What is LIV Golf?

LIV Golf is a professional golf tour that is scheduled to take place in 2022, starting on 9 June.

The tour is fronted by Chief Executive Officer Greg Norman, a two-time Open champion and member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. It is financed by the Public Investment Fund, which is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.

LIV Golf was formed in 2021, but plans for a breakaway series to rival the PGA and European Tours date back to 2019, under the name of the Premier Golf League (PGL). The PGL was in talks over a financial partnership with Saudi investors, until the Public Investment Fund decided to create its own professional tour in 2020.

This tour was at first known as the Super Golf League, but became LIV Golf in October 2021, with its name referring to the Roman numeral of 54 – the number of holes played in a LIV Golf event.

LIV Golf tournaments

The LIV Golf Invitational Series is set to begin on 9 June 2022, with its inaugural event taking place at Centurion Club in Hemel Hempstead.

The 2022 schedule features eight events, with the finale taking place at Trump National Doral Miami on 30 October 2022. The full list of tournaments in the inaugural season is as follows:

11 June – London – Centurion Club

3 July – Portland – Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club

31 July – Bedminster – Trump National Golf Club Bedminster

4 September – Boston – The International Golf Club

18 September – Chicago – Rich Harvest Farms

9 October – Bangkok – Stonehill

16 October – Jeddah – Royal Greens Golf & Country Club

30 October – Miami – Trump National Doral Miami (Team Championship)

LIV Golf format

LIV Golf events take place over three days and 54 holes, with each event comprised of both an individual and team competition running simultaneously.

Each event features a field of 48 players, split into 12 teams of four. LIV Golf appoints a captain for each team, and those captains then select their teammates in a draft before the tournament starts.

The individual event is simply stroke play with no cut. The player with the lowest score after 54 holes will be declared the winner.

In the team event, during the first two rounds, only the two best scores for each team will be taken into account in the scoring. In the third and final round, the three best scores for each team will count.

The season finale in Miami is the Team Championship – a four-day, four-round match play knock-out tournament.

Each round in every event will begin with a shotgun start, meaning all groups tee off simultaneously on different holes.

LIV Golf prize money

Arguably the biggest attraction for players taking part in the LIV Golf series is the enormous amount of prize money on offer.

The prize fund will be a total of $255m split across the eight events (along with any signing fees paid to players for joining the tour).

The first seven events will all have $20m purses for the individual competition, plus $5m split between the top three teams in the team competition. The final Team Championship will see $30m awarded to the top three individual players - $18m to the individual champion, $8m to the runner-up and $4m to the third-place golfer – as well as $50m in prizes for the team event.

LIV Golf players

Several recognisable players have committed to playing in the inaugural LIV Golf event, with many of them resigning from the PGA Tour in order to take part.

The biggest name to have committed is undoubtedly two-time major winner and former world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, who has reportedly been paid $150m to play on the tour. Six-time major champion Phil Mickelson has also committed, along with 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia, while European Ryder Cup star Ian Poulter has reportedly been offered $30m to take part.

The PGA Tour previously announced that any of their players taking part in LIV Golf would be sanctioned, which is why many have renounced their PGA Tour membership.

The following players are among those who have committed to taking part in the first LIV Golf event:

Dustin Johnson

Phil Mickelson

Lee Westwood

Louis Oosthuizen

Charl Schwartzel

Sergio Garcia

Ian Poulter

Martin Kaymer

Kevin Na

Graeme McDowell

Branden Grace

Peter Uihlein

Talor Gooch

Hudson Swafford

Bernd Wiesberger

Pablo Larrazabal

Sam Horsfield

Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and Rickie Fowler are also reportedly close to joining the tour.

Where can I watch LIV golf?

The inaugural LIV Golf event at Centurion Club can be viewed online at LivGolf.com, as well as on YouTube and Facebook. The tour is yet to sign a television broadcast deal in the UK, so the event will not be available to watch on TV.

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