What is the LIV Golf Series?
Dustin Johnson of the United States plays from the 4th tee during the first round of the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational at the Centurion Club in St. Albans, England, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Credit: AP/Alastair Grant
What is the LIV Golf Series?
The LIV Golf Series is a start-up professional golf tour created to compete with the PGA Tour. It is funded by the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. Former British Open champion Greg Norman is the CEO.
The series has seven regular-season tournaments and one championship tournament on its schedule. This weekend's inaugural tournament will be held at the Centurion Club in London. Six more tournaments will be held over the next four months, with a team championship taking place Oct. 27-30 at Trump National Doral.
What does the "LIV" stand for?
Surprise, it is not an acronym but rather a nod to the Roman numeral for 54. That would be a golfer's score if every hole on a par-72 course was birdied. It is also how many holes are played during LIV competitions.
Who's playing in the LIV Golf Series?
As of Thursday, confirmed competitors included Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Kevin Na and Louis Oosthuizen
Can LIV players also compete in PGA Tour events?
The PGA Tour informed the 17 players competing in the first LIV event on Thursday that they are suspended from the Tour. They will not be allowed to compete in any PGA Tour events, or on any other tour it sanctions, such as the Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour Champions, PGA Tour Canada and PGA Tour Latinoamerica.
However, the USGA controls the U.S. Open, and on Wednesday announced that all LIV golfers would be eligible to compete in next week's U.S. Open at The Country Club in Massachusetts.
What is the format of LIV golf events?
Tournaments last three days and 54 holes, as opposed to the four-day, 72-hole tournaments that the PGA Tour holds.
The individual aspect of each tournament is simple: Each field is 48 players, and there are no cuts. The lowest score at the end of the tournament wins.
But there's another layer to LIV tourrnaments: team competition.
Before each tournament, 12 players are named team captains, and they draft their teams of four. The top two two-stroke play scores are used for the first two rounds, with the top three counting for the final round. The team with the lowest overall score after 54 holes wins.
How much money is LIV paying the golfers?
Each tournament has a $25 million purse.
$20 million goes to the individual tournament, split between all 48 competitors (the winner gets $4 million, second receives $2.125 million, third gets $1.5 million, all the way down to $120,000 for last place).
The remaining $5 million is divvied up among the top three teams: the winning team splits $3 million evenly among its four player. The second-place team gets $1.5 million and third place earns $500,000.
After the seven regular-season events are over, anyone who competed in at least four events will get a portion of a $30 million bonus pool, with the individual champion getting $18 million.
The season-ending team championship will have a $50 million pool split among 12 teams, with the winners receiving $16 million.
Where can I watch the LIV golf events?
As of now, LIV tournaments won't be aired on any TV networks, but the events are being streamed on YouTube, Facebook, or the LIV Golf website.
Nick Klopsis is Newsday.com's sports editor. He often can be found studying NFL and college football film for his latest draft breakdown.
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