After months of controversy and an ongoing, bitter war of words with the PGA Tour and its loyalists, Greg Norman’s Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational series begins this week.
Following last week’s roster reveal and Tuesday’s (AEST) announcement that Phil Mickelson will also play, the season kicks off in London on Thursday with some eye-watering cash prizes.
So how does the show actually work, who’s playing – and exactly how much can they win?
Here’s everything you need to know about the LIV Golf Invitational Series.
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WHAT IS THE SIZE?
The format of each event borrows from motorsport categories by having players compete as individuals and as part of a team, simultaneously.
Each event lasts only 54 holes over three days, instead of the typical 72 over four seen on other circuits, when there is no cut.
There is also a shotgun start, which means everyone plays different holes at the same time instead of waiting in a queue to start on the first hole. This decision was made to reduce the length of each day to that of a round of golf, instead of an entire day.
The field consists of 48 players, who are drafted (more on that later) into 12 teams of four, and play to win the tournament in their own right, as well as their team.
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The individual category winner of each event will be the player with the lowest stroke total over 54 holes, ie. standard move play.
Scoring the team component of each event is slightly more complex.
Only the top two scores in stroke play will count for each team in the first two rounds, while the top three scores will count in the final round.
Whichever team has the lowest overall score after 54 holes wins the event.
In the individual category, there are seven regular season events. The individual champion will be the player with the most ranking points after the seven.
The eighth and final event on the calendar is called the “Team Championship”. According to the LIV Golf website, this is a “four-day, four-round, single-elimination, match-play final.”
HOW WILL THE TEAMS BE SELECTED?
Teams of four will be selected via a draft.
A named captain chooses the team via a snake draft format; that is, the team with choice 12 also has choice 13, and the team with choice 1 does not choose again until choice 24.
Where things get a little complicated is that the 48 players will not be exactly the same over the eight events.
This means that a draft takes place before each event with an appointed team captain – who also plays – responsible for choosing their other three positions.
Each team will have its own logos, colors and names.
WHAT IS PRIZE MONEY? (price in AUD)
As impressive as the format is, money is ultimately the biggest trump card that has seen the series take off with a handful of big names.
The numbers below are all in AUD.
Each regular season event has a prize purse of $34.8 million. The individual competition is worth $27.8 million and the team component the remaining $7 million.
The individual winner of each event takes home $5.6 million.
For context, Cameron Smith claimed $5 million in March for winning The Players Championship, which has the biggest cash prize on the PGA Tour.
Equally remarkable, however, is the fact that last place still comes home with $167,000.
This is a major point of difference with the PGA Tour in which those who miss halfway go home with nothing at the vast majority of events.
Meanwhile, the winning team from each event splits $4.2 million, second place $2.1 million and third place $695,000.
There are also huge prizes for individual and team championship winners.
The individual champion takes home $25 million, while second and third place take home $11.1 million and $5.6 million, respectively.
A player must participate in a minimum of four events to be eligible to win the Individual Championship.
Each team then receives a share of a massive $69.5 million Tag Team Championship purse.
The winning team shares 22.2 million dollars and the 12th team 1.4 million dollars.
A total of $354.5 million will be up for grabs over the seven regular season events and the team championship.
In the extremely unlikely scenario where a player wins all seven events and his team wins all eight, he would claim $52.1 million over the course of a season.
If a player and his team finish last at each event, they still pocket $1.5 million in prize money during the season.
WHO’S PLAYING?
The full list of 48 players for the first Centurion event is as follows, with notable players and Australians in bold:
Olivier Bekker, South Africa
Richard Bland, England
Itthipat Buranatanyarat, Thailand
Laurie Canter, England
Ratchanon Chantananuwat (amateur), Thailand
Hennie Du Plessis, South Africa
Oliver Fisher, England
Sergio Garcia, Spain
Talor Gooch, United States
Branden Grace, South Africa
Justin Harding, South Africa
Sam Horsfield, England
Dustin Johnson, United States
Matt Jones, Australia
Sadom Kaewkanjana, Thailand
Martin Kaymer, Germany
Phachara Khongwatmai, Thailand
Sihwan Kim, United States
Ryōsuke Kinoshita, Japan
Chase Koepka, United States
Jinichiro Kozuma, Japan
Pablo Larrazabal, Spain
Viraj Madappa, India
Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland
Phil Mickelson, United States
Jediah Morgan, Australia
Kevin Na, United States
Shaun Norris, South Africa
Andy Ogletree, United States
Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa
Wade Ormsby, Australia
Adrian Otaegui, Spain
Turk Pettit, United States
James Piot (amateur), USA
Ian Poulter, England
David Puig (amateur), Spain
JC Ritchie, South Africa
Charl Schwartzel, South Africa
Travis Smith, Australia
Ian Snyman, South Africa
Hudson Swafford, United States
Hideto Tanihara, Japan
Peter Uihlein, United States
Scott Vincent, Zimbabwe
Lee Westwood, England
Bernd Wiesberger, Austria
Blake Windred, Australia
Kevin Yuan, Australia
HOW LONG IS THE SEASON?
Listen to a handful of players and they’ll tell you it’s also a major factor that kept them away from the PGA Tour.
The season consists of just eight three-day events split between the London opener from June 9-11 and the Tag Team Championship in Miami from October 27-30.
As such, LIV Golf represents a much smaller commitment for players who can travel less, play less, and spend more time with family while earning similar amounts of money, if not more.
Full schedule:
London, Centurion Club: 9 – 11 June
Portland, Pumpkin Ridge: June 30 to July 22
Bedminster, Trump National: July 29-31
Boston, The Oaks: September 2-4
Chicago, Rich Harvest Farms: September 16-18
Bangkok, Stonehill: October 7-9
Jeddah, Royal Greens: October 14-16
Miami, Trump Doral: October 27-30
