LIV Golf South Africa has a nice ring to it. And it could be the newest event on the breakaway tour after officials have reportedly held talks recently.
CEO Scott O’Neil met with Gayton McKenzie, Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture in the Republic of South Africa, to discuss a potential new tournament being held in South Africa.
Writing on X, he said: “I met with the brilliant CEO, Scott O’Neil, and the rest of his bright executive team at golf’s freshest new globe-spanning tournament, LIV Golf, which has an all-South African team, Stingers GC,”
“We are full of hope about bringing this festival of sport and culture to SA soon.”
Louis Oosthuizen is the captain of Stinger GC, with Branden Grace, Charl Schwartzel, and Dean Burmester completing the quartet.
This season, South Korea become the newest country to hold a LIV Golf event, with the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon playing host to the seventh tournament of the 2025 season.
Could Africa become the fifth continent to host a LIV Golf event? Initial signs look promising.
LIV Golf plans major expansion over the next few years
From its original schedule of just eight events during its inaugural season in 2022 to the 14 tournament schedule this year, LIV Golf is constantly expanding.
Africa and South America are now the only two continents in which the Saudi-backed league doesn’t have an event. Something which could change over the next year or two.
With Chilean golfer Joaquin Niemann being one of LIV Golf’s shining lights, surely a tournament in his home continent will arrive sooner rather than later.
Stinger GC captain Oosthuizen discussed South Africa hosting an event way back in January this year. Speaking to Golf Monthly, he said:
“There’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes and being put in (for an event in South Africa). We are fighting hard to get it in but there needs to be a lot of things to align.
“In an ideal world it will happen in 2026 but, if it doesn’t happen in 2026, we’ll work hard to get it in 2027. It’s something we’ve been working hard on since March 2024. So, it’s a lot of things that we have to sort, but we are working hard and we are moving forward.”
Judging by the meeting between O’Neil and McKenzie recently, things appear to be in motion for South Africa to become the 11th country to host a LIV Golf event.
