Australian Open Saves SA Government from LIV Golf Financial Blow

A major headache for the Malinauskas government has been alleviated after securing hosting rights to the Australian Open golf tournament from 2028. The move comes as LIV Golf, a breakaway tour, filed for bankruptcy in the US.

Spending at least $45 million to upgrade a golf course so it can host a tour that's filed for bankruptcy is a hard sell. However, the acquisition of LIV Golf until 2031 was the impetus for a controversial redevelopment of the North Adelaide Golf Course.

LIV Golf's Financial Woes

LIV Golf chief executive Scott O'Neil said the move was intended to keep the league in business while transitioning to a player-first ownership model. It hopes to exit bankruptcy in early 2027.

"We didn't want to invest heavily in North Adelaide and face the prospect of it [LIV Golf] being lost from South Australia,"

Premier Peter Malinauskas said in February 2025.

"This gives us the security that it requires to be able to justify that investment."

The government has been consistent that there was more to the course upgrade than just LIV Golf, pointing out it will be used by the public outside of events. However, it's hard to imagine a world where the $45 million upgrade gets green-lighted without LIV Golf in the picture.

Government's Relief

Labor minister Clare Scriven said,

"We've been focused on not just LIV Golf but other opportunities,"

which is why they've been so keen to secure the Australian Open.

Cabinet colleague Nick Champion said the state government was not "over-reliant" on one event.

"I appreciate that we're going to have endless media speculation about LIV Golf, but we're upgrading the golf course so that we can have a world class golf course next to a world class [Adelaide] Oval in a world class city,"

he said.

Future of LIV Golf

Opposition leader Ashton Hurn was asked whether LIV Golf filing for bankruptcy raised questions about the need for the North Adelaide Golf Course upgrade.

"It does, but I think that we're kind of past that point really when you look at how many trees have now been pulled out,"

she said.

Australian golf commentator Jimmy Emanuel believes LIV Golf will put on a tournament next year, even if it looks a little different.

"The cost of putting on a tournament in that scale to attract music acts like Fisher is a lot,"

he said.

"Just building grandstands, building hospitality, those are big commitments financially — the scale of the investment is not going to be the same as it was from Saudi Arabia."

The status of an advanced payment from LIV Golf to Kooyonga Golf Club, where Adelaide's next LIV event is scheduled for March 2027, remains unclear.