LIV Golf LIVE

The LIV Golf League

The LIV Golf League is a professional golf tour initiated and financed by the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund. With the series, Greg Norman, the former founding CEO of LIV Golf Investments, created an alternative to previous top tours: These are the PGA Tour in the USA and the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour). Even for golf professionals, the level of LIV Golf's total prize money — more than four hundred million dollars — is impressive. The very first LIV event had prize money of 25 million dollars and was therefore one of the most lucrative golf tournaments in history.

Special features of LIV Golf

In 2025, the LIV Golf League consisted of fourteen tournaments — thirteen regular events and a team final at the end of the season.
A major difference between LIV Golf and other major tours lies in the format. Each tournament consists of three rounds — without a cut. In addition, all rounds start with a so-called “shotgun start”. All 52 players are therefore on the golf course at the same time, with groups of three starting on different holes.
The idea behind this is to compress the action of each day into a shorter period of time. The entire field is on the court at the same time, there are fewer interruptions in the game.
In addition, the players play both individually and as a team. There are 13 teams, each with four players. Each team has a captain; a draft system determines which players play on which team.

The participants

Phil Mickelson, the former world ranking runner-up, praised the progressive format of the LIV Golf League and was involved in its design. Greg Norman also saw the tour as a unique opportunity to truly develop the potential of golf. The Australian was CEO of LIV Golf until August 2025. Numerous golf stars such as Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood, Sergio García and Ian Poulter are now taking part in LIV Golf. Martin Kaymer, two-time major winner from Germany, also switched from the DP World Tour to the invitation series.

The tour is not without controversy — keyword sportswashing. Players who compete there were sanctioned by the PGA and DP World Tour. However, golf professionals such as Jon Rahm, Masters winner and LIV professional, would like to support these traditional tours as well.

Venues — LIV Golf on the road

One reason for founding LIV Golf was the desire to make golf a more global experience again. Since the PGA Tour only hosts a few events outside the USA, LIV Golf wanted to break into a niche here. Although the DP World Tour is also on the road in Australia, Asia, Africa and Europe, it lacks the star power of the really big names compared to the PGA Tour.

In 2026, LIV Golf will once again advance to all possible corners of the world. It goes from Saudi Arabia via Australia to Asia, via South Africa to Mexico, the USA and Europe.

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