Brendan Steele is shifting from the PGA Tour to the LIV Golf League, the native Idyllwilder informed the Town Crier Sunday evening. Brendan withdrew from the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational tournament before teeing off last Thursday. The LIV Golf League is financed by the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.

“LIV” is the number 54 in Roman numerals, which is the number of holes that will be played in LIV events. Forty-eight players on 12 teams will compete with shotgun starts and no cuts. LIV tournaments are simultaneously individual and team. For team competitions, Brendan joins the HyFlyers GC, captained by Phil Mickelson. “Shot-gun start” means that teams will be teeing off simultaneously at different holes, so the course will be filled with competitors all at once.

On its website, the LIV declares that it is “here to modernize and supercharge the wonderful sport of golf by taking the sport to new levels of excitement and engagement with generations of fans. With events across the world, the LIV Golf League is bringing the game — and those who love to play and watch it — to new places.”

Brendan played on the PGA Tour for more than 12 consecutive seasons, from 2011 through part of the current 2023 season, winning three events: the Texas Open in his first year, and the Safeway Open in Napa twice thereafter. He was runner up thrice and placed third another three times while amassing 35 top-10 finishes. The 39-year-old Idyllwild native won more than $20 million in official prize money during his PGA career. Brendan is currently ranked as the 124th top golfer in the world in the Official World Golf Rankings.

The LIV Golf season includes 14 tournaments all over the world, including eight in the United States — three of them on Trump courses: The Trump National Golf Club in Washington D.C., the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey and the Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida.

A LIV tournament will open the new season Friday this week: the Mayako-ba on the El Camaleón Golf Course in Mayakoba, Mexico, and Brendan will be play-ing. The second day and the final third day of the Mayakoba event will be telecast Saturday and Sunday on the CW Television Network and on KTLA Channel 5 in Los An-geles. Brendan is currently scheduled to tee off in the shot-gun start Friday at about 10:15 a.m. PT.