The lack of clarity around the future of LIV golf hasn’t stopped the breakaway tour signing a brand new multi-year deal to play in Spain and Sergio Garcia is adamant it will survive golf’s merger.
LIV also has a multi-year deal to play in Adelaide but the survival of the Saudi-backed tour could yet be determined by a profit and loss assessment done by PGA Tour officials as part of the new agreement signed with the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
The LIV event at Valderrama in Spain is the first for Greg Norman’s tour since the merger was announced and follows the full reveal of the five-page agreement between the two parties which was light on concrete details about the future of the game.
Before the opening day’s play, LIV officials revealed they had signed the “multi-year” deal to play the event at Valderrama and hometown hero Garcia was adamant he’d be playing in 2024 despite ongoing confusion about the tour’s place in the new golfing landscape.
Garcia said the new deal showed LIV would “definitely” continue.
“Yes, very confident. I mean, that‘s what I can see. That’s all I can say. I think we’re in a good spot,” he said.
“I think there’s a lot of details that are not finalised yet, and there’s a lot of speculation.
“But I think it‘s going to be a great deal for everyone, and I don’t expect us to not be here next year.”
LIV stars Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson were also adamant their tour was only going to get stronger as part of the new deal.
“I think that right now we have basically an agreement to have an agreement, so there‘s really — and everything over the last couple of years that we’ve been told by Greg and everybody on LIV has come to fruition, so we have a lot of confidence in what they have been saying to us because everything has been happening,” Mickelson said.
“We don‘t really feel the need to publicly posture our position. There’s really no need for us to talk about things publicly but to just let it play out.”
Johnson said LIV was “going to get even better”.
“I‘m excited for the future. I think with this agreement, the only thing that’s going to happen is LIV is going to get even better than what it is now, which it’s already great,” he said.
“I’m happy exactly where I am, and I’m definitely not looking to play more golf than I’m playing now, that’s for sure.”
Norman, LIV Golf’s CEO who has not made a full public statement since the merger was announced, said, in a press release, the agreement with Valderrama “continues the momentum being built through LIV Golf’s global impact that is engaging a new generation of golf fans around the world”.
Norman was not involved in negotiations for the deal between the PIF and the PGA Tour and his future with the tour remains in doubt.