LIV Golf's 2024 schedule: PGA Tour challenges, no Trump events for now
An early version of the 2024 LIV Golf schedule does not include Trump-owned courses, but does go head-to-head with the PGA Tour
A preliminary version of the 2024 LIV Golf schedule shows some stark changes from the upstart league's first two years, including a lack of Trump-owned golf courses and a series of dates that go head-to-head with established PGA Tour events.
The preliminary schedule, first obtained by Sports Illustrated, shows 14 tournaments, the same as this year. However, no properties owned by former president Donald Trump are on the schedule. Trump-owned properties hosted two events last year and two so far this year, with the team championship slated for next month at Trump's Doral property in South Florida.
Given that the schedule is still very much a work in progress, speculation on the reason behind the lack of Trump properties would be just that. However, the season-ending tournament, currently listed as "South Florida," would take place only days before the 2024 presidential election. Trump also stands accused of 91 felony counts in four cases across various courts; LIV Golf distancing itself from Trump as a result is not an unthinkable conclusion.
Worth noting: only three courses, Mayakoba at the season opener in Mexico, the Greenbrier in West Virginia, and Valderrama in Spain, are listed as confirmed. The other 11 events are listed by geographic location only.
Eight of the 14 events will be outside the United States: Mexico, Jeddah, Hong Kong, Adelaide, Singapore, Valderrama, England and South Korea, lending credence to the idea that LIV Golf is looking to shift golf's center of power away from the United States. United States events include Las Vegas, Dallas, Los Angeles, West Virginia, South Florida and Oklahoma City.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund, LIV's financial backer, and the PGA Tour have reached an agreement to end hostilities and work together going forward. Even so, multiple LIV events on the current schedule go head-to-head with notable PGA Tour events.
Mayakoba, for instance, is the same weekend as the PGA Tour's Pebble Beach event. The Las Vegas event is the same week as the Waste Management Phoenix Open — but that weekend is also the Super Bowl, which this year will be held in Las Vegas. Summertime events in Los Angeles and Oklahoma City would go up against two PGA Tour "signature" events, the Memorial and the Travelers. The Greenbrier event would take place the same weekend as the Tour's playoff event in Memphis. One key issue with such scheduling is whether there is sufficient golf viewership to support two tournaments in one weekend.
The schedule is still preliminary, and much could change between now and LIV's 2024 season. What's clear, however, is that there are at least plans afoot to continue the breakaway league for another season.
