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LIV Golf - All You Need To Know About The Saudi-Backed Tour

All we know about the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, one of golf's biggest talking points

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What Is The LIV Golf League?

Liv golf league schedule, liv golf league prize money, liv golf league players, liv golf players, how is liv different from the pga tour, will liv golf be on tv, who owns liv golf and why is it controversial, how have the pga tour and dp world tour responded to liv golf, does liv golf get official world golf ranking (owgr) points, which players won't be playing in the liv golf league, can the liv golf league co-exist with other circuits.

If 2022 was defined by the emergence of LIV Golf, 2023 seems certain to be dominated by its efforts to become an established player at the top of the game's hierarchy.

Once the speculation had subsided last year and the action began, June's $25m curtain-raiser at London's Centurion Club saw South African Charl Schwartzel secure the $4 million first prize. Six other regular-season events followed, each offering the same attractive purse. That enabled it to secure more high-profile signings as the season progressed, building up an impressive roster to add to the likes of Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson from the initial intake. 

By the time October's season-closing Team Championship began, the likes of Cameron Smith , Brooks Koepka , Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau had all signed too. Eventually, Johnson was crowned Individual Champion and scooped a $18m bonus for his efforts, while it was his 4 Aces team that won the finale at Trump National Doral in Florida. 

With that inaugural season now behind us, a US TV deal secured and the schedule for the 2023 season confirmed, we take a detailed look at everything we know about LIV Golf, how it has impacted the golf world as we once knew it, and what to expect in 2023.

After the eight-tournament Series of 2022, the Greg Norman-fronted circuit expands to an ambitious, $405m 14-tournament League for 2023.

Each of the regular events features three rounds with no cut, and with play commencing by shotgun start. There is also a team format with no more than 48 players making up 12 teams of four, while the action in each tournament takes place over 54 holes rather than the more traditional 72.

The concept of a breakaway league is not new to golf or in fact, Greg Norman. The former World No.1 put forward his own plans for a World Golf Tour in 1994, a lucrative, eight-field event that would showcase the game's best players as independent contractors, unfettered from the PGA Tour.

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Norman's path to 'growing the game' never came to fruition but you sense there has always been a determination to challenge golf's status quo. And so here we are, 29 years later with the game on the precipice of civil war and now an official league to rival the established ecosystem. 

The Australian is confident in the future success of his product, describing the Series as "a carrot too hard to resist." It has already taken a monumental financial investment to get the circuit off the ground and with Major champions including Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau having opted to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf, it seems only a matter of time before more high-calibre players go down the same path.

The 14-tournament 2023 League takes place across Mexico, the USA, Australia, Singapore, Spain, England and Saudi Arabia, and runs from February to November.

• February 24-26: Mexico - El Camaleon Golf Club
• March 17-19: Arizona, USA - The Gallery Golf Club
• March 31-April 2 : Florida, USA - Orange County National
• April 21-23: Australia - The Grange Golf Club
• April 28-30: Singapore - Sentosa Golf Club
• May 12-14: Oklahoma, USA - Cedar Ridge Golf Club
• May 26-28: Washington DC, USA - Trump National Golf Club
• June 30-July 2: Spain - Real Club Valderrama
• July 7-9: England - Centurion Country Club
• August 4-6: West Virginia, USA - The Greenbrier
• August 11-13: New Jersey, USA - Trump National Golf Club
• September 22-24: Illinois, USA - Rich Harvest Farms
• October 20-22: Florida, USA - Trump National Doral
• November 3-5: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - Royal Greens Golf & Country Club

The first 13 'regular' events each carry a total purse of $25m, comprising $20m in individual prizes and $5m for the top three teams. In each event, the winner will receive a cheque for $4m. However, one of the big attractions for players - aside from reports of huge signing on fees - is that, unlike the PGA Tour, even finishing last in an individual event guarantees $120,000. In contrast, missing the cut at a PGA Tour event ensures a player will go home with nothing. 

The League will also crown an 'Individual Champion' with a bonus pool of $30m for the top-three performers of the season - Dustin Johnson earned the title of Individual Champion in the inaugural season, pocketing an $18m performance bonus - taking his earnings in excess of $30m.  

The season-ending LIV Golf Team Championship Finale will feature a huge $50 million purse. The winning team will split $16 million four ways, with $10 million awarded to second place and $8 million to third.

In short, the financial riches of LIV Golf is almost impossible for anyone to keep up with and by and, despite the PGA Tour's attempts to do so by offering increased purses for several of its events, it comfortably eclipses the money on offer on the more established circuit.

Bryson DeChambeau speaks at LIV Golf press conference

For a long time before the 2022 season, LIV Golf participants were shrouded in mystery with multiple reports that players had signed non-disclosure agreements prohibiting them from talking about the venture.

Greg Norman teased that 36 of the top-150 in the Official World Golf Ranking, former World No.1 players, Major champions and Ryder Cup stars were either included, or to be included in future, which led to a barrage of speculation as to who had committed.

Trusted sources reported the names of many but the surprise inclusion ahead of the inaugural event was Dustin Johnson - who had reportedly been offered $125m after pledging his allegiance to the PGA Tour just a few months prior. 

Johnson was joined by the likes of Phil Mickelson, who returned from a self-inflicted hiatus for the inaugural event after anti-Saudi comments were made public, Sergio Garcia , Lee Westwood , Ian Poulter , Louis Oosthuizen and Graeme McDowell also joined, with Norman adding Major champions Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka to the ranks at a later date. 

Henrik Stenson was a name that grabbed the headlines when it was announced he had joined the venture. The Swede, who was set to captain the European Ryder Cup in Rome in 2023, reportedly met with DP World Tour officials and informed them of his decision to join the breakaway circuit. In return, Stenson was stripped of the captaincy.  Stenson made his debut at the Bedminster event, pocketing a combined $4.375 million for winning the individual format and coming second with the Majesticks.  

Whilst they each hold their own importance, the acquisition of Cameron Smith is perhaps the most significant. Not only did the Australian win the 2022 Players Championship - the PGA Tour's flagship event - but he followed that up by winning his first Major, the 150th Open at St Andrews last July. Another player who signed last year but didn't play due to injury is Bubba Watson. He will be expected to tee it up as a regular this year. 

As for the 2023 season, six new signings have been made. Chilean Mito Pereira and Colombian Sebastian Munoz join Joaquin Niemann's Torque GC team. Elsewhere, American Brendan Steele joins Phil Mickelson's Hy Flyers GC and Dean Burmester completes the all-South African Stinger GC. New Zealander Danny Lee is another new signing, and he starts the season with Kevin Na's Iron Heads GC. Finally, six-time DP World Tour player Thomas Pieters joins Bubba Watson's Range Goats GC for the season opener.

Below is a list of players who competed for LIV Golf in 2022:

• ABRAHAM ANCER
• OLIVER BEKKER
• RICHARD BLAND
• ITTHIPAT BURANATANYARAT
• LAURIE CANTER
• EUGENIO CHACARRA
• RATCHANON "TK" CHANTANANUWAT (AM)
• BRYSON DECHAMBEAU
• HENNIE DU PLESSIS
• OLIVER FISHER
• SERGIO GARCIA
• TALOR GOOCH
• BRANDEN GRACE
• JUSTIN HARDING
• SAM HORSFIELD
• CHARLES HOWELL III
• YUKI INAMORI
• DUSTIN JOHNSON
• SADOM KAEWKANJANA
• MARTIN KAYMER
• PHACHARA KHONGWATMAI
• RYOSUKE KINOSHITA
• CHASE KOEPKA
• BROOKS KOEPKA
• JASON KOKRAK
• JINICHIRO KOZUMA
• SHERGO AL KURDI
• ANIRBAN LAHIRI
• PABLO LARRAZABAL
• MARC LEISHMAN
• VIRAJ MADAPPA
• GRAEME MCDOWELL
• PHIL MICKELSON
• JEDIAH MORGAN
• JOAQUIN NIEMANN
• SHAUN NORRIS
• ANDY OGLETREE
• LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN
• WADE ORMSBY
• CARLOS ORTIZ
• ADRIAN OTAEGUI
• TURK PETTIT
• IAN POULTER
• DAVID PUIG (AM)
• PATRICK REED
• CHARL SCHWARTZEL
• CAMERON SMITH
• TRAVIS SMYTH
• HENRIK STENSON
• HUDSON SWAFFORD
• HIDETO TANIHARA
• CAMERON TRINGALE
• PETER UIHLEIN
• HAROLD VARNER III
• SCOTT VINCENT
• LEE WESTWOOD
• BERND WIESBERGER
• BLAKE WINDRED
• MATTHEW WOLFF

Several factors differentiate LIV Golf from the PGA Tour, aside from the incredible financial backing. The format of each tournament is fundamentally different and more streamlined. Instead of a 72-hole tournament played over four days, LIV Golf events take place over three days and 52 holes.

There is also a shotgun start in LIV events, meaning all the players are one the course simultaneously. Another significant difference is the far smaller fields, which comprise just 48 players. Finally, there is an individual competition and team element to each regular LIV Golf event - with the team element expected to gain increasing prominence as a franchise model is introduced, allowing the 12 teams, led by one established captain, who can build their team franchise to gain the greatest fan followings and sponsor interest.

One of the big wins LIV Golf needed to ensure its financial viability was a lucrative TV deal. The 2022 season was show free on the LIV Golf official website and via YouTube, but it was hardly ideal for the start-up, and appeared to suffer from poor viewing figures at times.

As the 2023 season approached, it was finally announced that it had struck a multi-year TV deal with the CW Network , which will offer live coverage in the US, with confirmation to follow as to how to watch the action in other regions. As part of the agreement with the CW Network, weekend tournaments will air live on Saturdays and Sundays on both TV and on the app, while coverage on Friday will be available only through the app.

From an operational perspective, the LIV Golf League is pioneered by LIV Golf Investments with Greg Norman as its CEO. LIV Golf Investments is financially backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds. Assets included, it is said to be worth in excess of $620 billion - which includes Newcastle United Football Club after a consortium-led purchase in 2021. 

The chairman of the Public Investment Fund is Mohammed bin Salman, colloquially known as MBS. He is a Saudi Arabian politician who is the crown prince, deputy prime minister, and minister of defence of Saudi Arabia. He also serves as the chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs and chairman of the Council of Political and Security Affairs.

Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan is the Governor of the PIF, serving directly under MBS. Al-Rumayyan also serves as the Chairman of Newcastle United Football Club and Chairman of state-owned petroleum company Saudi Aramco. Majed Al Sorour acts as an Advisor to the PIF as well as CEO of Golf Saudi, Saudi Golf Federation and Director of Newcastle United Football Club.

Despite the financial backing of the Public Investment Fund, Norman has insisted that he "does not answer to Saudi Arabia" and that they (including MBS) are not "his bosses." The former World No.1 described LIV Golf Investments as "independent" to the Public Investment Fund. 

As well as the financial backing of the LIV Golf League, the Public Investment Fund has invested a separate $300m with LIV Golf Investments in a 10-year deal with the Asian Tour and its International Series . This has already seen the Saudi International, which was previously sanctioned by the DP World Tour until the threat of a breakaway tour emerged, formally recognised as an Asian Tour event. 

The Public Investment Fund extended its financial backing to LIV Golf last July, with  plans to transition into a fully fledged League for the new season, with 48 players and 12 established team franchises competing in an expanded 14-tournament schedule – and an enormous $405m total prize purse.

Much of the controversy surrounding LIV Golf has stemmed from the origin of its finances, with many advocacy groups accusing players of sportswashing human rights atrocities within the Kingdom. 

Attention has also been drawn to the murder of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. America's Central Intelligence Agency concluded that MBS ordered the killing of Khashoggi, adding tension to the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, including calls for the US to sever diplomatic ties with the Kingdom. 

Norman also sparked outrage when he claimed that "we've all made mistakes" as he attempted to rebuff questions over Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses and the murder of Khashoggi, while former President of the United States, Donald Trump, endorsed the Saudi investment. This led to further public tension given Saudi Arabia's links with the September 11 attacks as 15 of the 19 hijackers involved in the tragedy were Saudi nationals.

Lina al-Hathloul, a Saudi democracy activist, penned an open letter to the LPGA Tour urging they re-consider their arrangement with Saudi Arabia. The letter was released during the Aramco Series, funded by the Kingdom's state-owned petroleum company, and after LPGA Tour Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan  hinted that she would engage  with the controversial circuit if it could help promote the women’s game.

The threat of a breakaway circuit put the DP World and PGA Tour on guard , with Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour Commissioner, repeatedly warning any player who sided with a rival league would face suspension. 

In a memo sent to players in May, the PGA Tour officially denied its members conflicting-event releases to play in the  LIV Golf Series  opener at the Centurion Club. The  memo stated that granting release would "significantly and unreasonably harm the PGA Tour and Tour sponsors" before affirming that "your participation in the event is not authorised under the Regulations."

Norman, who accused the PGA Tour of bullying,  has repeatedly insisted that PGA Tour players are independent contractors and that the Tour does not have the legal right to deny their entry to tournaments. 

Those that took part in the inaugural event at Centurion Club did so without the pre-requisite permission from the PGA and/or DP World Tour and were therefore met with sanction.

The PGA Tour suspended all players that took part who didn't tender their resignations first, and has promised it will continue to do so in future, whereas the DP World Tour suspended players for three co-sanctioned events and imposed a £100,000 fine. Ian Poulter responded with legal action against the DP World Tour and his suspension was "temporarily stayed". The Englishman then played in the Scottish Open, one of the tournaments he was initially suspended from.

The PGA Tour excluded all LIV Golf players from its new FedEx Cup points list, as to ensure that "suspended members do not negatively impact other players’ tournament eligibility, positioning on the priority rankings or eligibility to compete in the FedEx Cup playoffs."

In response, 11 LIV Golf players filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour. That number has since dropped after Carlos Ortiz, Abraham Ancer, Pat Perez and Jason Kokrak, among others, withdrew from proceedings. The motion says: "The Tour's conduct serves no purpose other than to cause harm to players and foreclose the entry of the first meaningful competitive threat the Tour has faced in decades."

Additionally, Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford issued a temporary restraining order against the PGA Tour in a bid to allow them to compete in the upcoming FedEx Cup playoffs. 

The PGA Tour responded via its attorneys and claimed "LIV is not a rational economic actor, competing fairly to start a golf tour. It is prepared to lose billions of dollars to leverage Plaintiffs [the 11 LIV Golfers raising the case] and the sport of golf to 'sportswash' the Saudi government's deplorable reputation for human rights abuses. 

"If Plaintiffs are allowed to breach their Tour contracts without consequence, the entire mutually beneficial structure of the Tour, an arrangement that has grown the sport and promoted the interests of golfers going back to Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, would collapse.

"Despite knowing full well that they would breach Tour Regulations and be suspended for doing so, Plaintiffs have joined competing golf league LIV Golf, which has paid them tens and hundreds of millions of dollars in guaranteed money supplied by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund to procure their breaches." 

Judge Freeman found there was "no irreparable harm" as "LIV contracts are based upon players' calculation of what they were leaving behind" and therefore denied the restraining order. Gooch, Jones and Swafford were therefore denied entry to the FedEx Cup playoffs. 

LIV Golf joined the antitrust motion against the PGA Tour, in which it described the organisation as "an entrenched monopolist with a vice-grip on professional golf." Judge Beth Labson Freeman has set the date for the summary judgement for July 23 next year, with the trial to begin on January 8, 2024.

The battle between LIV Golf Investments and the PGA Tour is sure to continue; especially with the future of world ranking points, Major championships and the Ryder Cup called into doubt. The 2022 Presidents Cup was the first team event to feel the effects of the tension, with LIV Golf defectors not permitted to take part.

As the divide between LIV Golf and the established eco-system appears to grow, the DP World Tour and PGA Tour entered into, and strengthened, their "strategic alliance" with the the key focus on "enhancing and connecting the ecosystem of men’s professional golf through a number of areas, including global scheduling, prize funds and playing opportunities for the respective memberships".

It was also revealed that three events will be co-sanctioned, meaning they will count towards both the FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai. These are: the Barbasol Championship, the Barracuda Championship and the Genesis Scottish Open. 

A total of 75 DP World Tour members had access to the Barbasol and Barracuda Championships for the first time, while the Irish Open was also given a major boost, with its prize purse set to nearly double to $6million for its 2022 staging. 

Most recently, on 6 February, a five-day hearing began in London to determine whether LIV Golf players could continue on the DP World Tour, with the outcome expected to be announced in the weeks to follow.

As it stands, LIV Golf does not award Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points for its events, but that's not for a lack of trying. 

The Greg-Norman fronted venture submitted a formal application to the OWGR Board, which includes PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley, ahead of the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews. 

On face value, one of the expected pushbacks was that the LIV Golf format remains at odds with certain qualifying criteria. Among others, there are no 36-hole cuts and the average field size is less than the 75 required.

The application received the support of the Asian Tour, which is of significance as all applications require a "nomination from an established full-member Tour." 

Norman himself was said to be "growing impatient" at the "slow progress" since the application was submitted and subsequently entered into a strategic alliance with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Tour in the hope it would "immediately qualify" for ranking points. That however, was denied by the OWGR board on the grounds of "insufficient notice", saying that "only after the review is complete will a decision be made on awarding points to the MENA Tour's new "Limited Field Tournaments" [the LIV Golf Invitational Series]."

That decision was met with dismay by MENA Tour Commissioner David Spencer, who reasoned LIV Golf should be granted the status, saying: "None of this communication pointed towards any technical reason for the LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok to be treated any differently to any MENA Tour event, every one of which has received OWGR since we were accepted into the OWGR framework in 2016."

Prior, 50 LIV Golf players signed a letter  addressed to OWGR chairman Peter Dawson urging a decision in LIV Golf’s favour whilst Norman questioned the validity of the OWGR without the Saudi-backed venture being able to award its players points. 

OWGR recognition is one of many subjects surrounding LIV Golf that has divided opinion. Graeme McDowell insisted LIV Golf player are "getting hurt the longer this game is played" whilst Viktor Hovland claimed "you can't just make up new rules as you go." 

Meanwhile, as the impasse continues into 2023, several key figures in the game have called for the OWGR to be scrapped, claiming it has lost any credibility , while LIV Golf players continue to slide down the world rankings , leaving their futures in Majors in jeopardy - at least as time goes on.

Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods have pledged loyalty to the PGA Tour

Despite the overwhelming amount of money on offer, many players have stated that they will remain with the PGA Tour.  Tiger Woods said: “I’ve decided for myself that I’m supporting the PGA Tour. That’s where my legacy is. I’ve been fortunate enough to have won 82 events on this Tour and 15 Major championships and been a part of the World Golf Championships, the start of them and the end of them. So I have an allegiance to the PGA Tour”.

Four-time Major champion, Rory McIlroy , also agreed, with the Northern Irishman stating that the league is "nothing more than a money grab". His European counterpart, Jon Rahm , said: "I don't do this for the money. They throw numbers at you and that's supposed to impress people. I'm in this game for the love of golf and the love of the game and to become a champion."

Jordan Spieth, who is among the most popular players after he become the youngest player since Tiger Woods to win the Masters, said he is "supportive of and happy on the PGA Tour."

Collin Morikawa confirmed his future is with the PGA Tour, while Patrick Cantlay added that the chance to pick up a huge appearance fee for playing in the Saudi International was "very tempting" but he ultimately "wasn't swayed".

Former World No.1 Scottie Scheffler is another that has publicly distanced himself from the Series. The Masters champion said that playing in the venture is "definitely not" something "we" want the PGA Tour members to do.

PGA Champion Justin Thomas has reiterated his loyalty to the PGA Tour and has told prospective players to "go". Thomas also drew on comments and actions from the Tour's Commissioner: "I think Jay's made it very clear from the start of what would happen or, you know, I think a lot of people are probably like, 'I can't believe you did this' or, 'Wow, you went through with it'. But I mean this is what he said was going to happen all along," he said.

Outside of a playing capacity, Jack Nicklaus revealed in an interview with the Fire Pit Collective that he turned down "in excess of $100m" from the Saudis to do a job he described as "probably similar to the one Greg Norman is doing." Nicklaus said: “I turned it down. Once verbally, once in writing. I said, 'Guys, I have to stay with the PGA Tour. I helped start the PGA Tour.’”

So, what's next? Well, if it's anything like the last few months, who knows?

What we do know is that the speculation is over and there is a Saudi-backed league muscling its way to the top of the game's eco-system - one that is holding events with extended plans into the future and plenty of financial backing.

The PGA Tour has responded with heavy sanctions and suspended those that have taken part. It has also promised suspend anyone that takes part in future; which will almost certainly be met with legal challenge.

The DP World Tour responded in a less severe manner when it suspended for the three events it co-sanctions with the PGA Tour. It also added a £100,000 financial penalty. A legal challenge temporarily resulted in the players favour but a full hearing is set to take place in February 2023. 

Between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf Investments, one party insists that it is lawful in denying releases as per its regulations, whilst the other insists it is not lawful as the players are independent contractors with the legal right to play where they wish. Both believe they are right and both seem to have a legal basis; but of course, there can only be one 'winner'. 

Reports had suggested the Major championships will look to ban LIV Golf players, although so far there is encouragement for the rebels, with the R&A, which governs the Open Championship, stating that "is not in their nature" and Augusta National allowing LIV Golf players to compete in the 2023 Masters .

While the Ryder Cup is yet to make an official statement, United States captain Zach Johnson dealt a blow to the LIV Golf players looking to take part. "In order to play on the Ryder Cup team whether you're top 6 or a pick, you must garner Ryder Cup points through the PGA of America. In order to garner Ryder Cup points through the PGA of America you have to be a member of the PGA of America. The way that we're members of the PGA of America is through the PGA Tour. I'll let you connect the dots from there." 

On the opposite side of the Atlantic, Team Europe captain Luke Donald has also hinted that LIV Golf stars' Ryder Cup days are over .

We are still very much at the beginning but with the second season upon us, we have a small glimpse into the future of professional golf and can begin to ask ourselves the question - does LIV Golf compliment the current ecosystem that will ultimately satisfy the needs of both the player and spectator, or is this the beginning of an out-and-out rivalry with the intent to knock the PGA Tour off its perch? Time will tell.

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.

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LIV Golf players list: Everyone who has quit PGA Tour and DP World Tour to play in the 2023 series

Cameron smith, dustin johnson and phil mickelson are among other players to have pledged their commitment to liv golf.

When the highly contentious LIV Invitational Series resumes in 2024, it will boast reigning Masters champion and world No 3-ranked Jon Rahm as the latest of golf’s most famous players who have signed up to play .

Rahm , a four-time winner on the 2023 PGA Tour, member of Europe’s Ryder Cup -winning team and prior critic of the LIV format , joins the league bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in a deal reportedly worth up to £450m.

Rumours had begun to swirl over the Spaniard’s future, including when he was notably absent from the line-up of golfers committed to the PGA Tour’s American Express stop in January, as well as withdrawing from the Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy -backed TGL league’s inaugural season last month.

And despite admitting his decision to join LIV was a “risk” in terms of his future participation in the Ryder Cup – the 29-year-old will need to remain a member of the DP World Tour to be eligible for the biennial USA vs Europe showdown – Rahm told Fox News : “Things have changed a lot in the game of golf over the past two years and I’ve seen the growth of LIV Golf and the innovation.

“That’s why I’m here today. This decision was made for many reasons and what I thought was best for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great deal.”

The 2024 LIV Golf schedule will feature 14 stops, including new events in Las Vegas, Houston and Nashville.

2024 LIV Golf Schedule 2-4 February:  LIV Mayakoba — El Cameleon Country Club 8-10 February : LIV Las Vegas — Las Vegas Country Club 1-3 March:  LIV Saudi Arabia — TBD 8-10 March:  LIV Hong Kong — Hong Kong Golf Club 5-7 April:  LIV “USA” — Location and course TBD 26-28 April:  LIV Adelaide — The Grange Golf Club 3-5 May:  LIV Singapore — The Serapong Golf Club 7-9 June:  LIV Houston — The Golf Club of Houston 21-23 June:  LIV Nashville — The Grove Golf Club 12-14 July:  LIV Andalucia — Real Club Valderrama 25-28 July:  LIV UK: Staffordshire — JCB Golf and Country Club 16-19 August:  LIV Greenbrier — The Old White Course at the Greenbrier TBD:  LIV Golf Individual Championships TBD:  LIV Golf Team Championships.

Who played in the 2023 LIV Golf series and how did it work?

The financial package put forward by LIV Golf seduced Dustin Johnson , Lee Westwood , and Sergio Garcia from the get-go last year, with Phil Mickelson, Ian Poulter and plenty of others signing up soon after.

Mickelson was reportedly paid $200m (£159m) just for turning up, while Johnson, the top-ranked player to have joined so far, earning $150m (£119m). Johnson announced his resignation from the PGA Tour in order to concentrate fully on the new tournament fronted by former world No 1 Greg Norman, but the PGA has since suspended all players to have made the switch.

Besides the eye-watering signing-on-fees, the prize money on offer is staggering. There is a $25m (£19.9m) purse to be split between the 48 players per tournament in the eight-event series, with the winner pocketing $4m (£3.2m) and the loser earning $120k (£95k).

More from Golf

The format is also very different from traditional majors. There are 54 rather than 72 holes for a start – “LIV” is 54 in Roman numerals – there is a “shotgun” start where players tee off at the same time, and golfers are grouped into teams of four.

Johnson is captain of the “4 Aces”, Mickelson is leading the “Hy Flyers” and Poulter is affiliated to “Majesticks”.

The first 2022 tournament was held in England, with subsequent events taking place in Portland, Bedminster, Boston, Chicago, Bangkok, Jeddah and Miami.

In the build-up, players faced questions about “sportswashing” and whether Saudi Arabia is seeking to deflect attention from its human rights record by investing so heavily in the sport. Mickelson previously called the Saudis “scary motherf**kers” before backtracking.

“I don’t condone human rights violations at all,” he said. “I’m certainly aware of what has happened with Jamal Khashoggi and I think it’s terrible. I have also seen the good that the game of golf has done throughout history and I believe LIV Golf is going to do a lot of good for the game as well.”

Graeme McDowell said “we’re not politicians, we’re professional golfers,” in regards to the country’s human rights record and Talor Gooch responded “I’m a golfer, I’m not that smart”. Poulter and Westwood both said they would not answer “hypothetical questions” when asked whether they would have played in a tournament held by Vladimir Putin or in South Africa during Apartheid.

Four-time major winner Brooks Koepka, former US Open winner Bryson DeChambeau and ex-Masters champion Patrick Reed signed up to the breakaway competition after the first event, while Paul Casey was also confirmed in early July.

Open champion Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann were then among a fresh wave of players unveiled by LIV Golf.

The 2023 series kicked off in Mayakoba in February, followed by tournaments in Tucson, Orlando, Adelaide, Singapore, Tulsa, DC, Valderrama, London, Greenbrier, Bedminster, Chicago, Miami and Jeddah.

2023 LIV Golf players list A-Z

Here are all 48 players who competed in the 14-event series in 2023.

There were 12 teams in total, with 13 major champions in the field, 16 nations represented, and a combined 125 Ryder Cup appearances.

Four players – Dustin Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Brooks Koepka and Lee Westwood – have held the title of world No 1. Scroll down for the teams and more analysis.

• Abraham Ancer
• Richard Bland
• Dean Burmester
• Laurie Canter
• Eugenio Chacarra
• Bryson DeChambeau
• Sergio Garcia
• Talor Gooch
• Branden Grace
• Sam Horsfield
• Charles Howell III
• Dustin Johnson
• Martin Kaymer
• Brooks Koepka
• Chase Koepka
• Jason Kokrak
• Anirban Lahiri
• Marc Leishman
• Graeme McDowell
• Phil Mickelson
• Jediah Morgan
• Sebastian Munoz
• Joaquin Niemann
• Andy Ogletree
• Louis Oosthuizen
• Carlos Ortiz
• Mito Pereira
• Thomas Pieters
• Ian Poulter
• Patrick Reed
• Charl Schwartzel
• Cameron Smith
• Brendan Steele
• Henrik Stenson
• Cameron Tringale
• Peter Uihlein
• Harold Varner III
• Scott Vincent
• Bubba Watson
• Lee Westwood
• Bernd Wiesberger
• Matthew Wolff

LIV Golf 2023 team names and roster

• 4Aces – Dustin Johnson (captain), Patrick Reed, Pat Perez, Peter Uihlein
• Cleeks – Martin Kaymer (captain), Graeme McDowell, Richard Bland, Bernd Wiesberger
• Crushers – Bryson DeChambeau (captain), Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri
• Fireballs – Sergio Garcia (captain), Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Eugenio Chacarra
• HyFlyers – Phil Mickelson (captain), Cameron Tringale, James Piot, Brendan Steele
• Iron Heads – Kevin Na (captain), Sihwan Kim, Scott Vincent, Danny Lee
• Majesticks – Ian Poulter (co-captain), Henrik Stenson (co-captain), Lee Westwood (co-captain), Sam Horsfield
• RangeGoats – Bubba Watson (captain), Harold Varner III, Talor Gooch, Thomas Pieters
• Ripper – Cameron Smith (captain), Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Jed Morgan
• Smash – Brooks Koepka (captain), Matthew Wolff, Jason Kokrak, Chase Koepka
• Stinger – Louis Oosthuizen (captain), Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace, Dean Burmester
• Torque – Joaquin Niemann (captain), Mito Pereira, Sebastian Munoz, David Puig

Analysis: LIV Invitational is morally bankrupt and won’t revitalise golf

By Matt Butler

The name is quite clever: LIV. In Roman numerals it is 54 and the players in this new incarnation of golf kicking off in the exotic locale of Hemel Hempstead will play that many holes. Neat, huh?

Of course, you might say that a new sporting franchise bolstered by limitless petrodollars would be expected to be creative with its branding.

But the new kid in town is a sign that golf is in desperate need of some love. Whether that love comes from a despotic regime with a dreadful record on human rights is something for Phil Mickelson , Dustin Johnson , Lee Westwood and, err, James Piot to ponder as they chase a ball around a course for a share of 20 mill a tournament.

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And if you put aside the ickiness of the Saudi regime behind Jamal Khashoggi ’s killers providing the lipstick and mascara to the game, the concept of a quickfire bunch of tournaments with a set season and eight-figure sums of cash riding on each one sounds intriguing – even if the reason why players joined appears to be all about the money. Not that cold hard cash as a motivator is news, especially in the world of golf.

The rules are thus: everyone tees off at once. It is called a shotgun start, which sounds a little violent, given the paymasters, but I guess bonesaw start would have been too much. Twelve teams of four play in a match-play format, with individual members also competing in a strokeplay competition. There is no cut to miss. So far, so mildly diverting.

However, toe-curlingly twee “Camden Market-style” stalls, a Craig David and Jessie J gig and Sporty Spice on the decks post-match does not sound like much of an answer to the organiser’s promise to “supercharge” golf.

Read Matt’s full analysis here

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PGA Tour suspends LIV Golf players as Saudi-backed rebel tour opens under reputational cloud

LONDON — When the LIV Golf series launched Thursday, it looked like any other major tournament. But looming over the sports’ stars and characteristic rolling greens was a geopolitical cloud .

The likes of Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson were among the names at the inaugural event of this rebel golf tour, lured by the financial backing of Saudi Arabia . While they teed off at the unassuming Centurion Club near St. Albans, each swing reverberated far beyond the commuter city north of London.

Not long after the first shot, the PGA Tour said it was suspending all current and future players in the breakaway league . “These players have made their choice for their own financial-based reasons,” Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a memo to members.

Yet the LIV series is not just a challenge to the established golfing order but Riyadh’s latest apparent attempt to win international influence and prestige while rehabilitating a reputation tarnished by human rights concerns and the killing of Jamal Khashoggi .

Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in motorsports, hosted major boxing matches and concerts, and last year its $400 billion sovereign wealth fund bought the English soccer team Newcastle United.

And now that same Public Investment Fund is backing the lucrative LIV golf franchise, seeking to challenge the established PGA and inject some excitement into a sport some consider quaint and that still retains many of its Victorian roots. 

The LIV series has a different format from the PGA: 12 teams, 48 players and 54 holes per event (LIV is 54 in Roman numerals). A sparkling sign at the “fan village” at the Centurion Club on Thursday declared “Welcome to the Future.”

Players have reportedly been offered huge sums to join, while each LIV event offers $25 million in prize money — more than the $20 million for the PGA Tour’s flagship event — with the winner banking $4 million and the last-place player earning $120,000.

But the Saudi funding has left some of golf's biggest and most beloved names struggling to answer tough questions.

Mickelson, who had spent four months away from the game and the public eye, declined to confirm or deny that he had been offered $200 million to join the LIV series.

“I don’t condone human rights violations at all,” Mickelson said. He apologized this week for comments he made recently to an unofficial biographer describing the Saudis as “scary.”

Graeme McDowell, a former U.S. Open champion from Northern Ireland, said that he found the killing of Khashoggi — in which the kingdom has repeatedly denied its involvement  — “reprehensible” but was nonetheless happy to be part of the tournament. 

“If Saudi Arabia wants to use the game of golf as a way for them to get to where they want to be, I think we’re proud to help them on that journey,” he said.

NBC News has contacted LIV Golf for comment.

It’s not just sports grappling with these questions, of course. 

President Joe Biden is set to visit Saudi Arabia next month and will likely meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman , a significant reversal after vowing to treat the country as a "pariah" and one that comes amid concerns over rising gas prices in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Ari Fleischer, who was White House press secretary under George W. Bush, hosted the LIV tournament’s news conferences in the buildup to Thursday’s launch. And two of the eight LIV events will take place on courses owned by former President Donald Trump.

But while the kingdom seeks to emulate its neighbors Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, who have both invested in sports teams and tournaments, experts say Saudi Arabia’s more high-profile modern history of human rights abuses could nullify any reputational gains.

“Saudi Arabia is still in the beginning of its soft [foreign] policy towards the world,” said Sebastian Sons, a researcher at the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient, a think tank in Bonn, Germany. “It tries to do similar things to the UAE and Qatar, but due to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi it will remain extremely problematic for S.A. to improve its image just through sports events,”

As Sons puts it, “Those golfers, whether they like it or not, and whether they acknowledge it or not, they are implicitly ambassadors and they are communicating messages on behalf of the Saudi state.”

Human rights campaigners have for years accused Saudi Arabia of “ sportswashing ” — using glitzy high-profile events to improve its global reputation despite limited domestic reforms.

“Instead of establishing the rule of law in the country and a professional legal system, ending the horrendous due process violations, halting arrests of people expressing themselves peacefully … instead of doing that, you invest massive sums of money in getting essentially a lot of celebrities and athletes to associate with you,” said Adam Coogle, deputy director of Human Rights Watch for the Middle East. 

Like many Gulf states, the country is undergoing a long-term shift : It aims to make 10 percent of its national income from tourism by 2030, up from just 3 percent in 2019. Experts see sports as a big part of this — both by helping to attract foreign investment and providing jobs for a young population with high unemployment.

But reputational concerns still play a crucial role.

“On one hand I don’t think it’s principally engaged in what it’s doing for the purposes of sportswashing,” said Simon Chadwick, a professor and director of the Centre for the Eurasian Sport Industry at the Emlyon Business School in France.

However, Chadwick added: “There are reputational benefits by focusing our attention on golf, or football, or motor racing or whatever else it might be, and that may divert people away from talking about Khashoggi, from talking about Yemen and talking about the 81 people who were executed on one day .”

Patrick Smith is a London-based editor and reporter for NBC News Digital.

LIV Golf: Everything you need to know about the Saudi-backed golf league

Published: 04 April 2022 Last updated: 29 February 2024

Everything you need to know about the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf League, including its history, format, players and teams, why it’s controversial, and what it means for the future of the DP World Tour and PGA Tour.

JUMP TO: – What is LIV Golf? – The history of LIV Golf – LIV Golf format – LIV Golf teams & players – LIV Golf schedule 2024 – LIV Golf prize money – Do LIV Golf players get World Ranking points? – Can LIV Golf players play in majors? – Can LIV Golf players play in the Ryder Cup? – Why is LIV Golf so controversial? – Is LIV Golf merging with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour?

What is LIV Golf?

We’ll discuss its intricacies in more detail below, but, in short, LIV Golf is a breakaway golf tour created to rival the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. With huge financial backing from Saudi Arabia, LIV Golf has been able to sign many of the world’s best golfers, despite its lack of history and debatable fan interest.

The history of LIV Golf

The early framework for a new golf tour to rival the PGA Tour and DP World Tour became public in 2019 with the announcement of the ‘Premier Golf League’ or PGL. However, it wasn’t until 2021 that LIV started being seen as a serious rival to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, announcing the ‘Super Golf League’ or SGL. This venture, backed by the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, and spearheaded by former world number one Greg Norman, aimed to revolutionize the sport by introducing team-based competition and substantial financial incentives for players.

The concept of LIV Golf was to create a new golf league that would compete with traditional tours like the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. It promised lucrative deals to top players, including guaranteed salaries and bonuses, as well as equity stakes in the organization.

The first LIV Golf Invitational Series event started on 9 June 2022 at the Centurion Club near St Albans in Hertfordshire, UK. The field included Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, and Talor Gooch.

The LIV Golf Invitational Series changed its name to the LIV Golf League in 2023.

What is the format of LIV Golf?

One of LIV Golf’s main points of difference is its format, which sees smaller fields compete over 54 holes (“LIV” is 54 in Roman numerals) with no cut, instead of the standard 72 holes with a halfway cut.

It’s a standard strokeplay tournament but, unlike events on the DP World and PGA Tours, each round has a shotgun start, meaning everyone plays the course in the same conditions and at the same time. The theory is that players are attracted by no more early or late tee times, while fans benefit from being able to watch all the action in a five-hour window, rather than spread out across the entire day.

There is also a team element, with players signed up to be part of a four-man team and gaining points for their side based on their individual performances. The scores of each team’s top three players count in rounds 1 & 2, whereas all four scores count in the final round. The cumulative lowest score will determine the winning team for each event.

Team and individual championships run across the entirety of the season, culminating in two more events: the LIV Golf Individual Championship and the LIV Golf Team Championship. The top 12 teams at the end of the regular season will determine the seedings for the Team Championship finale, with the top 4 teams receiving first-round byes.

LIV Golf teams & players

For the 2024 season, LIV Golf features 13 four-man teams, each with a team captain.

4Aces GC: Dustin Johnson (captain) | Pat Perez | Patrick Reed | Harold Varner III

Cleeks GC: Martin Kaymer (captain) | Richard Bland | Adrian Meronk | Kalie Samooja

Crushers GC: Bryson DeChambeau (captain) | Paul Casey | Charles Howell IIII | Anirdban Lahiri

Fireballs GC: Sergio Garcia (captain) | Abraham Ancer | Eugenio Chacarra | David Puig

Hyflers GC: Phil Mickelson (captain) | Brendan Steele | Cameron Tringale | Andy Ogletree

Iron Heads GC: Kevin Na (captain) | Danny Lee | Scott Vincent | Jinichiro Kozuma

Legion XIII GC: Jon Rahm (captain) | Tyrrell Hatton | Caleb Surratt | Keiran Vincent

Majesticks GC: Ian Poulter (co-captain) | Lee Westwood (co-capt.) | Henrik Stenson (co-capt.) | Sam Horsfield

RangeGoats GC: Bubba Watson (captain) | Peter Uhlein | Matthew Wolff | Thomas Pieters

Ripper GC: Cameron Smith (captain) | Marc Leishman | Matt Jones | Lucas Herbert

Smash GC: Brooks Koepka (captain) | Talor Gooch | Jason Kokrak | Graeme McDowell

Stinger GC: Louis Oosthuizen (captain) | Dean Burmester | Branden Grace | Charl Schwartzel

Torque GC: Joaquin Niemann (captain) | Sebastián Muñoz | Mito Pereira | Carlos Ortiz

Unattached Individuals: Hudson Swafford | Anthony Kim

There are also two individual spots, making a total of 54 players in the field at each event (a three-ball on every hole for the shotgun start). Hudson Swafford will take one of those individual spots for the entire season along with Anthony Kim, who was spectacularly announced as the second wildcard from LIV Golf Jeddah onwards. Laurie Canter filled that role for the first two events of the season.

Team changes for 2024

Defending individual champion Taylor Gooch is one of the 7 players who have changed teams for the 2024 season.

Taylor Gooch: Traded to Smash GC

Harold Varner III: Traded to 4Aces GC

Matthew Wolff: Traded to RangeGoats GC

Peter Uhlein: Traded to RangeGoats GC

Graeme McDowell: Signed by Smash GC

Carlos Ortiz: Signed by Torque GC

David Puig: Signed by Fireballs GC

LIV Golf 2024 schedule

The 2024 LIV Golf season is made up of 14 54-hole tournaments.

1. 2-4 Feb 2024: LIV Golf Mayakoba @ El Camaleón Golf Course, Mexico .

2. 8-10 Feb 2024: LIV Golf Las Vegas @ Las Vegas Country Club, USA

3. 1-3 Mar 2024: LIV Golf Jeddah @ Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, Saudi Arabia

4. 8-10 Mar 2024: LIV Golf Hong Kong @ Hong Kong Golf Club, Hong Kong

5. 5-7 Apr 2024: LIV Golf Miami @ Trump National Doral, USA

6. 26-28 Apr 2024: LIV Golf Adelaide @ The Grange Golf Club, Australia

7. 3-5 May 2024: LIV Golf Singapore @ Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore

8. 7-9 Jun 2024: LIV Golf Houston @ Golf Club of Houston, USA

9. 21-23 Jun 2024: LIV Golf Nashville @ The Grove, USA

10. 12-14 Jul 2024: LIV Golf Andalucía @ Real Club Valderrama, España

11. 26-28 Jul 2024: LIV Golf United Kingdom @ JCB Golf and Country Club, United Kingdom

12. 16-18 Aug 2024: LIV Golf Greenbrier @ The Old White at The Greenbrier, USA

13. TBC: LIV Golf Individual Championship

14. TBC: LIV Golf Team Championship (only the top 12 teams will compete)

How to watch LIV Golf

LIV Golf events are shown live on the LIV Golf YouTube channel , CW App, and via the LIV Golf Plus app , which is available for download on iOS, Android, FireTV, and on LIVGolfPlus.com .

If you want to watch a LIV Golf event live, tickets are available via the LIV Golf website . A one-day grounds pass is around $45-55 dollars, with a variety of hospitality options at different price points also available.

LIV Golf prize money

Each of LIV Golf’s regular events offers a prize purse of $25m, with $4m going to the individual winner and $5m shared between the top three teams. With no cut, even the player finishing in last place picks up a six-figure sum. There’s also $50m reserved for the LIV Team Championship, split between the four-man teams, with $16m going to the winning team and at least $1m to the team that finishes last.

Players were also given huge signing-on fees for joining LIV, with Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson reportedly given $566m and $200m respectively. Somewhat bizarrely, it is believed that at least part of these payments are an advance for on-course winnings, meaning players won’t earn extra money until they’ve effectively “paid off” their advance. The numbers and technicalities are somewhat opaque, but rest assured that any LIV Golf player is likely to be well-set financially, irrespective of performance.

Can players be relegated from the LIV Golf League?

Players finishing in the top 24 (Lock Zone) of the individual season-long standings will secure their spot in the league for 2025. Those finishing 25th-48th (Open Zone) who are out of contract will need to be resigned by their team or picked on another team’s roster. Players finishing 49th and below (Drop Zone) will be relegated from the league and will qualify for the 2024 LIV Golf Promotions tournament.

Do LIV Golf players get OWGR ranking points?

Whether LIV Golf tournaments will be eligible for World Ranking (OWGR) points has been one of the hottest issues since the breakaway format’s inception.

When LIV Golf launched, it attracted many of the game’s biggest names with mega-money contracts, including players very highly ranked in the Official World Golf Rankings.

To date, the OWGR board has decided not to recognize LIV because the events don’t meet many of the OWGR criteria. To be eligible for OWGR points, events should be 72 holes with a halfway cut (LIV’s are 54 holes with no cut), have a field size that averages at least 75 across a season (LIV has 54 players), have a qualifying school before the season starts (LIV handpicks its golfers, although it has introduced a LIV Golf Promotions event, likely in an attempt to appease OWGR decision-makers), plus many other criteria that LIV doesn’t tick.

As a result, LIV players have only been earning OWGR points in their major appearances or rare DP World Tour outings, which means their World Rankings have plummeted. Dustin Johnson started 2022 ranked third in the world but slipped out of the top 200 after a couple of years on LIV. Cam Smith was world number two and on course to reach the top spot before he joined LIV but now sits outside the top 30 and continues to see his ranking fall.

Why do World Rankings matter so much? World Rankings are one element of qualification for the biggest events in golf, with majors often inviting all players ranked in the top 50 or 60 in the world.

While some golfers have exemptions thanks to previous major victories and finishes, many rely on their World Ranking to ensure their entry into the sport’s flagship events.

The 2023 majors saw 15 to 18 LIV players compete, but that looks likely to dip into single digits as LIV players continue to slide down the World Rankings. That could mean some of golf’s biggest events take place without some of its best players.

Clearly, it’s in LIV Golf’s interests to secure OWGR points so their players can appear at the game’s biggest events and gain exposure, and so potential signings aren’t put off leaving the PGA Tour or DP World Tour. LIV continue to appeal and tweak their structure to appease the OWGR board, but the fundamental format – which is one of LIV’s unique selling points – continues to be a major barrier.

Can LIV Golf players play in Majors?

None of the four majors – that’s the Masters, the PGA Championship, the US Open, and The Open – have banned LIV Golf players from competing, but it is harder for them to qualify due to LIV events not being eligible for World Ranking points.

Can LIV Golf players play in the Ryder Cup?

The European Ryder Cup team is run by the DP World Tour, which is one of LIV’s main rivals. Players who joined LIV – among them Ryder Cup stalwarts Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, and Ian Poulter – were fined up to £800,000 by the DP World Tour for joining LIV and resigning from the tour. This made them ineligible for Ryder Cup selection. It also saw Henrik Stenson replaced as captain by Luke Donald.

The rules for US players were slightly more complicated. PGA of America selects the US team – a separate organization to the PGA Tour, a LIV competitor – meaning there is nothing banning American LIV Golf players from the Ryder Cup.

However, as LIV events do not earn World Ranking points, LIV Golf players were unable to qualify for an automatic spot and therefore relied on a captain’s pick. Only Masters and USPGA champion Brooks Koepka was selected by US captain Zach Johnson, meaning the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, and Dustin Johnson missed out.

A mooted merger between the tours may resolve things ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup. If not, Jon Rahm’s switch to LIV has put further pressure on the DP World Tour to find a way for the Spaniard to be part of Luke Donald’s team once more.

“Jon is going to be in Bethpage in 2025,” says Rory McIlroy. “The European Tour is going to have to rewrite the rules for Ryder Cup eligibility. Absolutely. There’s no question about that. I certainly want Jon on the next Ryder Cup team.”

Why is LIV Golf so controversial?

LIV Golf is backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. The PIF was created in 1971 to invest funds on behalf of the Government of Saudi Arabia and is among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, with estimated assets of over $750 billion. The fund is controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the son of Saudi Arabia’s king and the country’s de facto ruler since 2015.

Due to its funding, LIV Golf has faced allegations of sportswashing, with Saudi Arabia using sport to direct attention away from its tarnished reputation.

LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman faced huge criticism when he said “We’ve all made mistakes” as he rebuffed intense questions over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. Norman was then asked about 81 Saudi Arabian citizens being executed in a single day. “I got a lot of messages, but quite honestly I look forward, I don’t look back,” he said. “I don’t look into the politics of things. I know the mission I have as CEO of LIV Golf and that’s how we can grow the game globally. I’m not going to get into the quagmire of whatever happens in someone else’s world. I heard about it and I just kept moving on.”

“This whole thing about Saudi Arabia and human rights, talk about it, but also talk about the good the country is doing to change its culture. There are not many countries that can stand up and be proud of that. They can’t be proud of their past – there are a lot of countries in this world that have a cross to bear too – but they are looking after the younger generation.”

“Hey Siri, define sportswashing.” 🙄 #LIVGolf #golf pic.twitter.com/25Yg2lqATI — Rob Jerram (@RJerramGolf) June 7, 2022

LIV Golf players have also been accused of letting money motivate them to turn a blind eye to Saudi Arabia’s human rights issues.

On a sporting level, many people feared that LIV would fracture the sport and create a scenario in which the world’s best players are rarely, if ever, in direct competition.

Is LIV Golf merging with the PGA Tour & DP World Tour?

In a move that shocked the world of golf, a framework agreement between the three tours was announced on June 6, 2023. In what seemed to be an ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ move, the PGA Tour and DP World Tour agreed to partner with LIV Golf to form “a new collectively owned” entity, funded by the PIF.

However, they failed to reach an agreement by the deadline of 31 December 2023, with negotiations ongoing and no new deadline set.

In a further twist, the PGA Tour announced on January 31, 2024 that they have accepted a $3 billion investment from Strategic Sports Group, a consortium led by Fenway Sports Group (FSG) who own Liverpool Football Club and the Boston Red Sox.

The new partnership has coincided with the launch of PGA Tour Enterprises, a new for-profit division tasked with maximizing commercial opportunities of the Tour through sponsorships, licensing and media rights deals.

As yet, the PIF have no involvement in PGA Tour Enterprises but the Tour have confirmed that both parties are still “working towards an ultimate agreement”.

A memo sent to members also revealed that this agreement with SSG does allow for co-investment from the PIF in the future, subject to regulatory approval.

Ultimately, there are still lots of questions and few answers about what PGA Tour Enterprises is and where PIF would fit in. Would an investment from PIF result in the disbandment of LIV Golf, rendering it a trojan horse that merely enabled PIF to gain access to golf’s premier Tour?

Alternatively, If LIV Golf continues alongside the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, how does that achieve the goal of unifying the game?

It does make us think that these players will end up being part of one unified global tour, which is exactly what Rory and others are now leaning towards.

“My dream scenario is a world tour, with the proviso that corporate America has to remain a big part of it all,” Rory told Golf Digest . “Saudi Arabia, too. That’s just basic economics, but there is an untapped commercial opportunity out there.”

“Investors always want to make a return on their money. Revenues at the PGA Tour right now are about $2.3 billion. So how do we get that number up to four or six? To me, it is by looking outward.

“They need to think internationally and spread their wings a bit. I’ve been banging that drum for a while. Whether they are rotated on the new global circuit, or we go with the same ones every year, I’m OK with either.”

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Rob McGarr – Contributing Editor

Rob has been a writer and editor for over 15 years, covering all manner of subjects for leading magazines and websites.

He has previously been Features Editor of Today’s Golfer magazine and Digital Editor of todays-golfer.com, and held roles at FHM, Men’s Running, Golf World, and MAN Magazine.

You can follow him on  YouTube  where – depending on what day of the week it is – he’ll either be trying his best to get his handicap down to scratch or shoving his clubs in a cupboard, never to be seen again.

Rob is a member at  Royal North Devon , England’s oldest golf club, where he plays off a three-handicap.

LIV-PGA Tour merger: Players meeting with commissioner yields 'intense, heated' discussion

In a surprise announcement Tuesday morning that came after a year of bitter fracturing in men's professional golf, the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour announced an agreement to merge their business operations.

The ramifications of the development are still unraveling, as a 4 p.m. ET meeting was scheduled for PGA Tour players, many of whom reported being entirely unaware of the agreement.

Both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf , along with the DP World Tour, announced the move in a joint statement published Tuesday . The merger aims to create "a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity to ensure that all stakeholders benefit from a model that delivers maximum excitement and competition among the game’s best players."

The terms of the agreement are not fully finalized and are scheduled to be completed in the coming months.

"After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love," PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said Tuesday in a statement.

"Going forward, fans can be confident that we will, collectively, deliver on the promise we’ve always made — to promote competition of the best in professional golf and that we are committed to securing and driving the game’s future."

Here's everything you need to know about the merger agreement.

Bryson DeChambeau: 'I do feel bad for the PGA Tour players'

Bryson DeChambeau, who is among the most notable names who bolted from the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf last year, appeared on "CNN Primetime" for an interview with anchor Kaitlan Collins to discuss Tuesday's stunning news of a merger between the Tour and LIV .

"There’s a lot more behind closed doors that’s been going on. What I can tell you is that H-E, Yasir, has always been a staunch supporter of golf globally and wanting to grow the game," DeChambeau said, referring to Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who is the governor of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. "That’s been his vision from the start, when we first started talking a few years ago. As it’s come to fruition now I think this is the best thing that could ever happen for the game of golf. And I'm extremely proud to be part of that because of the fact that the fans are going to get what they want, the players are going to experience something a little different, a little new on the PGA Tour side, but I truly believe, in the end, the game of golf wins in this scenario."

Collins then asked DeChambeau if he thought that Jay Monahan was a hypocrite after the PGA Tour commissioner had been critical of the Saudi-back golf league and the players who bolted the Tour for LIV.

"I do feel bad for the PGA Tour players because they were told one thing and something else happened, and our side, we were told one thing and it’s come to fruition. In the end, for me, I want the players, the fans and the game of golf to win," DeChambeau said. "It does stink a little bit from my perspective that the PGA Tour players are not necessarily winning. I hope they can find a way to make sure they are valued in the same way that we are over at LIV. I think that’ll happen, it’s just going to take some time with players pushing back a little bit and trying to figure out what gives them the best opportunity to be successful on their own end. Eventually, we all come back together now and play as one group, and I think that's the best thing."

PGA Tour commissioner: 'People are going to call me a hypocrite'

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said Tuesday he's well aware "people are going to call me a hypocrite" after he made a stunning reversal and merged with LIV Golf having previously denounced the Saudi-backed league over its ties to the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

But on Tuesday evening, Monahan described Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) as "a great and world-class investor."

“I recognize that people are going to call me a hypocrite. Anytime I said anything, I said it with the information that I had at that moment, and I said it based on someone that’s trying to compete for the PGA Tour and our players. I accept those criticisms," Monahan said in a conference call on Tuesday, according to Golf Week. "But circumstances do change. I think that in looking at the big picture and looking at it this way, that’s what got us to this point.”

Monahan said the deal has been in the works for seven weeks: "We just realized that we were better off together than we were fighting or apart, and by thinking about the game at large and eliminating a lot of the friction that’s been out there and doing this in a way where we can move forward."

PGA Tour commissioner held 'intense' player meeting after merger

Jay Monahan held a players-only meeting at the Canadian Open Tuesday afternoon following the surprise announcement merger of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf that blindsided many players. Many top players were not present at the meeting, which Monahan described as "intense, certainly heated," according to the Associated Press.

“I’m not surprised,” Monahan said. “This is an awful lot to ask them to digest. This is a significant change for us. As I’m trying to explain as we go forward, this ultimately was a decision in the best interests of all at the PGA Tour.”

Monahan said that although he expects "a lot of questions and criticism" right now, "players who stayed with the PGA Tour will see they benefited in many ways" in the long run.

Michael Kim attended the meeting and said he was "disappointed as all of you." He tweeted, "Well… the meeting happened… Came in very excited… but not a whole lot happened, too many details still up in the air."

Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee 'disappointed' in PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger

Former men's pro golfer and current Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee has been one of the most outspoken critics of LIV Golf and its disruption to the sport. After news of the merger broke, Chamblee spoke about the matter and expressed his displeasure with the PGA Tour.

"After the shock sort of ebbed away, I was hugely disappointed," Chamblee said Tuesday during an appearance on the Golf Channel . "I think this is one of the saddest days in the history of professional golf. I do believe the governing bodies, the entities, have sacrificed their principles for profit."

Chamblee said he suspected there were three key reasons behind the decision to merge: legal issues over previously-pending antitrust litigation; "entanglements" some PGA Tour sponsors have with PIF capital; and the sheer amount of Saudi money that became available to the PGA Tour with the merger.

What do we know about the terms of the merger agreement between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf?

There are still several key details that are unknown about the merger. For starters, the new entity does not have a name yet.

A key element in the merger is financial. The Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth investment fund of the Saudi government, "will make a capital investment into the new entity to facilitate its growth and success," according to the news release. The PIF had been the sole entity to entirely fund the LIV Golf operation.

Additionally, the merger stipulates that the PIF "will initially be the exclusive investor in the new entity" and "will have the exclusive right to further invest in the new entity, including a right of first refusal on any capital."

A newly established board of directors will direct and oversee the new entity's operations, schedule, investments. PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan will be part of the new entity's board of directors and will be on its executive committee. The announcement of the full board will come at a later date.

Additionally, the merger will lead to "a mutually agreed end to all pending litigation between the participating parties." In August 2022, a number of golfers who joined the LIV tour filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour , challenging their suspensions.

The merger stipulates that after the conclusion of the 2023 season, the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and the DP World Tour "will work cooperatively and in good faith to establish a fair and objective process" to allow players who left the PGA Tour and DP tour to re-apply for membership.

LIV Golf only part of Saudi 'sportswashing'

It's not just golf that is being upended by Saudi money.

In addition to financing Tuesday's merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced this week that it has effectively seized controlling stakes in four of the largest teams in the country's pro soccer league, in an effort to lure top European talent there.

Freelance reporter Fabrizio Romano reported for The Guardian on Tuesday that the one of those teams, Al-Ittihad, is signing Real Madrid star Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kante of Chelsea , each for exorbitant sums. Benzema is due to make roughly $213 million per year over two seasons, according to Romano, while Kante's contract is reported to be in excess of $106 million per year.

Cristiano Ronaldo is making more than $200 million per year with another Saudi team, Al-Nassr, and Romano reports that Lionel Messi has been offered more than $370 million to play for Al-Hilal. The PIF also owns Newcastle United, a prominent English team.

Activists and academics have pointed to the PIF's investment in soccer and golf as part of a broader campaign of Saudi "sportswashing," or using sports to polish a country's otherwise problematic reputation. Saudi Arabia has a track record of human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners. — Tom Schad

U.S. Senators call out PGA Tour for 'hypocrisy' over merger with LIV Golf

Two United States senators took to social media on Tuesday to address the monster news that the PGA Tour was merging with LIV Golf .

Oregon’s Ron Wyden, who serves as the chairman of the Committee on Finance, blasted the deal, vowing to explore its economic impact. The merger means that the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia will be backing professional golf stateside and abroad.

"Hypocrisy doesn’t begin to describe this brazen, shameless cash grab," he said on Twitter . "I’m going to dive into every piece of Saudi Arabia’s deal with the PGA. U.S. officials need to consider whether a deal will give the Saudi regime inappropriate control or access to U.S. real estate."

Connecticut’s Chris Murphy expressed surprise at the deal. He said representatives from the PGA recently visited his office and were upset at the track record of social justice violations by the Middle Eastern country.

"So weird. PGA officials were in my office just months ago talking about how the Saudis' human rights record should disqualify them from having a stake in a major American sport," he said while retweeting a news post of the unification .

"I guess maybe their concerns weren't really about human rights?" — Victoria Hernandez

What was Phil Mickelson's LIV Golf deal worth?

Although Phil Mickelson has not revealed the exact amount of his signing bonus to join the LIV tour, it was widely expected that his deal exceeded the $125 million figure that fellow golfer Dustin Johnson took. Reports later emerged that Mickelson's contract was worth $200 million , which was the largest contract issued by the Saudi-backed tour.

LIV Golf, PGA Tour merger shines spotlight on 'sportswashing'

Over the past six years, the term has been used to describe everything from the 2018 World Cup in Russia to a 2019 heavyweight boxing match in Saudi Arabia to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

And at a news conference ahead of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf league's first event last summer, it came up twice.

"Isn't there a danger," one reporter  asked  Phil Mickelson, "that you're also being seen as a tool of sportswashing?"

That term — "sportswashing" — is still relatively new . But the strategy it represents has been employed by governments around the world, in some form or fashion, for a century or more.

For world leaders, it is a way to improve their nation's reputation by hosting a prestigious sporting event, or financing a popular team. — Tom Schad

What is going on with the antitrust lawsuit filed against the PGA Tour?

In August 2022, 11 players who left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf filed an antitrust lawsuit to challenge their suspensions from the PGA Tour.

This followed a report from the month before that the United States Department of Justice was investigating the PGA Tour for possible anticompetitive behavior. Augusta National Golf Club, which operates the Masters Tournament, the United States Golf Association and the PGA of America  were later revealed to also be part of the investigation .

Since then, lawyers on both sides have battled in various court proceedings to gain leverage. With the merger, however, both sides are mutually agreeing to end all pending litigation against the other.

Who is on the PGA Tour board of directors?

Jay Monahan is currently serving as the PGA Tour commissioner and will retain a large presence after the merger. Ed Herlihy is serving as the 2023 PGA Tour policy board chairman and the co-chair of the board of directors . Jimmy Dunne is acting as the vice chair and senior managing principal on this year's board of directors. Under the merger, however, the board of the new entity will look a little different.

According to the news release, PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan will serve as chairman. Al-Rumayyan will also join the PGA Tour's policy board and will be part of the board of directors' executive committee. Monahan will serve as the CEO of the board of directors.

Al-Rumayyan, Monahan, Herlihy and Dunne will all serve on the executive committee of the board.

9/11 families group slams PGA Tour over LIV Golf merger: 'Paid Saudi shills'

An organization representing families of 9/11 victims ripped the PGA Tour's decision Tuesday to merge with Saudi-funded LIV Golf , describing the PGA and its commissioner, Jay Monahan, as hypocrites who have become "paid Saudi shills."

In  a statement released Tuesday afternoon , 9/11 Families United said it was "shocked and deeply offended" by the news of the merger, which will see the PGA, LIV Golf and the DP World Tour all operating under a single business umbrella, funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. The chair of 9/11 Families United, Terry Strada, said she and the other family members who make up the group felt "betrayed" by the PGA Tour and Monahan individually.

"Mr. Monahan talked last summer about knowing people who lost loved ones on 9/11, then wondered aloud on national television whether LIV Golfers ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour. They do now — as does he," said Strada, whose husband, Tom, died at the World Trade Center.

"PGA Tour leaders should be ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed. Our entire 9/11 community has been betrayed by Commissioner Monahan and the PGA as it appears their concern for our loved ones was merely window-dressing in their quest for money — it was never to honor the great game of golf." — Tom Schad

The White House is staying out of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf partnership

As news of the PGA Tour's merger with LIV Golf spread, the White House is opting not to weigh in , when reporters at a briefing asked about the agreement in light of Saudi Arabia's human rights record.

"I have no comment on that," White House spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday during a briefing. — Joey Garrison

As PGA Tour and LIV announce merger, the current standings and top players on each tour

LIV golfers Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson have been hard to miss near the top of major tournament leaderboards this year – especially with  Koepka collecting his fifth major at the PGA Championship .

But what about all the other players who left the PGA for the  Saudi-backed LIV Golf tou r in past months?

With the surprise announcement Tuesday morning of the merger of the two tours' business operations, here's a look at the top 52 players of each tour in 2023 . — Jim Sergent

Tune in for 'Full Swing' Season 2

A producer on the Netflix docuseries "Full Swing," which follows the lives of several men's pro golfers, said that the cameras were rolling when the news of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf agreement came through.

"You better believe we were filming when this broke," producer Chad Mumm wrote Tuesday in a tweet .

Season 2 drops in 2024.

PGA Tour golfers frustrated they didn't know about deal with LIV Golf beforehand

The golf world was stunned by the PGA Tour-LIV Golf deal, and apparently, so were the ones on the tours .

The  announcement Tuesday  morning was a shocker since the PGA Tour and its players have been critical of the LIV Golf Invitational Series, primarily because it is funded entirely by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth investment fund of the Saudi government, which has been accused of wide-ranging human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners.

When the announcement was made,  PGA Tour   golfers voiced their displeasure on Twitter  with how they found out about the deal, with many saying that they found out through social media. — Jordan Mendoza

Jack Nicklaus says PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger 'good for the game of golf'

Jack Nicklaus  is thankful the infighting is coming to a close.

Nicklaus, who said he was offered but turned down $100 million to be the CEO of the LIV Golf series and said LIV Golf "wasn't for me," reacted to the stunning news that the  PGA Tour and LIV Golf  will merge.

“The last three years have been difficult for the game and the players," said Nicklaus, who lives in North Palm Beach. "I spoke with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan this morning. He seemed pleased with the arrangement that will once again bring together the best players in the world. I agree that this is good for the game of golf."

This came just one week after Nicklaus spoke ahead of the Memorial Tournament about the LIV players who had decided to split off from the PGA Tour.

“I don’t even consider those guys part of the game anymore," he said then . "I don’t mean that in a nasty way. This is a PGA Tour event, and we have the best field we can possibly have for a PGA Tour event for those who are eligible to be here. The other guys made a choice of what they did and where they’ve gone and we don’t even talk about it." — Tom D'Angelo , Palm Beach Post

Augusta National, Royal and Ancient weigh in on merger

Fred Ridley, the chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, which is the home of the Masters, said the club is "encouraged" by the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger, and said it "represents a positive development in bringing harmony to men’s professional golf."

Ridley added that August and the Masters are "devoted to developing the game and celebrating its many virtues."

Meanwhile, Martin Slumbers, the CEO of R&A, said the club was "pleased that an agreement has been reached which will help men’s professional golf move forward in a collaborative, constructive and innovative fashion. ...

"We care deeply about golf’s future and are committed to ensuring that the sport continues to thrive for many years to come," Slumbers continued. "This agreement represents a hugs step toward achieving that goal for golf and we look forward to working with the new entity for the benefit of the sport globally." — Casey Moore

OPINION: PGA Tour sold out to LIV Golf and the Saudis. Pro golf will never be the same.

Frauds, all of them. But frauds now united in the only thing that actually matters to the world of professional golf: Making money. 

In the end, it didn’t actually matter to PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan that the money came from a country, Saudi Arabia, that treats human rights like an inconvenience. The tradition and history of the PGA Tour, in fact, didn’t matter all that much to those who argued that LIV Golf was an unworthy, unserious rival whose guaranteed money and 54-hole events were mocking competition.

And as for the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Greg Norman, they did not, in fact, care all that much about growing the game.  They wanted to own it.  Now they do: The PGA Tour, brought to you by Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.

They sold out. Professional golf will never be the same. 

Read the rest of Dan Wolken's column here .

Jay Monahan, Yasir Al-Rumayyan discuss PGA Tour and LIV Golf merger on CNBC

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan sat down for a joint interview on CNBC on Tuesday morning to discuss the merger news that rocked the golf world.

Monahan called it a historic day.

"There’s been a lot of tension in our sport over the last couple of years," Monahan said, "but what we’re talking about today is coming together to unify the game of golf and to do so under one umbrella."

Conversations began in London over golf and lunch, said Al-Rumayyan, who noted that had the two tours met two or three years ago for those same discussions, the impact on the game would not have been as significant.

"Because it would be something small," he continued. "But the way we’re doing our partnership, it’s going to be really big, in many senses."

Al-Rumayyan said the PIF is committed to investing "whatever it takes" to ensure success, later noting that they wouldn’t be doing this if they didn’t think it would be profitable.

"If you look at the size of golf, monetary-wise, it’s about $100 billion today," said Al-Rumayyan. "And I think the growth, it’s there. I think working together we can have a faster growth rate than it was for the past 10 or 20 years." — Casey Moore

PGA Tour will retain oversight over tour

As part of the agreement, PGA Tour Inc. will remain in place as a 501(c)(6) tax-exempt organization, which means it will continue to have oversight over its tour. During an interview with CNBC, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan offered more insight into the breakdown and Public Investment Fund Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan confirmed that PIF is prepared to invest billions.

"The c6 still stays in place and out of the c6 we’ll continue to operate our tours," Monahan said. "We’ll put our player retirement plans and assets there. So that stays in place. One of the things that’s important to both of us is every single week we’re playing tournaments, we’re making a huge impact on the communities where we’re invited guests. That continues.

"At the c6 level — you take the assets of the PGA Tour, the PIF assets, and LIV and the Asian Tour and the DP World Tour, take all of those commercial assets and drop them down into that for-profit LLC … we’re going to go through an evaluation of all of the businesses and the PIF will invest … there will be additional investment and growth initiatives. That’s what’s really exciting here." — Casey Moore

What has former U.S. President Donald Trump said about LIV Golf?

During a pro-am event at his Trump National Golf Club May 25, Trump praised LIV Golf and defended his business relationship with the controversial Saudi-funded tour.

"They've been great for golf. The Saudis have been fantastic for golf,” Trump said then. “And they're going to make it a big part of, inside their country, they're going to do some great courses."

LIV Golf also has upcoming stops scheduled at Trump courses in Bedminster, New Jersey, and Miami, Florida, later this year.

After the news Tuesday, Trump celebrated the merger on his Truth Social platform, according to CNBC. “Great news from LIV Golf. A big, beautiful, and glamorous deal for the wonderful world of golf. Congrats to all!!!”

Is the PGA Tour a nonprofit?

While the merger announced the creation of "a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity," the PGA Tour is retaining its position as "a 501(c)(6) tax exempt organization."

The difference with the merger, however, is that — in the threat of continued disruption in men's professional golf — the PGA Tour reversed course and is aligning with the massive influx of Saudi capital.

In an interview on CBS in June 2022, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan ripped the LIV tour over links between the Saudi government and the terrorist attacks on 9/11. In the interview, Monahan spoke about players who joined LIV Golf needing to apologize to the families of those who lost loved ones on 9/11 and asked: "Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?"

What is LIV Golf?

The LIV Golf Invitational Series made its debut in June 2022 after the tour lured some notable players from the PGA Tour such as Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. Others like Brooks Koepka, the winner of the most recent PGA Championship , Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith have since joined. The LIV tour presented a disruption in the dynamics of the sport.

The format of play of the tour also presented a shakeup to the PGA Tour.

Events were designed as 54-hole, three-round, no-cut competitions. LIV Golf incorporated shotgun starts to expedite play. Players were split into four-person teams. Purses were divided between individual placement and team placement, offering players more financial incentives to participate.

What has Phil Mickelson said about the PGA Tour merger with LIV Golf?

Though he has not made public comments yet, Mickelson, one of the most high-profile players on the LIV tour, posted a message on Twitter to celebrate the news of the merger.

"Awesome day today 😊," he wrote.

Why is LIV Golf so controversial?

The LIV tour drew criticism because it is funded entirely by the PIF, the sovereign wealth investment fund of the Saudi government.

Saudi Arabia has been accused of wide-ranging human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners. And members of the royal family and Saudi government were accused of involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist.

What has been Tiger Woods' stance on LIV Golf?

In May 2022, Tiger Woods  reaffirmed  his commitment to the PGA Tour.

"Phil has said some things that I think a lot of us who are committed to the Tour and committed to the legacy of the Tour have pushed back against, and he's taken some personal time, and we all understand that," Woods said ahead of the 2022 PGA Championship. "Some of his views on how the Tour could be run, should be run, been a lot of disagreement there. Obviously we're going to have difference of opinions, how he sees the Tour, and we'll go from there."

LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman confirmed in August 2022 that the league offered Woods in the neighborhood of $700 million to $800 million to join the Saudi-backed tour.

What have other notable PGA Tour golfers said about LIV Golf?

A number of players who declined to join LIV Golf, such as Rory McIlroy , had been publicly outspoken in their criticism of the Saudi-backed tour.

“There’s no room in the golf world for LIV Golf,” McIlroy said in July 2022. “I don’t agree with what LIV is doing. If LIV went away tomorrow, I’d be super happy.” 

What is the timeline of how LIV Golf got started?

LIV Golf first teed off last June after rattling the golf world with the news that it would offer players larger purses backed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. The inaugural tournament was held in London and then the tour traveled to its first stateside event in Portland.

Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Sergio García were among the leading PGA Tour players to leave for LIV. The PGA suspended the players for participating in the new series.

LIV Golf was met with much criticism from Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and others for accepting support from a country with a history of human rights violations and for breaking tradition.

At the end of the first LIV Golf season, Johnson was crowned the champion, earning a prize of $18 million.

In January, LIV Golf signed a broadcast deal with CW Network to air 14 events of the 2023 season.

A month later, the PGA invited LIV golfers to participate in the Masters. Mickelson and Brooks Koepka tied for second place. — Victoria Hernandez

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LIV Golf Invitational Series: All you need to know ahead of inaugural tournament at Centurion Club

LIV Golf's inaugural invitational tournament, worth a record $25m at Centurion Club, gets under way on Thursday; Phil Mickelson, former world No 1 Dustin Johnson and Ryder Cup legends Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood are among the playing field

Thursday 9 June 2022 07:35, UK

After months of speculation and back-and-forth between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, the new Saudi-backed series is to get under way on the outskirts of London on Thursday. Here's all you need to know about who is taking part, what is the format, and why the new league has been so controversial...

Who is going to play?

The event is not being recognised by the Official Golf World Ranking (OWGR), meaning no world ranking points will be on offer during the tournament, although that has not stopped a number of high-profile names agreeing to play at the Centurion Club.

Johnson makes U-turn to headline Saudi-backed event

• DeChambeau confirmed for LIV series | Reed, Fowler expected to follow
• McIlroy: Money decisions never end well | Rory, JT sticking with PGA

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Former world No 1 Dustin Johnson and Ryder Cup legends Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood were among the most notable names to commit, with major champions Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen also involved. Phil Mickelson was added to that list on Monday evening after months of controversy surrounding comments he made about the breakaway series.

Former British Masters champion Richard Bland and PGA Tour veteran Kevin Na also signed up, while reigning US Amateur winner James Piot is among the young players featuring in England.

Some 42 players were initially named in the field for the inaugural event, with five more added after the Asian Tour event at Slaley Hall on Sunday.

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Looking ahead to the second event at Pumpkin Ridge in Portland from June 30 to July 2, Bryson DeChambeau has said he will play in it and Patrick Reed and Rickie Fowler are reportedly set to join him .

What does this mean for the Majors, Ryder Cup and other tours?

Johnson, Na, Garcia, Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace have all resigned from the PGA Tour, but Mickelson and DeChambeau do not plan to do so.

McIlroy questions quality of LIV Golf field

Norman 'surprised' by Na resigning from PGA Tour

Latest golf news

Johnson's decision to resign from the PGA Tour means that as of now he is unable to be selected for future Ryder Cups, although he remains hopeful that the situation may change.

European Ryder Cup legends, Garcia, Poulter and Westwood are also hopeful they will be allowed to take part in future events. Rory McIlroy has ruled out joining the LIV series but believes those that do compete should not be disqualified from Ryder Cup selection .

Each of the four majors are independently run and can decide whether LIV golfers can participate in their competitions. The USGA confirmed on Tuesday that those teeing it up at the Centurion Club that have already qualified for next week's US Open - which is live on Sky Sports from June 16 - will be allowed to take part.

How did the idea come around?

Reports first began to surface of a rival league to the PGA Tour as far back as 2019, but it was only in late 2021 that the proposal truly began to take shape with the formation of LIV Golf Investments.

This new entity, with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) - owners of Newcastle United - as its majority shareholder, made an initial $200m commitment to the Asian Tour, later increased to $300m, and appointed former world No 1 and Open champion Greg Norman as its CEO.

In March, despite the PGA Tour threatening to hand out lifetime bans to players who defect to a rival league, LIV Golf announced the schedule for an eight-event, $225m invitational series beginning at Centurion Club in St Albans on Thursday.

LIV is the Roman numeral for 54, which is the number of holes to be played in each event. It also refers to the lowest score a player can shoot were they to birdie every hole on a par-72 course.

Why is it so controversial?

Due to the PIF's links to the Saudi government, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman serving as chairman, LIV Golf has faced accusations of sports washing.

Norman has adamantly denied such claims, telling Sky Sports in May that Saudi Arabia is "changing their culture within their country" and insisting "I do not answer to Saudi Arabia. I do not answer to their government or MBS".

Comments from a Mickelson interview with author Alan Shipnuck, who is writing an unauthorised biography of the six-time major winner, came to light in February, in which the 51-year-old questioned Saudi Arabia's human rights record and called the regime "scary".

Mickelson has since apologised for his "reckless" comments.

What is the format?

All 48 players compete against each other in a traditional stroke play format, with the lowest 54-hole total from the no-cut event being the winner, while a draft will help allocate players into the team format.

Each team will have a LIV appointed team captain who will select their three open team positions via a snake draft format, similar to those used on the Ladies European Tour in the Aramco Team Series.

For the first two rounds, the best two stroke play scores will count for each team. For the third and final round, the best three scores will count, with the lowest overall team score after 54 holes being named the team winner.

The format changes in the Team Championship, which is a seeded four-day, four-round, match play knock-out tournament. The top four seeds automatically receive a bye through the first round, with the remaining eight teams playing against each other to see who reaches the quarter-finals.

Team names and captains

Captains in bold, with the 48-strong field divided into 12 teams

4 ACES - Dustin Johnson , Shaun Norris, Oliver Bekker, Kevin Yuan

HY FLYERS - Phil Mickelson , Justin Harding, TK Chantananuwat (a), Chase Koepka

PUNCH - Wade Ormsby , Matt Jones, Ryosuke Kinoshita, Blake Windred

CLEEKS - Martin Kaymer , Pablo Larrazabal, JC Ritchie, Ian Snyman

IRON HEADS - Kevin Na , Sadom Kaewkanjana, Hideto Tanihara, Viraj Madappa

SMASH - Sihwan Kim , Scott Vincent, Jinichiro Kozuma, Itthipat Buranatanyarat

CRUSHERS - Peter Uihlein , Richard Bland, Phachara Khongwatmai, Travis Smyth

MAJESTICKS - Ian Poulter , Lee Westwood, Sam Horsfield, Laurie Canter

STINGER - Louis Oosthuizen , Hennie du Plessis, Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace

FIREBALLS - Sergio Garcia , David Puig (a), James Piot (a), Jediah Morgan

NIBLICKS - Graeme McDowell , Bernd Wiesberger, Turk Pettit, Oliver Fisher

TORQUE - Talor Gooch , Hudson Swafford, Adrian Otaegui, Andy Ogletree

How much money will players earn?

The first seven events all have a prize purse of $25million, with $20m being distributed between the 48-man field and the remaining $5m being shared between the top three teams at the end of each week.

The winner will receive $4m (£3.2m), considerably more than the $2.7m awarded to Scottie Scheffler for his victory at The Masters and Justin Thomas secured for his PGA Championship success, while every player is guaranteed at least $120,000 just for completing 54 holes.

An Individual Champion will be crowned at the end of those events, with a $30m fund distributed for the top three players of the season, providing they have played in a minimum of four tournaments.

The prize purse doubles for the season finale in Miami and sees $50m allocated between each of the 12 four-man teams. Each player receives a 25 per cent cut of team earnings, with $16m awarded to the winning team and $1million for the team finishing 12th.

Where are future events taking place?

The inaugural event in London is the first of eight tournaments due to take place over the next few months, including five in the United States and two in Asia, with an expanded schedule then planned in the coming years.

Pumpkin Ridge GC in Portland from June 30-July 2 and Trump National Golf Club Bedminster from July 29-31 are the next two events, with further US-based tournaments take place in Boston from September 2-4 and Chicago from September 16-18.

Stonehill Golf Club in Bangkok is the venue from October 7-9 and Royal Greens Golf Club - the site of the Saudi International in recent years - hosts the following week, with the season-ending Team Championship then hosted at Trump National Doral Miami from October 27-30.

LIV Golf plans to have 10 events in its 2023 calendar before expanding to 14 tournaments from 2024, although dates and locations for those have not yet been confirmed.

"We have a long-term vision and we're here to stay," said Norman, the CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf, via a release. "We're going to grow the game, give more opportunities to players, and create a more entertaining product for fans."

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The Saudi-backed LIV Golf tees off, and the PGA Tour quickly suspends 17 players

Bill Chappell

Dustin Johnson of the United States, left, and Martin Kaymer of Germany on the practice green before the first round of the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational at the Centurion Club in St. Albans, England, on Thursday. Alastair Grant/AP hide caption

Dustin Johnson of the United States, left, and Martin Kaymer of Germany on the practice green before the first round of the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational at the Centurion Club in St. Albans, England, on Thursday.

Even before it started, the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series reshaped the careers of several high-profile players, costing golfers such as Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson their relationships with the PGA Tour and some of their sponsors.

A reprisal had been expected from the PGA Tour — and immediately after the inaugural LIV tournament teed off on Thursday, the PGA issued sanctions against 17 players who defected to the new series.

The players "are suspended or otherwise no longer eligible to participate in PGA TOUR tournament play, including the Presidents Cup," PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a letter to tour members.

The golfers include Mickelson and Johnson, along with other highly ranked players such as Louis Oosthuizen (21), Kevin Na (34), Talor Gooch (35) and Sergio Garcia (57).

Of the 17 golfers, nine had preemptively resigned their PGA Tour membership.

LIV Golf is backed by Saudi Arabia's wealth, allowing it to lure top players with the promise of windfalls of cash — from eye-popping incentives to millions in prize money and guaranteed payouts.

The PGA Tour says the defectors are motivated by money

By playing in the LIV event, the 17 golfers "decided to turn their backs on the PGA TOUR by willfully violating a regulation," Monahan wrote in his letter. Any players who follow them to the Saudi-backed tour will meet the "same fate," he added.

The golfers "made their choice for their own financial-based reasons," and have officially been notified that they're now barred from PGA Tour events, Monahan said.

The PGA Tour's punishments don't affect golf's major tournaments, such as next week's U.S. Open. That's because the majors are operated by their own governing bodies. This week, the U.S. Golf Association said it won't bar players from the U.S. Open if they participate in the LIV event.

Saudi ties quickly raised red flags

But LIV's ties to Saudi Arabia's repressive monarchy instantly prompted a strong backlash, because of the kingdom's flagrant human rights abuses. Critics — and even Mickelson himself — have also noted that U.S. intelligence has concluded that Saudi Arabia's crown prince approved the operation leading to the brutal 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi .

"It was reckless, I offended people, and I am deeply sorry for my choice of words," Mickelson said in February , after he was quoted discussing why he was embracing the new golf series despite the Saudi regime's well-known human rights violations.

But on Monday, Mickelson confirmed he would play in this week's LIV event, risking the wrath of the PGA. With the threat of sanctions looming, Johnson and other players resigned from the PGA Tour.

Critics call LIV Golf "sportswashing" — a strategy countries such as China and Russia have used in attempts to remake their global reputation without changing their stances on human rights.

LIV Golf's first tournament is now streaming online

The inaugural tournament — the LIV Golf Invitational London — isn't on TV, but curious sports fans can watch the action online, through YouTube , Facebook and the LIV Golf site .

Players teed off on Thursday shortly after 2 p.m. local time — 9 a.m. ET.

This version of golf has been tailored for TV. Instead of the stately procession of three golfers heading to the tee box at No. 1, the LIV tournament has a "shotgun" start, with players simultaneously teeing off on 16 holes around the course.

How is LIV Golf different?

Most dramatically, the shotgun start is geared to immediately deliver a flood of golf to fans watching online. It's also meant to ensure all players face the same conditions on the course.

LIV also blends team and individual competition. There are 12 teams, which were determined this week. Introducing an element of fantasy sports, 12 players were dubbed captains on Tuesday, followed by a rapid-fire draft to select their four-member squads.

Players on the winning team will get an extra $3 million. The rosters will change for every tournament.

The tournament's individual competition largely runs like any other golf tournament, but in this case, it's concurrent with team play.

In another change, LIV uses three rounds, instead of the four the PGA Tour uses in its stroke play tournaments. And because there's no cut after the first two rounds, players are guaranteed a share of the prize money.

The LIV series has seven "regular season" events, followed by a team tournament final to be held in late October. The next tournament is slated to be played in Portland, Ore., starting on June 30.

Who's playing in the LIV tournament?

A field of 48 golfers is playing in the London event. Along with Mickelson and Johnson, the field includes other former major champions such as Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel.

Also playing: Kevin Na, who resigned from the PGA Tour on Sunday, and several former U.S. Amateur winners, including James Piot, the reigning champion who recently moved from college play to teeing off at the Masters.

More U.S. golfers (11) are in the tournament than pros from any other country, according to a roster published by LIV .

Here are the golf pros the PGA Tour suspended on Thursday:

Sergio Garcia; Talor Gooch; Branden Grace; Dustin Johnson; Matt Jones; Martin Kaymer; Graeme McDowell; Phil Mickelson; Kevin Na; Andy Ogletree; Louis Oosthuizen; Turk Pettit; Ian Poulter; Charl Schwartzel; Hudson Swafford; Peter Uihlein; Lee Westwood.

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Saudi-backed LIV Golf league: Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood headline list of golfers wanting to play in London

Some have already made their playing intentions known, but who else will compete in the liv golf series.

Professional golf is at a crossroads, and not everyone knows about it. Rival golf leagues are popping up on every corner like McDonald's, golfers are rumored to be taking their talents to greener pastures -- in terms of money -- and it's tough for the casual golf fan to follow exactly what's going on.

The PGA Tour and DP World Tour (formerly known as the European Tour) still command the services of best players in the world -- all independent contractors -- but now those players have options in the form of LIV Golf and, technically, the Premier Golf League.

The volume surrounding LIV Golf has been turned up since the Genesis Invitational when Phil Mickelson's controversial remarks regarding the Saudi Arabia regime, which is funding the league, were made public. The six-time major champion has been in hot water for the better part of three months for his integral role in the Saudi-backed golf series. In late April, Mickelson's agent, Steve Loy, confirmed Lefty's registration in LIV Golf's first event.

Slowly but surely, other players are beginning to follow in Mickelson's footsteps. There have been official announcements made by Robert Garrigus, Lee Westwood and Richard Bland along with unofficial claims made by the likes of Sergio Garcia, Jason Kokrak, and Adam Scott. Kevin Na, Bubba Watson, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, and former World No. 1 Martin Kaymer have all been connected to LIV Golf through various reports.

On Tuesday, LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman told Sky Sports that 19 of the top 100 players in the world, six of whom rank inside the top 50, have committed to play in the inaugural event next month in London. While names have yet to officially surface, LIV Golf plans to divulge those to the public next week during the PGA Championship.

Hours after Norman spoke to Sky Sports, it was reported that the PGA Tour had  denied all player requests for the first LIV Golf event in London. It was assumed the PGA Tour would grant these waivers, but that will not be the case, as those players who requested a release were notified of their denial on Tuesday.

Those requesting waivers from the DP World Tour have met the same fate. The PGA Tour's European counterpart followed the news on Tuesday by denying the waivers of its members on Wednesday, according to The Telegraph . 

What is LIV Golf?

Currently run by Norman, LIV Golf is putting together an eight-tournament series starting this summer with some truly outrageous purses ($20 million in individual prizes, plus a $5 million team payout). These payouts are funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which Norman said just put up an additional $2 billion in funding, and this eight-event series is thought to be a forerunner to a full-blown year-long league. The goal is to expand to 10 tournaments in 2023 and 14 tournaments the following two years. The entire thing is already a bit of a mess, especially with  distribution not going swimmingly  and ticket prices  absolutely soaring .

Who could play, and when?

Some names are mentioned above, but who else is even eligible? Typically, the PGA Tour allows players up to three "releases" per season to play on various worldwide tours. The Saudi International in February is an example of an event for which releases are given as it was part of the Asian Tour. A quid pro quo of sorts with the PGA Tour was agreed upon for those who chose to participate. Players who chose to play had to agree to play in a future AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am on the PGA Tour as the event was held the same week.

As mentioned, the PGA Tour is taking a hard stance on the matter and are choosing to treat the Saudi International as a one-off event rather than part of the standard release process. Because of this, it can be assumed no PGA Tour players will be eligible to play in the LIV Golf Series moving forward unless they are willing to go against the PGA Tour's decision -- which may very well happen.

Additionally,  Norman will invite several top amateurs  to join the 48-player fields and reported there was a grand total of 170 entries to play in the London event.

There are eight total LIV Golf events in 2022, and while the PGA Tour will not grant releases to any of them, it was originally thought  the DP World Tour might take a different stance . However, with reports of the DP World Tour's decision to deny all requests coming to light, this means that a battle between leagues might not come on the golf course but rather in a courtroom.

LIV Golf participation list*

*unofficial

Dates: June 9-11 Location: Centurion Club -- London, England

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Report: PGA Tour has granted player releases for Saudi International

Ross Kinnaird

Some PGA Tour players have requested and been granted conflicting-event releases to play in the Saudi International, according to a report from the Golf Channel.

The event is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and notably sponsored by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which is the primary backer of LIV Golf.

A provision in the PGA Tour Player Handbook and Tournament Regulations generally prohibits tour players from playing in events when there is a PGA Tour-approved or sponsored event taking place at the same time. Per the handbook, players who reach the 15-event minimum (which a member must meet as a condition of their membership voting rights) are eligible for three conflicting-event releases per season, which is why so many tour players were allowed to play in last year’s Saudi Invitational.

RELATED: Inside the LIV Golf-PGA Tour battle

However, the regulations also state such requests can be denied. Last year’s Saudi International field proved to be an indicator of future LIV Golf members: Phil Mickelson, Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson, Matt Wolff, Ian Poutler, Lee Westwood, Joaquin Niemann, Arabham Ancer, Bubba Watson, Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Kevin Na, Patrick Reed, Jason Kokrak and Henrik Stenson all competed at the event. The International’s winner, Harold Varner III, also defected to the breakaway circuit. Given the symmetry between the event and LIV Golf, it would have been understandable had the tour turned down the requests.

Conversely, at the heart of the antitrust lawsuit between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf is the tour’s ability to deny event releases. “The purpose of this action is to strike down the PGA Tour’s anticompetitive rules and practices that prevent these independent-contractor golfers from playing when and where they choose,” the original complaint from 11 LIV Golfers alleged. To turn the release down could have hampered the tour’s argument in the suit.

There were a number of players who competed at the Saudi International who did not join LIV in its inaugural season, including Tony Finau, Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood. It is unclear if those are the players that have requested to play again this year.

The Saudi International begins Feb. 2, opposite the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and is expected to include a number of LIV Golf members, highlighted by Smith, the reigning Open and Players champ.

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Saudi Golf League Players: Who is playing in the LIV Mexico?

• by James Matthews
• June 7, 2022 February 21, 2023

The list of 48 players has been revealed for the first event of 2023 as the new LIV Golf season gets underway at El Camaleon Golf Course in Mayakoba, Mexico.

The LIV Golf tour has an expanded 2023 schedule of 14 events for the second year of the series and some new faces will make their debut in Mexico from February 24-26.

The season-opening LIV Golf Mayakoba is being staged at the El Camaleon Golf Course which has previously staged PGA Tour events.

There are six new faces for the new season, some team swaps and two new teams names.

Mito Pereira, Sebastian Munoz, Danny Lee and Brendan Steele have made the move over from the PGA Tour and Dean Burmester and Thomas Pieters have joined from the DP World Tour .

There are also two new teams to look out for with the Cam Smith-led Punch GC now known as Ripper GC and Bubba Watson’s Niblicks GC changing to the RangeGoats GC.

In some team switches, Matt Wolff has joined Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC, Peter Uihlein is in at Aces GC in place of Talor Gooch, who moves to the RangeGoats GC.

RELATED: Who are the LIV Golf Broadcasters ? RELATED: Full LIV Golf 2023 Event Calendar

LIV Golf Mayakoba Players

• Abraham Ancer
• Richard Bland
• Dean Burmester
• Eugenio Chacarra
• Bryson DeChambeau
• Sergio Garcia
• Talor Gooch
• Branden Grace
• Sam Horsfield
• Charles Howell III
• Dustin Johnson
• Martin Kaymer
• Brooks Koepka
• Chase Koepka
• Jason Kokrak
• Anirban Lahiri
• Marc Leishman
• Graeme McDowell
• Phil Mickelson
• Jediah Morgan
• Sebastian Munoz
• Joaquin Niemann
• Louis Oosthuizen
• Carlos Ortiz
• Mito Pereira
• Thomas Pieters
• Ian Poulter
• Patrick Reed
• Charl Schwartzel
• Cameron Smith
• Brendan Steele
• Henrik Stenson
• Cameron Tringale
• Peter Uihlein
• Harold Varner III
• Scott Vincent
• Bubba Watson
• Lee Westwood
• Bernd Wiesberger
• Matthew Wolff

LIV Golf Mayakoba Format

The 48 players have been drawn into 12 teams of four and play for individual victory and team victory in each event across three days of competition.

The LIV Golf team event will run throughout the entire schedule with each tournament taking place across four hours with shotgun starts.

There will be an individual winner in Mayakoba and the 12 teams will be ranked based on the best two scores from the four players in the first two rounds and three from four in the final round.

LIV Golf Team Championship Miami Players & Teams

The team names, captains and line-ups for the Mexico event are:

• Torque GC: Captain Joaquin Niemann, Mito Pereira, Sebastian Munoz, David Puig
• Majesticks GC: Captains Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood, Sam Horsfield
• Smash GC: Captain Brooks Koepka, Chase Koepka, Matt Wolff, Jason Kokrak
• 4 Aces GC: Captain Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Pat Perez, Peter Uihlein
• Fire Balls GC: Captain Sergio Garcia, Abe Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Eugenio Chacarra
• HY Flyers GC: Captain Phil Mickelson, James Piot, Brendan Steele, Cam Tringale
• Iron Heads GC: Captain Kevin Na, Scott Vincent, Danny Lee, Sihwan Kim
• RangeGoats GC: Captain Bubba Watson, Talor Gooch, Thomas Pieters, Harold Varner III
• Ripper GC: Captain Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Jed Morgan
• Cleeks GC: Captain Martin Kaymer, Bernd Wiesberger, Richard Bland, Graeme McDowell
• Crushers GC: Captain Bryson DeChambeau, Paul Casey, Anirban Lahiri, Charles Howell III
• Stinger GC: Captain Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace, Dean Burmester, Charl Schwartzel

James is an avid golfer and reviews golf equipment and new gear for GolfReviewsGuide.com as well as providing the latest golf news. You will find him on a golf course wherever possible.

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PGA Tour says more progress made in talks with Saudi PIF

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Tiger Woods says PGA Tour, Saudi investors ‘all want the same thing’

Woods, a key player in the talks that could unify the golf world, called a recent in-person meeting with potential Saudi investors “productive.”

Key takeaways

Summary is AI-generated, newsroom-reviewed.

• Tiger Woods calls PGA-Saudi talks "productive."
• Negotiations aim to unify golf, still no final deal.
• Woods, Rory McIlroy optimistic about golf’s future post-meeting.
• Woods prepares for U.S. Open at Pinehurst, acknowledges challenges.

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PINEHURST, N.C. — As the PGA Tour and Saudi investors continue their protracted negotiations over the future of professional golf , Tiger Woods called a recent in-person meeting “productive” and said the two sides “want the same thing.”

“Is there light at the end of tunnel? I think we’re closer to that point than we were premeeting,” he said Tuesday.

Woods has emerged as a key participant in the talks that could unify the golf world; he’s one of three players tabbed by the PGA Tour to take part in discussions with the Saudis. He flew to New York for a three-hour meeting with the Saudi Public Investment Fund on Friday.

While progress has been made recently, according to people familiar with the talks, no one seems certain when — or if — a final agreement might be struck.

“We discussed a lot of different endings and how we get there,” Woods said. “I think that [when] both sides walked away from the meeting, we all felt very positive in that meeting. As I said, both sides were looking at different ways to get to the endgame. Both sides shared a deep passion for how we need to get there. And, yes, there are going to be differences of opinion, but we all want the same thing.”

Woods spoke with reporters following his U.S. Open practice round, his first public comments since the PGA Tour’s team of negotiators met with the PIF, which launched the rival LIV Golf circuit in 2022.

Though the two sides announced an initial agreement to end their bitter feud and join forces last June, more than a year has passed and it’s still unclear if the tour and the Saudi investors will strike a deal, which would infuse the PGA Tour with billions and potentially consolidate the PGA Tour and LIV Golf under one operational umbrella — or perhaps reimagine how team golf fits in the sport’s ecosystem.

The negotiations have moved slowly, but people familiar with the talks say last week’s meeting was a notable sign that both sides still share a common goal. The entire PGA Tour team — which also included Commissioner Jay Monahan and veteran Australian golfer Adam Scott — flew to New York to meet with Yasir Al-Rumayyan and PIF officials, with Rory McIlroy joining remotely because he was competing at the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio.

“There’s positive momentum going right now,” Webb Simpson, a member of the PGA Tour Enterprises board and the tour’s policy board, said Monday. “Both sides seem to not only be engaged but want to continue to be engaged as much as possible. That feels good. It feels good that we’re finally at a place where I think we all want similar things. We all recognize that the game of golf is healthier when we’re moving in this direction.”

Details from the New York meeting have been scarce, but Woods and McIlroy characterized the talks positively. McIlroy called the meeting “very productive, very constructive, very collaborative.”

“Definitely things are heading in the right direction,” McIlroy told reporters Saturday after his third round at Muirfield Village Golf Club. “A lot of progress was made. I can’t really say much more than that, but it was really positive.”

It was the first known in-person meeting among the key negotiators since March, when Woods and others met with Al-Rumayyan in the Bahamas. And while last week brought a key face-to-face opportunity, tour officials say there have been multiple calls each week, which McIlroy said have focused on “the financials and the legals and all that.” Friday’s meeting apparently focused on big-picture matters — “talking about the future of the game and the vision,” McIlroy said, “and that was where I thought there was a lot of progress that was made.”

While the two sides have exchanged term sheets in recent weeks, McIlroy said the players are still learning more about what the PIF expects out of a deal.

“You’ve got to understand: They’re a sovereign wealth fund. They invest in companies and in different things, and they want a return on their investment. That’s what they want,” he said. “It doesn’t seem like they’re getting that at the minute within golf. … If things progress and we get to a certain point, then hopefully they see a future where that can happen, they can start to get some returns on their money.”

Tour officials have been hesitant to share any details on the talks but acknowledged Friday’s meeting, saying in a statement: “We remain committed to these negotiations, which require working through complex considerations to best position golf for global growth. We want to get this right, and we are approaching discussions with careful consideration for our players, our fans, our partners and the game’s future.’’

Woods, 48, is in the field this week at Pinehurst, seeking a fourth U.S. Open title. He visited the course last week to squeeze in some extra practice, his first time at Pinehurst No. 2 since the 2005 U.S. Open, when he finished second to Michael Campbell. He knows the week promises to be a tough test, with tricky greens and hot conditions.

“It’s just making sure that I keep hydrated and the mental tax that the heat will bring,” he said. “It’s going to bring it to all of us, not just me. Everyone is going to be tested.”

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PGA Tour reports ‘progress’ without details in meeting with Saudi wealth fund leaders

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, gestures after putting on the 17th green during the first round of the Memorial golf tournament, Thursday, June 6, 2024, in Dublin, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan pauses while speaking about the death of PGA player Grayson Murray during the Charles Schwab Challenge golf tournament at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, Saturday, May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

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The PGA Tour reported progress without details from a face-to-face meeting between its negotiating committee and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia as it tries to work toward a deal.

“We want to get this right, and we are approaching discussions with careful consideration for our players, our fans, our partners and the game’s future,” the tour said in a statement released Saturday morning.

The meeting in New York on Friday evening involved the “transaction committee” of PGA Tour Enterprises and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund that pays for rival LIV Golf.

Rory McIlroy is on the committee and said he was encouraged by the progress. He referred to the three-hour meeting as “very productive, very constructive, very collaborative.”

“Definitely things are heading in the right direction,” McIlroy said after the third round of the Memorial. He participated on a video call. “A lot of progress was made. I can’t really say much more than that, but it was really positive.”

PGA Tour Enterprises is the commercial group that came out of the framework agreement announced a year ago among the PGA Tour, PIF and the European tour.

PGA Tour Enterprises brought on Strategic Sports Group, which invested an initial $1.5 billion earlier this year. Negotiations are ongoing to bring in PIF as a minority investor, and there has been more activity than previously believed.

McIlroy, who joined Tiger Woods and Adam Scott on the transaction committee, said it has been meeting with PIF representatives every Monday, Wednesday and Friday over the last couple of weeks. The tour referred to negotiations as “accelerated” in recent months.

Friday’s meeting was the first in-person discussion since players and board members met with Al-Rumayyan in the Bahamas the day after The Players Championship in March.

The tour said the committee and PIF have been meeting “multiple times weekly to work through potential deal terms and come to a shared vision on the future of professional golf.” It said only that “more progress was made” in New York.

“We remain committed to these negotiations, which require working through complex considerations to best position golf for global growth,” the tour said.

McIlroy said those multiple meetings are more about financials, such as the investment possibilities of PIF and SSG.

“But I think last night was more talking about the future of the game and the vision, and that was where I thought there was a lot of progress that was made,” he said.

Woods and Scott are on the full PGA Tour Enterprises board, along with player directors Jordan Spieth, Webb Simpson, Patrick Cantlay and Peter Malnati.

McIlroy resigned from the PGA Tour board last November, and there was an unsuccessful attempt by Simpson to have McIlroy replace him. McIlroy, the strongest voice who has gone from heavy criticism of LIV to being more willing to compromise, is part of the transaction committee and ultimately does not have a vote.

But he has relationships with both sides of the table. McIlroy had said he would be more in listen mode when the business leaders — Al-Rumayyan and his team at PIF, a PGA Tour Enterprises committee that includes four SSG investors — sorted through details.

“We’re there to maybe give a perspective from player’s point of view,” McIlroy had said Thursday. “But, I mean, this is a negotiation about an investment into PGA Tour Enterprises. This is ‘big boy’ stuff, and I’ll certainly be doing more listening than I will be talking.”

He said Saturday he did weigh in on occasion.

“The mute button was turned off a couple of times to chime in,” he said.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

The World’s Highest-Paid Golfers 2024

Jon rahm is no. 1 with a record $218 million in earnings—more than double the next highest player—despite not winning a tournament this year. and five other liv golfers join him atop the leaderboard., by justin birnbaum , forbes staff.

In 2022, when Scottie Scheffler wrapped up his final round at the BMW Championship in Wilmington, Delaware, he accomplished something no player on the PGA Tour had ever done before. The world’s No. 1 golfer posted a record-breaking $14 million in regular season earnings . A year earlier, Jon Rahm topped the PGA Tour’s official money list with a little more than half that amount, $7.7 million.

Scheffler followed that campaign with another extraordinary season, obliterating his own record and earning more than $21 million last year. And as impressive as that may have been, the 27-year-old has already surpassed his mark again, having won more than $24 million with roughly a third of the 2024 golf season remaining. Scheffler has been dominant on the course again, winning the Masters for the second time and four other tournaments. But he’s also been the beneficiary of rising financial tides in the sport.

The PGA Tour will award $402.4 million in prize money in just the 2024 regular season alone, with roughly another $340 million on the table when factoring the four Majors, a slate of yet-to-be scheduled fall events and bonus pools from the FedEx Cup, the Comcast Business Tour Top 10 and the Player Impact Program. That amounts to more than $740 million disbursed to players this year, about 9% more than the $680 million from the 2022-23 season. (In 2024, the PGA Tour returned to a calendar year format as opposed to the multi-year schedule it had used since 2013.)

A lucrative media rights package spread across CBS, NBC, ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery, which reportedly pays the PGA Tour nearly $900 million per year, has played a role in the sport’s financial growth. Despite the progress the PGA Tour has made, it’s a player from LIV Golf, Jon Rahm, who is the highest-paid golfer for 2024.

The breakaway tour, backed by the $925 billion (assets) Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, has permanently altered the economics of golf with its unusual format and astronomical paydays . By the time LIV completes its third season in 2024, it will have awarded nearly $1.1 billion in prize money, on top of committing at least $1 billion in guarantees to entice the defections of star golfers to the upstart league.

“It’s simple economics,” says Tim Derdenger, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business. “Competition is good for the players.”

Combined, the world’s 10 highest-paid golfers earned an estimated $678 million over the past 12 months before taxes and agents’ fees, a 10% decrease from $752 million in 2023. That’s mainly because LIV has slowed its outsized spending spree in the past year, with Rahm being the only big-name defection. The 29-year-old Spaniard joined the Saudi-backed tour for a reported $350 million guarantee, half of which Forbes estimates he received up front. With total earnings of $218 million, he’s the third LIV golfer to rank No. 1 on our list in the last three years even though he has yet to win an event on his new tour.

Rory McIlroy, a stalwart PGA Tour player, is a distant second this year with $83 million in total earnings, despite collecting victories at the Genesis Open, the Zurich Classic and the Wells Fargo Championship over the past 12 months. The 35-year-old McIlroy remains the most successful pitchman not named Tiger Woods in the sport, partnering with Nike, Optum, and Workday, among others. Woods, who pulled in an estimated $67 million and left Nike in January after 27 years to launch a joint apparel venture with TaylorMade called Sun Day Red, ranked No. 3, just ahead of the fourth-place Scheffler at $61 million.

The long-term impact of golf’s fractured landscape, however, remains unclear. While the warring tours have increased player earnings over the past few years, dividing the best golfers in the world has left fans and longtime sponsors of the sport with a less-compelling product. A solution appeared to be on the horizon last June when the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund agreed to join forces to form a new for-profit, commercial entity called PGA Tour Enterprises. The move, which ended a slew of bitter legal battles between the tours, has also drawn antitrust concerns from Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Negotiations have stalled and, in the meantime, the PGA Tour found another investor in a consortium of American billionaires. Strategic Sports Group, which is backed Boston Red Sox co-owners John Henry and Tom Werner, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and Boston Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck, as well as other investors, imbued the nascent enterprise with $3 billion in January. In the months since, PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan has outlined a $1.5 billion equity program earmarked for players on tour, and Woods joined the PGA Tour Enterprises’ 13-member board of directors.

While the recent resignation of Jimmy Dunne, a PGA Tour policy member and one of the architects behind the initial deal with the PIF, has done little to inspire hope that a revised agreement is coming any time soon, the PGA Tour issued a vague statement citing progress from a recent meeting in New York on June 7. “Definitely things are heading in the right direction,” McIlroy told reporters at the Memorial Tournament over the weekend . “A lot of progress was made. I can't really say much more than that, but it was really positive.”

THE WORLD’S 10 HIGHEST-PAID GOLFERS 2024

No. 1 • $218 million

On-course: $198 million | off-course: $20 million | age: 29 | tour: liv.

Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Much like many of his LIV compatriots, Rahm’s move to the upstart league cost him a slew of sponsors. In July, he signed a multi-year extension with digital supply chain firm Blue Yonder, having previously worn their logo on his chest. However, the partnership is no longer active and he now wears the logo of his LIV team, Legion XIII, in that spot. Rahm will not compete in the U.S. Open this weekend due to a foot injury.

No. 2 • $83 million

Rory mcilroy, on-course: $38 million | off-course: $45 million | age: 35 | tour: pga.

Andrew Redington/Getty Images

One of the PGA Tour’s most outspoken supporters since the arrival of LIV Golf, McIlroy recently lamented how the division have played out. “In hindsight, I wish I hadn’t have gotten as deeply involved in it,” he told reporters last month . The ongoing tour drama hasn’t stopped his momentum off the course, though. McIlroy cofounded TMRW Sports with Tiger Woods and sports executive Mike McCarley, which plans to launch a stadium-based, virtual golf league in 2025, while his Symphony Ventures has invested in companies like Puttery, Hyperice and Whoop.

No. 3 • $67 million

Tiger woods, on-course: $12 million | off-course: $55 million | age: 48 | tour: pga.

Woods may no longer be the Major-winning machine he once was, but he still found a way to break another record this year. In April, he made the cut at the Masters for the 24th consecutive time, passing Gary Player and Fred Couples. Unfortunately, his pursuit of a sixth green jacket came up far short. Woods finished 60th at Augusta.

No. 4 • $61 million

Scottie scheffler, on-course: $41 million | off-course: $20 million | age: 27 | tour: pga.

Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR/Getty Images

Scheffler currently has a vice grip on the World Golf Ranking’s No. 1 spot. His only blemish in 2024 was a traffic-related incident while on the way to the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club that resulted in the alleged assault of a Louisville police officer and Scheffler’s subsequent arrest . The charges were dropped two weeks later, though he told reporters he’s still struggling with the incident . “It’s not something that I love reliving, just because it was fairly traumatic for me being arrested going into the golf course.”

No. 5 • $47 million

Cameron smith, on-course: $43 million | off-course: $4 million | age: 30 | tour: liv.

Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Smith may have received a reported $100 million guarantee to join LIV Golf, but his time with the upstart tour has been far more lucrative on the course than a decade spent competing in PGA Tour events and Majors. In three seasons, the 2022 British Open Champion has won just shy of $40 million in prize money with LIV , according to Spotrac, roughly $5 million more than his career total on the PGA Tour .

No. 6 • $44 million

Bryson dechambeau, on-course: $43 million | off-course: $1 million | age: 30 | tour: liv.

Warren Little/Getty Images

DeChambeau may not have the endorsement portfolio he once had, a list that once included Cobra Puma Golf, Bridgestone and Rocket Mortgage, among others. But his lighter sponsorship load has opened other opportunities, such as growing his YouTube presence. DeChambeau’s channel now has more than 670,000 subscribers and over 76 million views, with a nine-hole match between DeChambeau and Mickelson scoring 2.6 million views alone.

No. 7 • $43 million

Brooks koepka, on-course: $35 million | off-course: $8 million | age: 34 | tour: liv.

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Koepka celebrated his 34th birthday last month by winning the fourth LIV Golf event of his career at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore, which made him the career leader in titles on the nascent tour. He also remains the only golfer to win a Major under the LIV banner, with a victory at the 2023 PGA Championship. Off the course, Koepka has partnerships with Nike, Srixon and NetJets.

No. 8 • $40 million

Viktor hovland, on-course: $33 million | off-course: $7 million | age: 26 | tour: pga.

Hovland is still chasing his first Major title and he’s come achingly close, finishing second to Koepka at the PGA Championship last year. In the meantime, he has plenty to celebrate. Hovland secured the FedEx Cup crown in 2023, which came with an $18 million bonus.

No. 9 • $38 million

Phil mickelson, on-course: $36 million | off-course: $2 million | age: 53 | tour: liv.

Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Mickelson has earned more than $1 billion in his golf career, becoming the second player, after Woods, to surpass that mark. However, his ability to spend has become equally infamous. The 53-year-old allegedly bet more than $1 billion over the past three decades, with losses reaching as much as $100 million, according to a book written by renowned professional gambler Billy Walters . Off the course, Mickelson has become significantly less active since joining LIV, but he did cofound coffee company For Wellness in 2020.

No. 10 • $37 million

Dustin johnson, on-course: $32 million | off-course: $5 million | age: 39 | tour: liv.

Jon Ferrwy/LIV Golf/Getty Images

Johnson gave a simple explanation for why he joined LIV Golf. “Play less golf, play for more money—it just made sense,” he told Forbes in 2022 . The two-time Major winner hasn’t quite earned the roughly $75 million he did in his PGA Tour career yet, but with $56 million in LIV prize money, according to Spotrac, and a reported guarantee of $125 million, he’s not exactly hurting for cash. The 39-year-old also recently joined a slew of legendary athletes, including Derek Jeter, Serena Williams and Michael Strahan, as an investor in Cincoro Tequila.

METHODOLOGY

This year’s list of the world’s highest-paid golfers tracks earnings over the last 12 months, dating to the 2023 U.S. Open. The on-course earnings figures include prize money and bonuses, as well as upfront payments golfers received for signing with LIV Golf. Based on conversations with a dozen industry sources, Forbes estimates top-tier LIV players received half of their guarantees upfront while lower-tier players received smaller sums in bulk. Forbes estimates any remaining signing money is being paid in equal annual installments across four-year contracts. Bonuses from the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program are included in on-course income, while payments for joining the TGL were not included since the league pushed its start back to 2025.

The off-course earnings figures are an estimate of sponsorship deals, appearance fees and memorabilia and licensing income over the last 12 months, plus cash returns from any businesses in which the athlete has a significant interest. Forbes does not include investment income such as interest payments or dividends but does account for payouts from equity stakes athletes have sold. Forbes does not deduct for taxes or agents’ fees.

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PGA Tour reports progress with Saudi PIF, offers no details

Rory McIlroy explains why Jimmy Dunne's departure from the PGA Tour's policy board is such a big loss. (1:09)

• Associated Press

The PGA Tour reported progress without details from a face-to-face meeting between its negotiating committee and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia as it tries to work toward a deal.

"We want to get this right, and we are approaching discussions with careful consideration for our players, our fans, our partners and the game's future," the tour said in a statement released Saturday morning.

The meeting in New York on Friday evening involved the "transaction committee" of PGA Tour Enterprises and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund that pays for rival LIV Golf.

Rory McIlroy , who is on the committee and participated on a video call, said he was encouraged by the progress. He referred to the three-hour meeting as "very productive, very constructive, very collaborative."

"Definitely things are heading in the right direction," McIlroy said after the third round of the Memorial. "A lot of progress was made. I can't really say much more than that, but it was really positive."

PGA Tour Enterprises is the commercial group that came out of the framework agreement announced a year ago among the PGA Tour, PIF and the European tour.

PGA Tour Enterprises brought on Strategic Sports Group, which invested an initial $1.5 billion earlier this year. Negotiations are ongoing to bring in PIF as a minority investor, and there has been more activity than previously believed.

McIlroy, who joined Tiger Woods and Adam Scott on the transaction committee, said it has been meeting with PIF representatives every Monday, Wednesday and Friday over the last couple of weeks. The tour referred to negotiations as "accelerated" in recent months.

Friday's meeting was the first in-person discussion since players and board members met with Al-Rumayyan in the Bahamas the day after The Players Championship in March.

The tour said the committee and PIF have been meeting "multiple times weekly to work through potential deal terms and come to a shared vision on the future of professional golf." It said only that "more progress was made" in New York.

"We remain committed to these negotiations, which require working through complex considerations to best position golf for global growth," the tour said.

McIlroy said those multiple meetings are more about financials, such as the investment possibilities of PIF and SSG.

"But I think last night was more talking about the future of the game and the vision, and that was where I thought there was a lot of progress that was made," he said.

Woods and Scott are on the full PGA Tour Enterprises board, along with player directors Jordan Spieth , Webb Simpson , Patrick Cantlay and Peter Malnati .

McIlroy resigned from the PGA Tour board last November, and there was an unsuccessful attempt by Simpson to have McIlroy replace him. McIlroy, the strongest voice who has gone from heavy criticism of LIV to being more willing to compromise, is part of the transaction committee and ultimately does not have a vote.

But he has relationships with both sides of the table. McIlroy had said he would be more in listen mode when the business leaders -- Al-Rumayyan and his team at PIF, a PGA Tour Enterprises committee that includes four SSG investors -- sorted through details.

"We're there to maybe give a perspective from player's point of view," McIlroy had said Thursday. "But, I mean, this is a negotiation about an investment into PGA Tour Enterprises. This is 'big boy' stuff, and I'll certainly be doing more listening than I will be talking."

He said Saturday he did weigh in on occasion.

"The mute button was turned off a couple of times to chime in," he said.