LIV Golf adds a summer 2026 event in New Orleans with Louisiana putting up $7.2 million

NEW ORLEANS: The LIV Golf League has added a summer tournament in New Orleans for 2026 after Louisiana agreed to pay the Saudi-backed tour $5 million and spend an additional $2.2 million on improvements to the Bayou Oaks course in City Park.

“What an unbelievable opportunity to announce this on the 20th-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina,” Gov. Jeff Landry said at an announcement alongside LIV Golf officials and LIV player Bubba Watson.

New Orleans already has a long-running PGA Tour stop with the Zurich Classic at TPC Louisiana. Watson — who grew up about three hours away in Pensacola, Florida — won the Zurich in 2011 and hailed his opportunity to play professionally in New Orleans again.

“I’m from the Gulf Coast and this is part my home,” Watson said, drawing laughs when he joked about attending many New Orleans Pelicans games wanting to see often-injured NBA star Zion Williamson play. “I still hope for that day.”

Watson sounded unconcerned about the tournament dates in late June, when heat adviseries and thunderstorms are common. June also falls within hurricane season, albeit closer to the beginning. The Zurich usually takes place in April.

“This is the first year of it, so the date can always be changed if it does come here multiple years,” Watson said. “It’s going to be hot in a lot of places in the summer. ... I’ve grown up in the South; I know about heat. We just prepare for it.”

This season, a LIV Golf tournament was held in Dallas in late June, when daytime temperatures hovered around 90 degrees.

“We’re going to try it out and then we’ll see,” Landry said. “Whether we’ve got to adjust the dates after this go-around, we’ll see. But my objective is to have this be LIV’s home.”

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