LIV Golf will finally release its playing roster for its 2023 league next week, with Mito Pereira – the young Chilean who came so close to winning his first major last year – expected to be among the latest signings.
The Saudi-funded circuit will resume next month, with the £20million event in Mexico teeing off a 14-tournament season in which the 48 players will compete for combined purses of more than £330.
The golf world has been waiting to discover who will be joining the likes of Cam Smith, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson in the breakaway that has irrevocably changed the complexion of the elite end of the male game. LIV originally indicated that they would unveil the talent list at the end of November and then put it back to the end of December.
However, the enterprise funded by the Kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund has endured a turbulent close season since Dustin Johnson finished off the inaugural season by taking his winnings to more than $36m [£29.63m] at Trump Doral in November.
Greg Norman, the CEO, has seen COO Atul Khosla leave in circumstances that remain unclear and also lost another member of his management team, franchises chief Matt Goodman.
The governance overhaul has led to the delays, but insiders have told Telegraph Sport that LIV is ready to cause more waves and it will be intriguing to discover who else they have persuaded to entice with mammoth signing-on fees.
Pereira’s capture would come as no surprise. The world No 44 – who agonizingly double-bogeyed the 18th at the USPGA last May to miss a play-off eventually won by Justin Thomas – is a close friend of countryman Joaquin Niemann, the 22nd ranked player who switched last year.
Some might scoff at the importance of a Pereira defection, but he played in the Presidents Cup in November and is a competitor with huge promise. His presence would strengthen LIV’s Latin-America contingent still further, with Mexicans Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz, both PGA Tour winners, already ensconced.
Nevertheless, there is pressure on LIV to bag another big name. World No 4 Patrick Cantlay has consistently kept the door open, but appears to be sticking with the traditionalists at the moment, while Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama remains a prime target. There is also the small matter of a TV deal to fix. This is central to LIV’s ambitions in its second year.
It has already announced six new courses – LIV luring Tour venues Valderrama and Mayakoba – on to its schedule and Donald Trump, the former US President, could be playing an even bigger part, with a third of his layouts – Trump National DC – in line for a stop, joining Trump Bedminster and, of course, Trump Doral, the famous Miami resort which will again host the grand finale.
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