Adelaide will be the only LIV Golf event in Australia in 2024
Cameron Smith pushed hard but his desire for a second LIV event in Australia in 2024 has fallen short.
There won’t be a second LIV event in Australia in 2024, should the Saudi-backed tour live on, despite pushes from several states to piggyback on the success of the inaugural tournament in Adelaide.
While the future of LIV Golf remains unclear, with discussions ongoing between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund over the final shape of their new arrangement, tour officials are pushing on with plans for next year.
On the back of the raging success in Adelaide, several Australian states, including Queensland, NSW and Western Australia, were among a group of nearly 50 different entities from various countries who put in bids to host tournaments.
But it’s believed they were all unsuccessful, and while leaked details of a proposed 2024 schedule listed Australia as a host country, there will just be a single event.
It’s understood that both South Korea and Hong Kong will instead be added to the international roster.
After enjoying the LIV Adelaide event, Australian star Cameron Smith said he hoped there could be more than one event at “home”.
“(A second event) has been spoken about for a few months now and I’m not sure how far along we are. I really stay out of those conversations, to be honest,” he said.
“Part of my reason to play was to have an event here and if we got to a second one, I think, that makes so much difference to things.”
At last week’s season-ending LIV team championship event in Miami, chief executive Greg Norman was bullish about the future of his fledgling tour that is now two years old.
“All indications show you that the position of LIV has never been stronger and the position and success of our players and our brand has never been in a better place,” he said.
“And as we look forward into 2024, we’ve got a full schedule. We’ve got some places we’ve been to before, but we’ve got some new venues as well and we’re reaching different regions.”
Amid reports discussions between the PGA Tour and the PIF had broken down nearing a December 31 deadline for confirmation of the new golfing landscape, Norman said he had “zero” concern about LIV’s future when the news was announced in June and now.
“Zero, zero,” he said.
“And during the 6th (of June) zero. And I have zero today.”
The South Australian government signed a four-year deal to hosts LIV events in the state.
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