LIV Golf
_{Silence on the merger front, but HyFlyers announces logo refresh}

A quiet week for LIV Golf as expected. Seems that we’re going to be waiting until the last minute to hear anything about the mergers, which is on brand for LIV. The deadline is 12/31/23, which is next Sunday. LIV and PGA Tour executives are likely to meet this week to finalize, or decide not to finalize, an agreement.

Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers did announce a logo refresh for the 2024 season. Their old logo was effectively identical to “Fallen Footwear”, a company that manufactures skateboarding shoes. Their new logo maintains some similar aspects and same colorway, but has a much more minimal look.

What’s next for LIV Golf?

LIV still has a few roster spots to announce. While the Spanish sports media outlet Relevo reports that Adri Arnaus (still yet to be confirmed) will be joining Jon Rahm, there are still a few spots left to fill. I would expect Arnaus to join as he and Rahm played a lot of junior golf together, and are close friends. As for the other two spots? Only time will tell. Rahm has some presser’s scheduled for January 7th, so maybe we’ll hear something then.

DP World Tour
_{All is quiet on the DP World Tour this week}

No major developments on the DP World Tour this week, as their holiday break commences. They released a 45 minute documentary this week covering some players as they make their way through Q-school. These stories are always fantastic and I’d strongly recommend checking this out!

What’s next on the DP World Tour?

The DP World Tour is off for some time for the holiday season. Their next event wont be until January 11th, the Dubai Invitational. Look for some player committments in the coming days to find out exactly what that field might look like. It’s at the beautiful Dubai Creek Resort which, for me, makes this must watch viewing! This is the first leg of the international swing on the DP World Tour’s 2024 season, so expect some big names to be in the mix as they gear up for the season. Rory has already committed to playing, and others will soon follow!

Asian Tour
_{2024 Schedule Announcement}

The Asian Tour’s schedule was announced this week and will see them continue to grow their tour into the giant it truly can be. In 2024 they will host 20 events across different countries for over $35 million in total prizes. 10 of these events will be part of the International Series and provide a direct pathway for players into LIV Golf. Andy Ogletree took advantage of this opportunity in 2023, and many of the Asian Tour’s young players will look to do the same in 2024.

What’s next on the Asian Tour?

The first event of the 2024 Asian Tour season isn’t until February 15th, when the Malaysian Open will return to the schedule for the first time in a few years, but the final stage of the Asian Tour’s Q-school will tee off in the second week of January, so keep an eye out for some coverage on that!

PGA TOUR
_{Aberg and Hovland commit, but Vik has some words for PGA Tour’s leadership}

The tour’s holiday break continues this week so there aren’t any results to discuss, but this week we saw Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland commit to playing on the PGA Tour in 2024. However his commitment didn’t come without criticism of the tour’s leadership, as he was quoted as saying this:

The tour’s leadership, notably Jay Monahan come under continued fire for his decision making over the past 18 months as he initially ignored, then poorly handled the emergence of LIV Golf. This article from Sports Illustrated’s Alex Miceli details the situation well:

What’s next on the PGA Tour?

No event this week on the PGA Tour but something to keep an eye on:

The framework agreement between the tour and LIV Golf has a “firm” deadline of 12/31/2023. With last week’s news of a pending investment of a group of private equity sports investors, expect to hear some news in the very near future on the status of these negotiations.