It’s no surprise that just a couple of weeks away from LIV’s first event of 2023, they are in the news at every opportunity.
On Saturday, golf bloggers @Tour_Junkies tweeted a bit of a shocker:
The rumor mill around Augusta is reaching a fever pitch. I’ve had 3 different people come up to me & tell me about a LIV land purchase on the other side of the Savannah River (<10 minutes from ANGC>
— Tour Junkies (@Tour_Junkies) February 4, 2023
The tweet received nearly 70,000 views but replies varied from the shocked to those denying it ever happened.
Augusta but louder?
— Leaderboard Golf (@leaderboardco) February 4, 2023
The suggestion was that the pairing of Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore would be involved in the design for LIV, but that was yet another rumor denied by many on the social media site.
Instead, a few hours later, Tour Junkies revealed the land may have been bought by another organisation, this time, Shell and Augusta National themselves:
New development now…
Shell company buying it with Augusta National…? https://t.co/jxCaPlKKF1 pic.twitter.com/312ataXTt5
— Tour Junkies (@Tour_Junkies) February 5, 2023
Almost three years ago, businessinsider.com revealed Augusta has spent $200 million snapping up land surrounding the golf course over the past 20 years, so this new purchase may simply be one of many, revealed simply as nothing seems hidden in this internet age.
However, and here goes yet another golfing rumor, the land is said to have been purchased to host a Women’s Masters in the future – something unheard of in previous years, but yet another potential addition to the recently enhanced LPGA tour, now with a total prize fund of over $100 million.
For that, Augusta may well enlist former Masters champion Crenshaw and his partner.
