LIV Golf Explained

Golf Monthly

It’s fair to say that LIV golf has truly shaken up the world of men’s professional golf, especially with the signings of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton for its third season in 2024. But, how does it all work? In this video, we’re going to find out.

Transcript

00:00It's fair to say that Live Golf has truly shaken up the world of men's professional golf,

00:04especially with the signings of Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton for its third season in 2024.

00:10But how does it all work? In this video, we're going to find out.

00:16The Live Golf League consists of 14 events across the world,

00:20starting in February and running until the closing event in August.

00:24While five of its tournaments are held in the US, the league will also visit Hong Kong,

00:29Australia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Spain and the UK for its 2024 season.

00:37Each event is three days long, featuring 18 three balls, all starting simultaneously with a shotgun

00:42start and there is no mid-tournament cut. For 2024, the league has 54 players, 13 teams of four each,

00:50along with two wildcard entries each week. These wildcards can earn points in the individual

00:55standings and if they perform well, could earn a future spot on a Live Golf team.

00:59In 2024, each tournament has a $20 million purse for the individual event divided up between all 54

01:06players and a $5 million purse for the team event going to the top three teams.

01:12To give you an idea of how that is all split out, let's take a look at the Live Golf Las Vegas event

01:16that took place in February 2024. Justin Johnson won that event and took home $4 million, while

01:23second place Taylor Gooch won $1.875 million. With no cuts at Live events, it still means that last

01:30placed Brendan Steele and Charles Swartzall took home $50,000 each despite finishing 22 shots behind the

01:37winner. The team prize money is divided between the top three teams and at the Live Las Vegas event,

01:42Smash GC won the team event by having the best combined score over the three rounds. Its four

01:49members, Graham McDowell, Taylor Gooch, Brooks Koepka and Jason Kokrak split the $3 million between them.

01:56The second place team was four aces GC, they split $1.5 million, while third place range goats GC split

02:02$500,000. Aside from tournament weekends themselves, players and teams are battling it out across the

02:09season for two titles, the individual championship and the team championship. The individual championship

02:16runs throughout the season. So at each tournament players finish with their three round total score

02:22to par as we're sort of used to, and then the top 24 finishers earn points corresponding to their

02:28finishing position. The player with the most points at the end of the season wins the title.

02:33So, first place at a tournament gets 40 points, second place gets 30 points, and third place gets 24

02:40points. Points are given out to players finishing inside the top 24 only. These points gather cumulatively

02:47through the whole season. So in 2023, to give you an example, the individual title went to Taylor Gooch,

02:52who amassed 192 points across the whole campaign. At the end of the season, non-exempt players who finish

02:5945th or lower in the individual points table are relegated from the league. So, last year,

03:05Lee Westwood and Martin Keimer finished 45th and 49th respectively, but because they're exempt,

03:11because they're team captains, they did not get relegated. Jediah Morgan, James Pyatt, Chase Koepka

03:17and Shi Wang Kim were relegated from the league for finishing outside of the top 45. In 2024, the league

03:23introduced a transfer window and free agency period to allow for movement between rosters and trades to

03:30take place in the off-season. You can visit the Goal Monthly website for a separate explainer on how

03:35the live transfer system works. The team competition works in a very similar way to the individual

03:41championship. So each of the 13 teams builds a cumulatively score across a tournament weekend,

03:47and the top eight teams at the end of the weekend earn points corresponding to that finishing position.

03:54So, the team in first place for a weekend is awarded 32 points, second place gets 24 points,

03:59and third place 16 points, all the way down to the team finishing in eighth that week. For example,

04:05after two events of the 2024 season, John Rahm's new Legion 13 team finished first in one event and

04:12fifth in the other. With 32 points being awarded for first place and eight points being awarded for fifth

04:17place, the team currently has 40 points, leaving it in first place in the order of merit after two

04:23events. In one final twist, leading the league table after 13 events won't actually win you

04:29the team championship outright, as the league table simply decides the seedings for the final round of

04:34the year. The Live Golf League team championship finale takes place at the final event of the season

04:41in a knockout format that combines both match play and stroke play. So to give you an example, last year,

04:462023, while four aces GC amassed the most points over the season, they didn't win the final team

04:53knockout because Bryson DeChambeau crushed his GC, won that final event of the year,

04:59and claim the team championship for 2023.

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