LIV Golf insider breaks worrying news about Mayakoba event after players and caddies were reportedly struck with food poisoning bout

The 2024 LIV Golf season is scheduled to begin on Friday, February 2 in Mayakoba, Mexico. However, the tee off could be delayed due to the unexpected illness of several participants.

Flushing It reported on Friday that several LIV Golf players and caddies are suffering from food poisoning. They posted on X (formerly Twitter):

"Getting word that LIV’s opening event at Mayakoba might be postponed today due to a serious bout of food poisoning. This is unconfirmed by officials, but there’s at least 20 players and caddies who have been sick yesterday and overnight. Hopefully it’s nothing too serious."

LIV Golf has not made any official statement on this matter. According to its official website and its official account on X, the first round of the Mayakoba event begins on Friday at 1:15 pm (Eastern Time).

The LIV Golf Mayakoba is in its second edition. The event is played at El Camaleon Golf Club, whose course is 7,116 yards and par 72, with a slope rating of 137 and a course rating of 74.2. The inaugural edition was won by Charles Howell III in singles and by the Crushers GC in team play.

LIV Golf Mayakoba: pairings explored

So far, the LIV Golf Mayakoba will be held as scheduled. As with every event on the circuit this season, the field will include 54 players and 13 teams (two players acting as free agents).

These are the groups for the first round of the event:

Hole 1: Talor Gooch, Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith
Hole 2: Dustin Johnson, Joaquin Niemann, Brooks Koepka
Hole 3: Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia
Hole 4: Tyrrell Hatton, Abraham Ancer, Martin Kaymer
Hole 5: Anirban Lahiri, Lee Westwood, Branden Grace
Hole 6: Adrian Meronk, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter,
Hole 7: Paul Casey, Dean Burmester, Matt Wolff
Hole 8: Lucas Herbert, Kieran Vincent, Hudson Swafford
Hole 9: Sam Horsfield, Carlos Ortiz, David Puig
Hole 10: Pat Perez, Thomas Pieters, Andy Ogletree
Hole 11: Eugenio Chacarra, Laurie Canter, Scott Vincent
Hole 12: Caleb Surratt, Jinichiro Kozuma, Richard Bland
Hole 13: Kalle Samooja, Matt Jones, Charl Schwartzel
Hole 14: Danny Lee, Cameron Tringale, Jason Kokrak
Hole 15: Branden Steele, Charles Howell III, Sebastian Muñoz
Hole 16: Marc Leishman, Harold Varner III, Peter Uihlein
Hole 17: Kevin Na, Mito Pereira, Patrick Reed
Hole 18: Bubba Watson, Henrik Stenson Louis Oosthuizen

Another novelty brought about by the expansion of the field is the reduction of prizes for the last places on the leaderboard. For example, the player who finishes last in Mayakoba this year will receive $50,000, while the player who finished last in the same event in 2023 received $120,000.