Saudi Golf Association President: "Possibility of LIV Establishing Its Own Major Tournament"

Al Solor President "If LIV Players Are Banned from Major Tournaments, Will Establish Own Tournament"
US Golf Media Predicts "Increasing Prize Money Over Major Tournaments" Approach

Greg Norman, CEO of LIV Golf (right), and Majed Al Sorour, Chairman of Saudi Golf.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seohee] Majed Al Sorour, chairman of the Saudi Arabian Golf Federation, hinted at the possibility of establishing a LIV Golf Invitational Series own major tournament, sponsored by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund.

In an interview with the American weekly magazine The New Yorker on the 19th, Chairman Al Sorour stated, "If the current four major tournaments ban LIV Series players from participating, we will create our own major tournament for our players."

Greg Norman (Australia) is the representative of the LIV Series, but since the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund sponsors the LIV Series, Al Sorour, chairman of the Saudi Golf Federation, plays a significant role. The Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund acquired the English professional football club Newcastle last October, and currently, Chairman Al Sorour also serves as a director of the Newcastle club.

Chairman Al Sorour did not explain how the LIV Series would establish its own major tournament. However, the American golf media Golf Channel predicted, "It could be a method of offering a larger prize money than existing major tournaments."

Since the current individual winner's prize money for the LIV Series regular tournament is $4 million (approximately 5.65 billion KRW), if the LIV Series creates its own major tournament, the winner's prize money is expected to be at least $5 million or more. This year's US Open winner's prize was $3.15 million.

Meanwhile, the four major men's golf tournaments?the Masters, the PGA Championship, the US Open, and The Open?currently do not ban LIV Series players from participating. However, since tournament entry qualifications are often based on world rankings or PGA Tour tournament results, LIV Series players' opportunities to participate in major tournaments are inevitably decreasing.

As competition between the PGA Tour and the LIV Series intensifies, a prize money increase competition has also ignited. On this day, the American golf media Golfweek reported, "The PGA Tour will increase prize money for four tournaments."

According to Golfweek's report, the PGA Tour Phoenix Open, RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship, and Travelers Championship are considering raising the total prize money to $20 million in 2023. The total prize money for these tournaments this year was $8.2 million for the Phoenix Open, $8 million for RBC Heritage, $9 million for the Wells Fargo Championship, and $8.3 million for the Travelers Championship.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.