frustrated Rory McIlroy, who envisions a united, global tour for the sport’s future.
Perhaps McIlroy will get his wish someday, and maybe golf fans will see a united sport once again. But it will not happen in 2025.
The 2025 LIV Golf season will begin within the borders of its beneficiary, in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. It will mark the first instance where LIV Golf stages an event in Riyadh after playing three times in Jeddah, which sits along the Red Sea. LIV Golf Riyadh will take place from Feb. 6 to 8, the same week as the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale.
The WM Phoenix Open, colloquially referred to as “The People’s Open,” is one of the more popular events on the PGA Tour. The party-like atmosphere on the famous par-3 16th hole makes this tournament like no other, drawing interest from across the sporting world, not just golf. The event also has a knack for producing drama—the final four-hole stretch at TPC Scottsdale is one of the best finishes on the PGA Tour. Look no further than this past February, when Nick Taylor went on a late-round birdie barrage and eclipsed Charley Hoffman in a playoff on Super Bowl Sunday.
The WM Phoenix Open is also popular among players. Many tour pros live in the area, which also explains why so many play there every year.
After joining LIV Golf, Jon Rahm even admitted to missing the WM Phoenix Open and other stops on tour, such as Torrey Pines. But now Rahm will not have to dwell on TPC Scottsdale, because he will be teeing it up in the middle of the Saudi Arabian desert at the same time.
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Yet, next year’s WM Phoenix Open is not a Signature Event, meaning it will not have as strong of a field as other PGA Tour stops. LIV Golf is obviously aware of this, as it tries to increase its popularity and viewership around the world. With fewer top players in the field in Scottsdale, they hope they could lure fans away, perhaps changing their focus to Saudi Arabia, where Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and other stars like Phil Mickelson will compete. Whether that works out remains to be seen, but that is undoubtedly their thought process.
The following week is perhaps even more interesting regarding the PGA Tour-LIV Golf divide.
The PGA Tour heads to Southern California for the Genesis Invitational, which Riviera Country Club hosts every year. Every PGA Tour star seems to love Riviera more than any other course. Adam Scott has called it his favorite. Tiger Woods, the tournament host, has a strong admiration for this historic place, even though he has never won on it. Curt Byrum of NBC Sports, who is on the grounds calling golf seemingly every week, confidently said that Riveria is his favorite course on tour, too.
So, what did LIV schedule for that same week?
LIV Golf Adelaide, the biggest event of its season.
Almost 100,000 golf-starved Australians showed up to LIV Golf Adelaide in 2024, producing another thrilling tournament for the second year in a row. Of all the tournaments LIV Golf has staged around the world, nothing compares to this tournament in Adelaide, its most successful and popular to date. Not only have Cameron Smith and other Aussie players taken the tournament by storm, but they have also re-ignited golf fandom among hundreds of thousands of Australians. Top professional golfers do not play in Australia like they once used to, as the Australian Open diminished in notoriety over time. Hence, LIV Golf is trying to fill that void.
LIV previously staged its Adelaide events in late April, after the Masters, which is usually a lull on the PGA Tour schedule. This year, however, LIV Golf moved it to compete directly with Riveria, a mainstay on the PGA Tour calendar with plenty of illustrious history. Their move to do so is a direct shot toward the brass who resides in Ponta Vedra Beach, Florida.
LIV Golf 2025 Schedule:
LIV Golf Riyadh — Riyadh Golf Club — Feb. 6-8, 2025
LIV Golf Adelaide — The Grange Golf Club — Feb. 14-16, 2025
LIV Golf Hong Kong — Hong Kong Golf Club — Mar. 7-9, 2025
LIV Golf Singapore — Sentosa Golf Club (Serapong) — Mar. 14-16, 2025
But LIV Golf fired two more shots by scheduling events in Hong Kong and Singapore during the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship.
From Mar. 7 to 9, the same week as Bay Hill, LIV Golf will return to the Hong Kong Golf Club, which hosted an event for the first time this past season. Like Adelaide, Hong Kong will directly compete with a PGA Tour Signature Event, as the Arnold Palmer Invitational is one of the marquee events on tour. It’s also one of the most challenging, as Bay Hill presents a major championship-like test year in and year out. That does not stop LIV’s conquest for expanding its reach though. They are trying to lure eyeballs away from Orlando and toward Hong Kong for their third event of the season.
The same tactic applies for the following week. While the PGA Tour descends upon TPC Sawgrass for its biggest event of the season outside of the majors, LIV Golf will head to the Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore, one of Asia’s most picturesque and stunning golf courses. The Serapong Course at Sentosa has hosted numerous DP World Tour events in the past and will again stage a LIV Golf event in 2025. LIV Golf held its event at Sentosa in early May of 2024, competing directly with the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, but now it will take place from Mar. 14-16.
LIV Golf did not disclose when the rest of its 2025 schedule will become public knowledge. Despite that, the writing on the wall is clear: LIV is going full-steam ahead, without the PGA Tour, just as it has for the past three years. Yet, it is now acting more deliberately regarding scheduling, directly competing with the tour’s most significant and popular events, a troubling sign related to the pending negotiations between golf’s powerbrokers.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
