LIV Golf will start its 2025 season with a tournament under lights as Cam Smith said a second Australian event was unlikely

People from all around Australia travel to the LIV event in Adelaide and they’ll have to keep travelling after Cam Smith delivered an update on future events.

Australian LIV star Cam Smith has poured cold water on the possibility of a second event in Australia to piggyback off the monster success in Adelaide, putting an aim to “showcase golf around the world” ahead of his desire for more events at home.

Smith’s call cames as South African star Louis Oosthuizen, who was central to the dramatic, first-ever team playoff in Adelaide last year, won by Smith’s Ripper GC team, confirmed he was pushing hard for a tournament at home.

LIV golf begins the 2025 season in Riyadh this week, where the three rounds will be played under lights at Riyadh Golf Club for the first time, before returning to Adelaide with a stop in Korea added to the 14-event roster.

Phil Mickelson is set to miss the opening event after a gym mishap, but he’s declared he’ll be ready for Adelaide the following week.

First 👀 at the @livgolf_league set up in Riyadh 🙌🏼 pic.twitter.com/qn6FyRS7lx

— 4 Aces GC (@4AcesGC_) February 2, 2025

Last year’s event in South Australia drew 94,000 fans, up from the nearly 80,000 through the gates the year before, and attracts golf fans from all around the country,

Former LIV chief executive and commissioner Greg Norman had previously said up to four other Australian states were looking to get on the bandwagon but the four-year Adelaide contract took precedence.

Smith, who spent two months in Australia late last year and played in four tournaments, said he’d prefer to play “all 14 events” at home.

But having signed a monster deal to join the Saudi-backed tour, Smith said LIV’s aims were clear.

“I think the idea of the league is to showcase golf around the world,” he said.

“Something we all really enjoy doing is going to different parts of the world and seeing different cultures. It would be nice to have another one, but at the same time what we are trying to achieve out here is global golf.

“Personally, I’d love to have 14 in Australia. It would be nice to have another one but I don’t know how that would work.”

Thank you Australia 🇦🇺🏆

The people have well and truly spoken. A record 94,000 fans on-site at #LIVGolf Adelaide from 30 different countries and 40% of tickets coming from out of State. Both individual and team golf is alive and well in Australia and they deserve it.… pic.twitter.com/kpcs0gQ2GP

— Greg Norman (@SharkGregNorman) April 29, 2024

In 2025, LIV events will be played at six new venues, with 14 events in nine countries.

Oosthuizen, captain of South Africa’s Stinger GC, which lost the playoff to Smith and his all-Australian outfit in Adelaide in 2024, is lobbying for his home country to be added to the roster sooner rather than later.

“Yeah, we’re pushing hard for the SA one,” he told NewsWire.

“We want to do it with the blessing of the board and the Sunshine Tour and everyone down there.

“We don’t want to go step on everyone’s feet.

“We’re very close to getting a potential sponsor, so we are working on it. It will be nice”.

Ongoing talks between the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which backs LIV, and the PGA Tour over the framework agreement announced in June 2023 remain ongoing, but at this stage LIV looks to have a secure future on the golfing landscape.

Originally published as LIV Golf will start its 2025 season with a tournament under lights as Cam Smith said a second Australian event was unlikely