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In a major development, Mexico's El Camaleon Golf Club in Mayakoba has jumped ship to join LIV Golf. Despite struggling to bring in more PGA Tour players, the Saudi-backed circuit has caught hold of the golf course.
According to Golfweek and popular golf Twitter handle, Handicap 54, the 16th edition of the PGA Tour visiting the Riviera Maya in Mexico, south of Cancun, will be the last at the venue. The El Camaleon Golf Club, which hosts the World Wide Technologies Championship regularly in Mayakoba, will host the season opener of the LIV Golf League in February 2023.
Following the initial report, multiple sources have confirmed that the new LIV season will kick off at the El Camaleon Golf Club. As per reports, an official announcement is expected as early as Tuesday.
It is pertinent to note that the golf course was originally designed by LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman. Resort officials have maintained strong ties to the golfer-turned-CEO, who has now landed a major blow to the PGA Tour. It is also noteworthy that prominent Mexican golfers, including Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz, were earlier added to the LIV roster.
Interestingly, the American circuit had earlier left out the World Wide Technologies Championship from its elevated events list for 2023. The American circuit will have to seek a new venue for the WWT Championship as WWT remains signed as a title sponsor for the 2023 season.
Meanwhile, the rebel series season-opener Mayakoba event is expected to be held on February 24-26, 2023. The event will be the first of LIV’s 14-tournament schedule. The latest golf course announcement comes just days after the Saudi-backed series announced ticket sales for the LIV Golf Adelaide, Australia event.
Record sales for LIV Australia tickets
Earlier this month, LIV CEO Greg Norman announced the addition of Australia to the LIV Golf schedule. According to officials, the Saudi-backed series will be holding an event at the Grange Golf Club in the South Australian capital of Adelaide from April 21 to 23, 2023. Added as part of the circuit’s plans to expand, LIV rolled out tickets for the event over the weekend.
A report by Sports Illustrated claimed tickets for LIV Golf Adelaide were selling out in record time. As per LIV's league officials, over 25,000 tickets to the event were sold within the first 48 hours of listing.
Interestingly, LIV also claimed that more than 60 per cent of the tickets were bought by fans under the age of 45 from countries ranging from New Zealand, Fiji, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand.
What other countries might LIV Golf visit next year?
As LIV Golf transitions into a 14-event league in 2023, it is bound to introduce multiple new venues to the schedule. With Australia and Mexico locked in, it’ll be interesting to see which other countries the series will travel to.
As per reports, the Saudi-backed series is reportedly considering Singapore as another venue. Spain and an added event in London are other potential destinations for next year. With much kept in the dark, LIV is expected to make more announcements in the coming days.
