The big-money LIV Golf League resumes after a three-week break with arguably its most anticipated event of the year.
That’s because, for the second year running, it heads to Australia for the LIV Golf Adelaide event at The Grange Golf Club. In 2023, the arrival of the circuit proved an enormous hit with fans generally starved of top-class golf in the country in recent years. They responded by selling out the venue for three straight days and creating an unforgettable party atmosphere as Talor Gooch claimed his maiden LIV Golf win among several other big talking points.
However, while this year’s event will be hard to beat for hype and glamour, where it comes to prize money available to the players, it’s not going to be quite as attractive as the other regular events in the season.
Thanks to Australia’s tax laws, players are required to pay a big chunk of tax on their winnings, meaning whoever lifts the trophy this week will only claim around $2.2m.
That’s something Gooch found to his cost (literally) last year, as he explained to the Fore The People podcast. He said: “I was checking my phone on Monday because I was like I want to see that thing hit. It was a little bit disheartening seeing 47-and-a-half percent because Australian taxes [do] not enter the account.
“It comes, you know, sometimes it’s like 48 hours, but it’s usually 24 hours after the direct deposit hits. It was a big one this last week, but yeah, it sucked that 47-and-a-half percent was withheld for Australian taxes, unfortunately.
“I am by no means complaining, but the four [million dollars], once you cut it all up, let’s just say that it’s a lot less than four.”
With a similar amount due to be deducted this year, the winner will need to brace himself for another big hit after lifting the trophy.
Despite the winner facing the prospect of collecting only a little over half the prize money of other events in the League, the circuit is proving extremely lucrative for those on its roster this year.
Ahead of the LIV Golf Adelaide event, Joaquin Niemann is on top of the money list with earnings of almost $9.5m, while 31 players have claimed seven-figure sums in the five events so far - a number that will increase after this week’s event.
As for Gooch, he soon put the disappointment of his unexpected tax hit behind him with another victory the following week at LIV Golf Singapore. Meanwhile, thanks to his stunning form throughout the 2023 season, he eventually claimed over $36m for the calendar year, helped by his win in the individual championship.
