What is LIV Golf?
Reports of a new breakaway league first emerged in 2019 but gathered pace last year as two-time Open champion Greg Norman became the face of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series as its chief executive.
With Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund financing the series, there is a clear link to the Saudi Arabia government, whose record on human rights has been criticised by groups such as Amnesty International.
But what for a long time was considered to be a bargaining threat to the traditional PGA and DP World Tours and nothing more, took shape as the LIV Golf Series, which also features new competition rules and what tournament organisers say is an “exciting” new format.
What are the rules?
LIV Golf Series events will be played over three days and 54 holes, rather than the traditional four-day events with 72 holes. There won’t be a cut, either, so the 48 players who start the week will play all three rounds.
There will also be individual and team competitions within the same event. The individual competition will be won by the player who shoots the lowest score over 54 holes, as normal.
The team competition, however, will be made up of 12 teams of four players, with team captains selecting the teams using a ‘snake draft’ ahead of each event. Teams will also have their own unique names and logos.
In terms of scoring, the best two individual scores will count towards the team’s overall total across the opening two rounds, with the best three scores combining on the third and final round. The team with the lowest overall score at the end of the third round will be the winner.
How will the season work and where is the next event?
Jeddah will be the seventh of the seven ‘regular’ events this year with the team championship forming the final event of the season at Doral in Miami in October.
The team championship will see all 12 teams seeded and a four-day knockout tournament will be played using match play scoring to determine the winner, with a championship match taking place on the final day.
Dustin Johnson was crowned as the individual champion for points accumulated over the ‘regular season’ events.
- LIV Golf London, Centurion Club – June 9-11
- LIV Golf Portland, Pumpkin Ridge – June 30 – July 2
- LIV Golf Bedminster, Trump National – July 29-31
- LIV Golf Boston, Greater Boston – September 2-4
- LIV Golf Chicago, Rich Harvest Farms – September 16-18
- LIV Golf Bangkok, Stonehill – October 7-9
- LIV Golf Jeddah, Royal Greens – October 14-16
- LIV Golf Miami, Trump National Doral – October 27-30
When is the Jeddah event?
The 54-hole tournament will begin on Friday 14 October and run through to Sunday 16 October. The first round starts at 10:00am BST) at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in the King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia.
Who is playing?
The biggest names initially included Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen, Martin Kaymer, Sergio Garcia, Charl Schwartzel and Kevin Na. However, after its first event, LIV Golf added major champions Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed to its ranks, before tempting 2016 Open champion Henrik Stenson across ahead of Bedminster – at which point the Swede was stripped of the Ryder Cup captaincy. Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann were the headline names from the final round of recruitment for this season and make their second appearances in Chicago.
What are the teams and who is in the field?
4 Aces
Dustin Johnson
Pat Perez, Patrick Reed, Talor Gooch
Cleeks
Martin Kaymer
Graeme McDowell, Richard Bland, Laurie Canter
Crushers
Bryson DeChambeau
Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri
Fireballs
Sergio Garcia
Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra
Hy Flyers
Phil Mickelson
Bernd Wiesberger, Matthew Wolff, Cameron Tringale
Iron Heads
Kevin Na
Sadom Kaewkanjana, Phacara Khongwatmai, Sihwan Kim
Majesticks
Lee Westwood
Ian Poulter, Sam Horsfield, Henrik Stenson
Niblicks
Bubba Watson (non-playing)
Harold Varner III, Hudson Swafford, James Piot, Turk Petit
Punch
Cameron Smith
Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Wade Ormsby
Smash
Brooks Koepka
Jason Kokrak, Peter Uihlein, Chase Koepka
Stinger
Louis Oosthuizen
Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace, Shaun Norris
Torque
Joaquin Niemann
Scott Vincent, Hideto Tanihara, Jediah Morgan
Is it on TV?
LIV Golf has yet to be picked up by a major broadcaster in the UK.
However, the action is live streamed for free on the LIV Golf YouTube channel and Facebook page.
How much is the prize money?
Each regular season event will have a prize fund of $25m – every player in the field receives a cut, with a guaranteed $4m for first and $120,000 for last place. Of the $25m, $5m will be split between the top three teams.
The top three players in the overall individual championship will receive a split of $30m, with the overall champion taking $18m, the runner-up receiving $8m and third place getting $4m.
The season-ending team championship has a prize fund of $50m, with the winning team splitting $16m and the team who finishes last receiving $1m. Each player receives a 25 per cent cut.
By comparison, the winner of the PGA Championship, one of golf’s four majors, receives $3m out of a total prize fund of $15m.
Individual prize money
Team prize money
Regular season standings
1
Dustin Johnson
121
2
Branden Grace
79
3
Patrick Reed
76
4
Cameron Smith
56
5
Charl Schwartzel
55
6
Carlos Ortiz
50
7
Matthew Wolff
50
8
Peter Uihlein
49
9
Louis Oosthuizen
49
10
Talor Gooch
49
11
Sergio Garcia
44
12
Joaquin Niemann
42
13
Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra
41
14
Henrik Stenson
40
15
Paul Casey
40
Regular season team standings
Recommended
1
4 Aces
140
2
Crushers
80
3
Stinger
72
4
Fireballs
69
5
Majesticks
59
6
Torque
34
7
Iron Heads
32
8
Smash
30
9
Hy Flyers
29
10
Cleeks
20
11
Punch
16
12
Niblicks
13
A bye for the top four teams is available for Day 1 of the Team Championship at Trump National Doral.
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