Opinion: LIV’s long term plans in Australia should be questioned

LIV (Google Images)

There is saying in business and sport business, “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” What the LIV Tour has done this week needs to be seriously questioned.

Without a doubt, the most successful stop on the LIV Tour to date has been at the Grange Golf Club in Adelaide. The 2024 event generated a whopping $25.8 million in revenue according to Thomas Kelsall of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. That was 40% of the LIV Tour’s total revenues in 2024, which was $64.9 million in all. The total attendance was 94,000 in 2024, and even bigger in 2025, as 102,483 fans were present.

Despite great success at the Grange Golf Club, changes are coming. The 2026 LIV Tour will be the last at the Grange Golf Club. In 2027, the event will be at the Kooyonga Golf Club in Lockleys, and then return to Adelaide in 2028. A new golf course in Adelaide on the north side is currently being redeveloped. It is interesting that Australian golf legend Greg Norman, who recently left the LIV Tour, is in charge of the redevelopment with $50 million assistance from the South Australia State Government.

Why were these changes necessary? There is another saying that “bigger is better,” but the LIV Tour should not be very picky and choosey, and make changes to the most successful event they have. This is a very risky decision for sure. It will be very interesting to monitor this particular event over the next four years, if the revenues increase at all, or start to decrease. One thing is for sure, and that is the LIV Tour needs a healthy Australian event to thrive.