What is LIV Golf? Players, field, tour schedule, news for league with Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson

LIV Golf is now greater than midway via its inaugural season after completion of play in Chicago. Making headlines each on and off the golf course, LIV Golf has taken its battle to the courtroom, social media and past. While the precise play in LIV Golf has been compelling at instances, the general construction, presence and way forward for the group stays its most intriguing element within the context of males’s skilled golf.

Plenty of questions have been answered since its inaugural occasion in London from June Sep 11, however nonetheless extra stay and not using a response. What will the way forward for this rival tour seem like? How will the group facet of the competitors conflict with the person facet? Will LIV Golf have the ability to recruit a number of the finest gamers on the earth with its Official World Golf Rankings standing within the air? Is a court docket date with the PGA Tour inevitable?

At each step alongside the way in which, solutions about this league have solely produced extra questions and clarification has solely made the long run extra sophisticated. 

The breakdown under is our try to share with you every part that is identified thus far as we head into the no matter LIV Golf is going to seem like sooner or later. Whether this seems to be a fork or bump within the street {of professional} golf stays to be seen (solely the long run will retroactively decide that), nevertheless it does really feel monumental within the second.

LIV Golf, empowered by its limitless battle chest of assets to throw at the very best gamers, is formally at odds with the PGA Tour. It’s a time period that has been promised for a very long time, and is lastly going down. Let’s check out what we all know and what we are able to anticipate within the weeks, months and years forward as LIV Golf wraps up its first season on the finish of October.

What is LIV Golf?

LIV Golf is a rival golf league to the PGA Tour the place the tournaments include 54 holes, the fields are restricted to 48 golfers and the purses are an astronomical $25 million. Twelve, four-man groups will compete in every occasion, and the person purses will probably be $20 million whereas the opposite $5 million will probably be divided up among the many finest groups every week.

Who leads LIV Golf?

LIV Golf Investments runs the league, and its CEO is two-time main champion Greg Norman. It is funded by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which is successfully the monetary arm of the Saudi Arabian authorities. These funds are seemingly limitless because the league has paid tons of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to gamers simply to ensure their appearances on the LIV Golf Invitational Series occasions.

Who is enjoying for LIV Golf?

It started with Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson headlining the London occasion and has since grown into a good roster. Major champions Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed rapidly adopted the lead of their fellow Americans. 

More not too long ago, and extra importantly, world No. 3 and Champion Golfer of the Year Cameron Smith made the leap after the completion of the 2022 Tour Championship. He was joined by younger Chilean Joaquin Niemann as two worldwide gamers who selected to forgo the Presidents Cup in lieu of enjoying within the LIV Golf occasion in Boston. While the preliminary demographics skewed in the direction of older gamers like Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Mickelson, there was an inflow of youthful expertise with Abraham Ancer and Harold Varner III amongst others.

Here’s a have a look at the 49 males who presently play for LIV Golf and their Official World Golf Rankings (Bubba Watson is a non-playing captain and is set to compete as soon as totally recovered from harm).

What is happening legally between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour?

Originally, 11 LIV Golf gamers have been part of an antitrust lawsuit in opposition to the PGA Tour. This swimsuit additionally sought a short lived restraining order for Hudson Swafford, Matt Jones and Talor Gooch to take part within the 2021-22 FedEx Cup Playoffs — which was in the end denied and barred them from enjoying within the PGA Tour postseason.

Since then, slowly however certainly, increasingly more of the unique members have eliminated their names from the lawsuit. Previously, Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Jason Kokrak and Pat Perez left the swimsuit. More not too long ago, Talor Gooch, Mickelson, Poulter and Swafford adopted of their footsteps. 

This leaves solely three gamers searching for punitive damages in a authorized battle with the PGA Tour: Bryson DeChambeau, Peter Uihlein and Jones. The trial is set to start in January 2024.

The Tour has over and over pointed again to its guidelines and laws on this matter and stays set on conserving those that have performed on LIV Golf off the PGA Tour. Commissioner Jay Monahan was requested on the Tour Championship if there was any likelihood LIV Golf members could be welcomed again onto the PGA Tour to which he blatantly answered, “no.”

How has the PGA Tour reacted to LIV Golf?

After a players-only assembly on the BMW Championship led by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, sweeping modifications have been made to the PGA Tour schedule and the therapy of its star gamers. Here are the spark notes of this new-look PGA Tour beginning this season.

• Top gamers will decide to at the least 20 PGA Tour occasions: These tournaments will embody the eight elevated occasions as beforehand designated, 4 extra elevated occasions with purses of at the least $20 million (to be introduced), The Players Championship, the 4 main championships and three different FedEx Cup occasions of gamers’ selecting.
• The PIP will probably be expanded: The PIP has been elevated from the highest 10 gamers to the highest 20 for 2022 and 2023. Not solely has the participant pool expanded, so has the prize pool, which is able to now whole $100 million, double the $50 million beforehand introduced. It is from these high 20 lists that “top players” will probably be outlined.
• Modifications  made for Lifetime Membership: No longer will 15 seasons of membership be mandatory. Once a participant reaches 20 wins, he will probably be eligible. With this modification, McIlroy has secured his lifetime membership with Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth solely being a handful of wins away.

Will LIV Golf obtain Official World Golf Rankings factors?

LIV Golf is nonetheless awaiting the standing of its OWGR software regardless of its finest makes an attempt to expedite the method. All 49 gamers not too long ago despatched a letter to the OWGR chairman requesting that world rating factors be retroactively utilized to its occasions. Comparing the OWGR with out LIV to school soccer with out the SEC or FIFA with out Belgium, it is unlikely this holds any advantage. 

Meanwhile, gamers have begun to tee it up on the DP World Tour with some consistency on weeks wherein there is no LIV Golf occasion. The high 50 gamers within the OWGR on the finish of the calendar 12 months will probably be invited to the 2023 Masters making it a mad sprint for gamers to build up as many factors as attainable earlier than then.

Will the majors enable golfers to play?

That’s a fair higher query that has at the least some readability. The reply within the brief time period is: sure. The main organizations — PGA of America, USGA, R&A and Augusta National — probably will not announce suspensions or bans of gamers who take part. There is a possible that qualifying criterias are modified sooner or later, nonetheless as of now if a LIV participant features entry via earlier exemptions or the ample OWGR (factors which LIV has but to safe) he ought to have the ability to compete.

What is the LIV Golf schedule?

Five occasions have already taken place in 2022, with three remaining. Here’s a have a look at what’s left on the schedule for the inaugural season.

• Bangkok, Thailand: Oct. 7-9
• Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Oct. 14-16
• Miami, Florida: Oct. 27-30

LIV Golf has launched a tentative schedule for 2023 with 14 stops across the globe spanning Washington D.C., Spain and Australia. This is unofficial as particulars have but to be confirmed.

• February: Florida (course TBD)
• February: California (course TBD)
• March: Tucson (Dove Mountain or the Gallery)
• April: Australia (Sydney or Queensland)
• April: Singapore (Sentosa)
• May: Washington D.C. (CBS Sports can affirm Trump National DC the week after PGA Championship)
• June: Philadelphia (course TBD)
• July: London (Centurion)
• July: Spain (Valderrama the week earlier than The Open)
• August: New Jersey (Trump National Bedminster)
• August: West Virginia (The Greenbrier)
• September: Chicago (course TBD)
• September: Toronto or Mexico (course TBD)
• September: Florida (Trump National Doral)

What does LIV Golf’s season finale seem like?

It is not going to seem like the Tour Championship, that is for sure. Taking place from Oct. 28-30, the highest 4 groups in LIV will obtain a bye on the primary day whereas groups 5-12 will compete in match-play competitions with the higher-ranked groups deciding on their opponents. For every matchup, three matches consisting of two singles matches and one alternate-shot match will happen.

The identical format will probably be used for Day 2 of competitors with the 4 victors from Day 1 and the 4 groups which acquired a bye all enjoying. From there, the 4 winners from Day 2 will advance to the ultimate stage which will probably be totally different.

The 4 successful groups will compete in stroke play on the ultimate day of competitors. All 16 gamers will compete and all 4 scores will rely in the direction of the group’s rating. The lowest group rating will probably be topped the LIV Golf Invitational Series Team Champion.