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

Everything to know about the pga tour's newest rival.

LIV Golf is now more than halfway through its inaugural season after completion of play in Chicago. Making headlines both on and off the golf course, LIV Golf has taken its battle to the courtroom, social media and beyond. While the actual play in LIV Golf has been compelling at times, the overall structure, presence and future of the organization remains its most intriguing component in the context of men's professional golf.

Plenty of questions have been answered since its inaugural event in London from June 9-11, but still more remain without a response. What will the future of this rival tour look like? How will the team aspect of the competition clash with the individual side? Will LIV Golf be able to recruit some of the best players in the world with its Official World Golf Rankings status in the air? Is a court date with the PGA Tour inevitable?

At every step along the way, answers about this league have only produced more questions and clarification has only made the future more complicated. 

The breakdown below is our attempt to share with you everything that's known to this point as we head into the whatever LIV Golf is going to look like in the future. Whether this turns out to be a fork or bump in the road of professional golf remains to be seen (only the future will retroactively determine that), but it does feel monumental in the moment.

LIV Golf, empowered by its unlimited war chest of resources to throw at the best players, is officially at odds with the PGA Tour. It's a period of time that has been promised for a long time, and is finally taking place. Let's take a look at what we know and what we can expect in the weeks, months and years ahead as LIV Golf wraps up its first season at the end of October.

What is LIV Golf?

LIV Golf is a rival golf league to the PGA Tour where the tournaments consist of 54 holes, the fields are limited to 48 golfers and the purses are an astronomical $25 million. Twelve, four-man teams will compete in each event, and the individual purses will be $20 million while the other $5 million will be divided up among the best teams each week.

Who leads LIV Golf?

LIV Golf Investments runs the league, and its CEO is two-time major champion Greg Norman. It is funded by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which is effectively the financial arm of the Saudi Arabian government. These funds are seemingly limitless as the league has paid hundreds of millions of dollars to players just to guarantee their appearances at the LIV Golf Invitational Series events.

Who is playing for LIV Golf?

It began with Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson headlining the London event and has since grown into a respectable roster. Major champions Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed quickly followed the lead of their fellow Americans. 

More recently, and more 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 young Chilean Joaquin Niemann as two international players who chose to forgo the Presidents Cup in lieu of playing in the LIV Golf event in Boston. While the initial demographics skewed towards older players like Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Mickelson, there has been an influx of younger talent with Abraham Ancer and Harold Varner III among others.

Here's a look at the 49 men who currently play for LIV Golf and their Official World Golf Rankings (Bubba Watson is a non-playing captain and is set to compete once fully recovered from injury).

What is going on legally between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour?

Originally, 11 LIV Golf players were a part of an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour. This suit also sought a temporary restraining order for Hudson Swafford, Matt Jones and Talor Gooch to participate in the 2021-22 FedEx Cup Playoffs -- which was ultimately denied and barred them from playing in the PGA Tour postseason.

Since then, slowly but surely, more and more of the original members have removed their names from the lawsuit. Previously, Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Jason Kokrak and Pat Perez left the suit. More recently, Talor Gooch, Mickelson, Poulter and Swafford followed in their footsteps. 

This leaves only three players seeking punitive damages in a legal battle with the PGA Tour: Bryson DeChambeau, Peter Uihlein and Jones. The trial is set to begin in January 2024.

The Tour has over and over again pointed back to its rules and regulations in this matter and remains set on keeping those who have played on LIV Golf off the PGA Tour. Commissioner Jay Monahan was asked at the Tour Championship if there was any chance LIV Golf members would be welcomed back onto the PGA Tour to which he blatantly answered, "no."

How has the PGA Tour reacted to LIV Golf?

After a players-only meeting at the BMW Championship led by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, sweeping changes have been made to the PGA Tour schedule and the treatment of its star players. Here are the spark notes of this new-look PGA Tour starting this season.

• Top players will commit to at least 20 PGA Tour events:  These tournaments will include the eight elevated events as previously designated, four additional elevated events with purses of at least $20 million (to be announced), The Players Championship, the four major championships and three other FedEx Cup events of players' choosing.
• The PIP will be expanded:  The PIP has been increased from the top 10 players to the top 20 for 2022 and 2023. Not only has the player pool expanded, so has the prize pool, which will now total $100 million, double the $50 million previously announced. It is from these top 20 lists that "top players" will be defined.
• Modifications  made for Lifetime Membership:  No longer will 15 seasons of membership be necessary. Once a player reaches 20 wins, he will be eligible. With this change, McIlroy has secured his lifetime membership with Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth only being a handful of wins away.

Will LIV Golf receive Official World Golf Rankings points?

LIV Golf is still awaiting the status of its OWGR application despite its best attempts to expedite the process. All 49 players recently sent a letter to the OWGR chairman requesting that world ranking points be retroactively applied to its events. Comparing the OWGR without LIV to college football without the SEC or FIFA without Belgium, it is unlikely this holds any merit. 

Meanwhile, players have begun to tee it up on the DP World Tour with some consistency on weeks in which there is no LIV Golf event. The top 50 players in the OWGR at the end of the calendar year will be invited to the 2023 Masters making it a mad dash for players to accumulate as many points as possible before then.

Will the majors allow golfers to play?

That's an even better question that has at least some clarity.  The answer in the short term is: yes . The major organizations -- PGA of America, USGA, R&A and Augusta National -- likely won't announce suspensions or bans of players who participate. There is a potential that qualifying criterias are modified in the future, however as of now if a LIV player gains entry through previous exemptions or the adequate OWGR (points which LIV has yet to secure) he should be able to compete.

What is the LIV Golf schedule?

Five events have already taken place in 2022, with three remaining. Here's 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 released a tentative schedule for 2023 with 14 stops around the globe spanning Washington D.C., Spain and Australia.  This is unofficial as details have yet 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 confirm Trump National DC the week after PGA Championship)
• June: Philadelphia (course TBD)
• July: London (Centurion)
• July: Spain (Valderrama the week before 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 look like?

It will not look like the Tour Championship, that is for certain. Taking place from Oct. 28-30, the top four teams in LIV will receive a bye on the first day while teams 5-12 will compete in match-play competitions with the higher-ranked teams selecting their opponents. For each matchup, three matches consisting of two singles matches and one alternate-shot match will take place.

The same format will be used for Day 2 of competition with the four victors from Day 1 and the four teams which received a bye all playing. From there, the four winners from Day 2 will advance to the final stage which will be different.

The four winning teams will compete in stroke play on the final day of competition. All 16 players will compete and all four scores will count towards the team's score. The lowest team score will be crowned the LIV Golf Invitational Series Team Champion.

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What Is LIV Golf? It Depends Whom You Ask.

Bold new project or crass money grab? Even golf’s best players (and former President Donald Trump) disagree on the merits of the Saudi-financed golf tour.

By Alan Blinder ,  Tariq Panja and Andrew Das

The Saudi-financed, controversy-trailed LIV Golf series has been the talk of men’s golf since its launch last year.

But what is it? Who is playing it? What’s all the hubbub, and how can you watch it ? Here’s what you need to know.

What is LIV Golf?

The series, which Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund bankrolled with at least $2 billion, has presented itself as “an opportunity to reinvigorate golf” through rich paydays, star players, team competition and slick marketing.

LIV Golf’s organizers hope to position it as a player-focused alternative to the PGA Tour, which has been the highest level of men’s pro golf for generations.

The World of LIV Golf

A guide to the entangled and far-reaching power structure of the Saudi-financed golf tour.

LIV’s critics, which include some of the world’s best players, have labeled it an unseemly money grab that is diminishing golf as a sporting test.

How much money are we talking about?

When LIV debuted in June 2022 , its tournaments were the richest in golf history, with regular-season events boasting purses of $25 million. The winner’s share at each stop was $4 million, and the last-place finisher was guaranteed $120,000. (For context, the winner of the 2022 Masters Tournament received $2.7 million, a prize bumped up to $3.24 million in 2023.)

And LIV’s prize money was on top of the appearance fees and signing guarantees accepted by individual players. Phil Mickelson, a six-time major tournament winner, is being paid a reported $200 million to take part, and Dustin Johnson , a Masters and U.S. Open champion, was said to have been tempted by an offer worth $150 million. Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed and Cameron Smith are among the players who appear to have received multimillion-dollar inducements to surrender their PGA Tour careers.

The PGA Tour has since increased the purses at some of its events , but the blend of guaranteed money and LIV prize funds has kept the young league writing the biggest checks in golf.

Who are the players?

LIV has 48-player fields, and some of the men who participate are indisputably big names in pro golf. Beyond the past major champions like Koepka, Mickelson and Smith, there are also players like Lee Westwood, formerly the world’s top-ranked golfer, the Ryder Cup stalwart Ian Poulter and Mito Pereira, who came tantalizingly close to winning a major in 2022.

The PGA Tour has retained the loyalties of other stars, though. Tiger Woods, who rebuffed a nine-figure offer from LIV, has denigrated the league's approach to competition and complained that its players “turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position.” Rory McIlroy has been a fearsome critic , and Jon Rahm, who won the 2023 Masters , said earlier this year that he thought the PGA Tour was “making the necessary changes to adapt to the new age, and I think it’s better for everybody.”

Despite the star power of some players, many LIV golfers are probably strangers even to deeply committed golf fans. But many know the league’s commissioner: Greg Norman, the two-time major tournament winner who spent years fuming over the PGA Tour’s structure.

So, is this a vanity project for Saudi Arabia?

Not exactly. Saudi Arabia is among the resource-rich Persian Gulf states that have turned toward sports to raise their profiles, reshape their reputations and develop their economies in new ways.

Through its sovereign wealth fund, Saudi Arabia has been around the forefront of the movement. In addition to LIV, the wealth fund has acquired the Premier League club Newcastle United , and Saudi money has poured into Formula 1 racing and boxing.

But documents obtained by The New York Times show that Saudi officials know that their golf foray may have limited financial payoff. McKinsey and Co. consultants privately told the wealth fund that a golf league could be earning revenues of at least $1.4 billion a year by the end of the decade — or be losing hundreds of millions of dollars.

For its part, the wealth fund has insisted it is nothing more than an investor in LIV. In February, though, a federal judge in the United States said she had concluded that the fund was “ the moving force behind the founding, funding, oversight and operation of LIV .”

How has the Saudi initiative gone over?

Not always well. One of LIV’s biggest signings, Mickelson, provoked outrage when he praised the series as a “ once-in-a-lifetime opportunity ” even as he called Saudi Arabia’s record on human rights “ horrible ” and used an expletive to emphasize a description of the country’s leaders as “scary.” Norman made things worse soon after later when he dismissed Saudi Arabia’s murder and dismemberment of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi by saying, “ Look, we’ve all made mistakes .”

Not that pro golf’s existing power structures, including the PGA Tour, have always held the moral high ground. See: here , here , here and here .

How have the established tours responded?

The PGA Tour, which is now mired in litigation against LIV, suspended players because it requires members to request and receive releases to play in events that conflict with those on its schedule.

The punishments were not a surprise: The tour had clearly signaled that it would take action against any of its players who joined. So moments after the players hit their first LIV shots, the tour dropped the hammer.

The suspensions also applied to any PGA Tour affiliates, including the developmental Korn Ferry Tour, tours in Canada and Latin America and, notably for the older players who joined the LIV series, the PGA Tour Champions circuit for golfers 50 and older.

The DP World Tour, formerly known as the European Tour, is closely aligned with the PGA Tour, and it imposed fines and suspensions on its players who appeared at LIV events. In April, an arbitration panel in London upheld the DP World Tour’s right to punish players , a decision that will affect the European roster for this year’s Ryder Cup, which will be contested this autumn in Italy, and for years to come.

That decision did not leave American golf organizations in the clear, though. In addition to the lawsuit LIV is waging against the PGA Tour, the Justice Department is conducting an antitrust investigation into men’s professional golf. Department officials have been especially interested in whether the PGA Tour’s threats of discipline undermined the integrity of golf’s labor market and in the ties between the tour and the organizers of major tournaments.

U.S. officials have interviewed Mickelson, DeChambeau and Sergio García as a part of their inquiry. It is not clear when the investigation will conclude, much less whether the government will try to force any changes in golf.

Can LIV golfers play the majors?

The PGA Tour has long, close links to the organizers of the four major tournaments: the British Open, the Masters, the P.G.A. Championship (which is run by an organization that is distinct from the PGA Tour) and the U.S. Open. But the tournament organizers have taken no steps to ban LIV players explicitly. At the Masters, contested in April, Koepka and Mickelson tied for second place. And in May, Koepka won the P.G.A. Championship by two strokes.

There is a catch, though: The tournament organizers set the criteria for entry and have the authority to change them at any time. Also, many, though not all, exemptions that grant automatic entries are based on relatively recent performances in sanctioned events, so many LIV players could ultimately find themselves excluded from the majors.

Norman felt a version of that power last summer , when the R&A, which runs the British Open, said it had “decided not to invite him to attend” a traditional dinner of past Open champions. Augusta National Golf Club also opted not to invite Norman to attend the Masters, but that decision was less freighted since Norman never won that event.

Some of the players who have signed up for LIV, and even many who have not, believe the PGA Tour offers many golfers a raw deal. The biggest stars contend their earnings should be more commensurate with their status in the game, and they have pointed out how the best players in other sports earn far more than golfers do.

Moreover, LIV players routinely argue that they should be viewed as independent contractors and free to play whenever and wherever they choose.

In their decision in the DP World Tour case, British arbitrators said pointedly that the independent contractor argument was “overplayed.”

“Individual players have to accept some limitation on their freedoms inherent in tour membership,” the panel said. No player, the arbitrators noted, “suggested that he had given up his independence by signing up to onerous (albeit remunerative) obligations to LIV.”

How do LIV Golf events work?

LIV has set up what are essentially shorter tournaments with smaller fields — three rounds instead of four, and with only 48 players competing instead of the rosters on the PGA Tour, which can be three times as large some weeks — and featuring concurrent individual and team play events.

With the small field, there is no cut midway through the event to lop off the stragglers, and every round starts with a shotgun start, meaning players tee off from different holes on the course simultaneously and then proceed around the course’s layout from there.

The individual competition feels, in many ways, like a traditional golf event: three rounds, lowest score wins. In the team event, four-man squads effectively contest a separate competition for a separate prize pot.

How is that different from the PGA Tour?

With rare exceptions, PGA Tour events generally consist of four rounds of stroke play, in which players compete against one another to post the lowest score. And while the LIV Golf format might feel unusual for players and viewers, the ultimate goal — circle the 18-hole course in as few shots as possible — is the same.

The PGA Tour is planning to eliminate the cut at some of its events beginning in 2024, a shift that LIV has openly relished.

How many events are there?

LIV Golf organizers scheduled 14 events for 2023. The schedule includes three events at courses controlled by former President Donald J. Trump’s family — keeping the league close to one of its greatest political patrons — as well as a tournament at Real Club Valderrama, the Spanish course that hosted the Ryder Cup in 1997.

Other venues are less dazzling. When someone essentially asked Johnson ahead of the Masters this spring to compare Orange County National Golf Center, where LIV had just held a tournament, to Augusta National, he replied: “I don’t think you could have those in the same sentence, other than I played there last week and I’m playing here this week.”

How can I watch?

In LIV’s first year tournaments were shown online and on lesser-watched streaming services in much of the world. For 2023, the league signed a deal with the CW Network to broadcast its events in the United States. It is not, however, thought to be the kind of deal that has the CW paying an enormous rights fee to LIV.

The CW is not exactly known for sports programming, but CBS, NBC and ESPN (which is owned by Disney, which in turn owns ABC) have enormous contracts to show PGA Tour competitions. Those networks may have their fill of golf, but they also may be wary of angering their business partners at the PGA Tour. LIV has argued in court papers that the tour pressured broadcasters not to do business with the rebel league.

Last thing: What’s with that name?

LIV (rhymes with give) Golf chose Roman numerals for its name. If it’s been a while since you studied those in school, LIV translates to 54, which is the number of holes each player sets out to complete in each event’s three-round format. That is one fewer round than a typical PGA Tour workweek, but it pays a lot more money.

Kevin Draper contributed reporting.

Alan Blinder is a sports reporter. He has reported from more than 30 states, as well as Asia and Europe, since he joined The Times in 2013. More about Alan Blinder

Tariq Panja covers some of the darker corners of the global sports industry. He is also a co-author of “Football’s Secret Trade,” an exposé on soccer’s multibillion-dollar player trading industry. More about Tariq Panja

Andrew Das joined The Times in 2006. An assistant editor in Sports, he helps direct coverage of soccer, the Olympics and international sports. More about Andrew Das

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Here's why the PGA Tour just merged with LIV Golf

The PGA Tour announced Tuesday it would merge with LIV Golf, a Saudi-backed men's golf organization that formed last year to compete with the PGA.

News of the merger sent shock waves through the sports world and even reached the highest echelons of the U.S. government, after a reporter sought comment from the Biden administration about the Saudi government's taking such a large stake in men's golf. Biden spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment.

Here's what it all means.

What is LIV Golf?

LIV was created in 2022 by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) alongside two of the world's most prominent players, Phil Mickelson and Greg Norman, and others.

Norman was appointed CEO, but it was Mickelson who helped LIV come into existence. Mickelson accused the PGA Tour of not fairly compensating players for things like highlight clips and other media rights , accusing the organization of "obnoxious greed."

Eventually, Mickelson helped persuade 48 players to abandon the PGA Tour for LIV.

The merger has shown that Saudi Arabia and its interests cannot be isolated, veteran U.S. diplomat Richard N. Haass said.

“It's not as big as the Biden visit or agreement with Iran , and it doesn't offset their recent failure to raise oil prices,” said Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations . "But it does send the signal they are a player who cannot be ignored."

Why did the PGA Tour initially bar players from participating in LIV?

The PGA Tour immediately viewed LIV Golf as a direct competitor — and many in the golf world agreed, often referring to it as a “breakaway league.”

So the Tour decided to force players to pick a side, creating harsh divisions in the golf world.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan also seemed to disparage the presence of the Saudis in LIV, asking rhetorically in a June 2022 interview , “Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?”

And in response to a lawsuit from players who'd joined LIV and said the PGA Tour had retaliated against them, lawyers for the organization condemned LIV as “a strategy by the Saudi government to use sports in an effort to improve its reputation for human rights abuses and other atrocities.”

So why is the PGA Tour merging with LIV?

The two leagues ended up suing each other — but acrimony and lawsuits ultimately proved bad business for the PGA Tour, which made the calculated decision to endure the blowback of turning 180 degrees in exchange for a unified effort with its former rival.

Lawsuits filed by suspended players and a federal probe into possible antitrust actions by the PGA Tour against LIV may also be moot in the wake of Tuesday's announcement.

"We've recognized that together we can have a far greater impact on this game than we can working apart," Monahan told CNBC, seated next to his LIV counterpart, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. "And I give Yasir great credit for coming to the table, coming to the discussions with an open heart and open mind."

Despite the vast financial resources at its disposal thanks to its Saudi backing, LIV had failed to secure major TV deals to broadcast its events, which were often instead relegated to livestreams on YouTube.

With its commercial viability in doubt, LIV officials may have decided it was better to cut their losses and approach the PGA Tour with an offering of peace — and money.

How much money is involved? What are the financial incentives on both sides?

Terms of the merger haven't been disclosed, but LIV Golf players were reportedly being promised eight- and nine-figure earnings to join the league, thanks to the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which is worth about $676 billion.

CNBC's David Faber, who helped break Tuesday's news with an exclusive interview with Monahan and Al-Rumayyan, said the PIF plans to invest "billions" into the newly formed entity while it retains a minority stake.

How will major golf events be affected?

They won't.

The Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open (now known as The Open) and the PGA Championship (which, despite its name, isn't actually owned by the PGA Tour) are all separate entities from the PGA Tour.

Nor does the Tour control the biennial team-based Ryder Cup tournament — though heading into this year's event, there were questions about whether U.S. team captain Zach Johnson would forgo selecting LIV members.

Have there been mergers in professional sports before?

All four of North America's major professional team sports leagues have some kind of merger in their histories, most notably the NFL-AFL union that led to the Super Bowl.

The first World Series in 1903 , the 1976 NBA-ABA deal and the NHL's 1979 takeover of the upstart WHA , though, all pale in comparison to the geopolitical stage where the PGA Tour-LIV drama played out.

What are people in golf saying?

As expected, reaction to the stunning deal ran the gamut — from LIV backers' spiking the ball to 9/11 survivors' criticizing the PGA Tour for merging with the Saudi-backed LIV, which they likened to “terrorists,” with others resigned to money's simply ruling the day.

Former President Donald Trump typed in all caps on Truth Social, boasting that he predicted that the PGA Tour would have to come to terms with LIV.

A key Sept. 11 support group, 9/11 Families United, said it was "shocked and deeply offended" and claimed the merger is "bankrolled by billions in sportswashing money from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." It added: "Saudi operatives played a key role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and now it is bankrolling all of professional golf."

George Washington University sports marketing professor Lisa Delpy Neirotti verbally shrugged her shoulders and said the deal shouldn't have been a shock.

"I ask my students how to spell the word 'sports?' It's m-o-n-e-y," she said. "Fans have a short memory. They really want to see their stars. They want to see a better product."

Rob Wile is a breaking business news reporter for NBC News Digital.

David K. Li is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.

What we know and still don't know about LIV Golf, the circuit challenging the PGA Tour

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Another major champion, Brooks Koepka , is defecting from the PGA Tour to the new LIV Golf Invitational Series. Also, sources confirmed to ESPN, that Abraham Ancer , the 20th-ranked player in the world, will be leaving the PGA Tour and joining LIV Golf.

Koepka, who last week at the U.S. Open complained that the conversation about who was staying and who was going cast a "black cloud" over the year's third major championship, joins other big names and major winners -- Phil Mickelson , Dustin Johnson , Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed , among others -- to bolt.

They might not be the last high-profile golfers to join the breakaway circuit being fronted by two-time Open Championship winner Greg Norman and financed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. The first United States-based event will take place in Portland, Oregon, beginning June 30.

At the RBC Canadian Open two weeks ago, PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas called the defections a "bummer." "I don't know if annoyed or tired is the right word," Thomas said. "It's just one of those things. I've thought a lot about it and it's like, people are entitled to choose as they wish. I don't dislike DJ now. I don't think he's a bad dude. I'm not going to treat him any differently. It's like he's entitled to choose as he wishes.

"And I think that the day and age that we live in now, it's just so negative that you see it in everything. Sport, politics, whatever it is, it's like if you disagree with someone you just feel that you're entitled to hate them and talk bad about them and just bash their decision, when everybody's entitled to their own opinion, you know what I mean?"

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan had warned players that they would face stiff penalties for competing in the rival circuit. And, in fact, the tour suspended the players who played in the first LIV event in London.

While stars such as Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay have said they'll remain loyal to the PGA Tour, they admit they're interested to see what goes down over the next several weeks.

"I'm as curious as you are to see how the tournaments will go and what the presentation will be like, if it will be similar to golf tournaments that we're used to seeing on TV, or if it will be something totally different, and only time will tell," Cantlay said last week. "I'm interested to see what that product will be compared to what the product is right now that we are all used to."

Where do the PGA Tour and LIV Golf go from here? Here are a few questions that must still be answered:

Here are the players who have officially signed up so far, with Koepka, DeChambeau and Reed also reportedly on the way for the next one:

Phil Mickelson Dustin Johnson Shaun Norris Oliver Bekker Kevin Yuan Justin Harding Ratchanon Chantananuwat Chase Koepka Wade Ormsby Matt Jones Ryosuke Kinoshita Blake Windred Martin Kaymer Pablo Larrazabal JC Ritchie Ian Snyman Kevin Na Sadom Kaewkanjana Hideto Tanihara Viraj Madappa Sihwan Kim Scott Vincent Jinichiro Kozuma Itthipat Buranatanyarat Peter Uihlein Richard Bland Phachara Khongwatmai Travis Smyth Ian Poulter Lee Westwood Sam Horsfield Laurie Canter Louis Oosthuizen Hennie Du Plessis Charl Schwartzel Branden Grace Sergio Garcia James Piot David Puig Jediah Morgan Graeme McDowell Bernd Wiesberger Turk Pettit Oliver Fisher Talor Gooch Hudson Swafford Adrian Otaegui Andy Ogletree

The schedule

Where: London When: June 9-11

Where: Portland, Oregon When: June 30-July 2

Where: Bedminster, New Jersey When: July 29-31

Where: Boston Sept. 2-4

Where: Chicago Sept. 16-18

Where: Bangkok When: Oct. 7-9

Where: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia When: Oct. 14-16

Where: Miami When: Oct. 27-30

When will the PGA Tour players face discipline?

The PGA Tour responded by suspending the 17 current or former members who defied Monahan by competing in London without releases. In a memo sent to players, Monahan didn't specify how long the suspensions would last or if players could be reinstated. The players are ineligible for tour events and the Presidents Cup, which is scheduled Sept. 19-25 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"These players have made their choice for their own financial-based reasons," Monahan wrote in the memo. "But they can't demand the same PGA TOUR membership benefits, considerations, opportunities and platform as you. That expectation disrespects you, our fans and our partners. You have made a different choice, which is to abide by the Tournament Regulations you agreed to when you accomplished the dream of earning a PGA TOUR card and -- more importantly -- to compete as part of the preeminent organization in the world of professional golf."

The memo said players who compete in LIV events are ineligible to participate on the PGA Tour or any other tours it sanctions, including the Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour Champions, PGA Tour Canada and PGA Tour Latinoamerica. The 10 players who resigned their memberships, which includes Johnson, Lee Westwood and Oosthuizen, also can't compete in tour events on sponsor's exemptions.

Monahan wrote that any PGA Tour players who compete in future LIV events would face the same punishment.

"I am certain our fans and partners -- who are surely tired of all this talk of money, money and more money -- will continue to be entertained and compelled by the world-class competition you display each and every week, where there are true consequences for every shot you take and your rightful place in history whenever you reach that elusive winner's circle," Monahan wrote.

"You are the PGA TOUR, and this moment is about what we stand for: the PGA TOUR membership as a whole. It's about lifting up those who choose to not only benefit from the TOUR, but who also play an integral role in building it. I know you are with us, and vice versa. Our partners are with us, too. The fact that your former TOUR colleagues can't say the same should be telling."

Will players who compete on the LIV Golf circuit be eligible for majors?

The governing bodies that stage the four majors -- Augusta National Golf Club (Masters), USGA (U.S. Open), PGA of America (PGA Championship) and the R&A (The Open) -- have supported the PGA Tour and DP Tour (formerly the European Tour) in the past, but they don't seem ready to ban players who are competing in the LIV Golf circuit, at least not yet.

The USGA permitted players who are playing with LIV Golf and those who have committed to going forward to compete in last week's U.S. Open at The Country Club.

"Regarding players who may choose to play in London, we simply asked ourselves this question -- should a player who had earned his way into the 2022 U.S. Open, via our published field criteria, be pulled out of the field as a result of his decision to play in another event? And we ultimately decided that they should not," the USGA said.

The USGA said its decision should not be interpreted as favoring a new tour or a player's decision.

"Rather, it is simply a response to whether or not the USGA views playing in an alternative event, without the consent of their home tour, an offense that should disqualify them for the U.S. Open," the statement said.

At the Masters in April, Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said the club supported the current ecosystem of golf. That being said, Masters champions are so revered by the club, it's difficult to imagine them being prohibited from competing in golf's first major of the year. Mickelson, Garcia, Johnson and Schwartzel have each won a green jacket.

"I would start by saying that our mission is always to act in the best interests of the game in whatever form that may take," Ridley said. "I think that golf's in a good place right now. There's more participation. Purses on the professional tours are the highest they have ever been.

"We have been pretty clear in our belief that the world tours have done a great job in promoting the game over the years. Beyond that, there's so much that we don't know about what might happen or could happen that I just don't think I could say much more beyond that."

Why are PGA Tour players leaving for LIV Golf?

A lot of it has to do with money, but some players, particularly aging ones such as Garcia, McDowell, Poulter and Schwartzel, might be enticed by making as much (or more) money in fewer events on the LIV circuit.

Jones, from Australia, is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour. He has a runner-up finish and solo third this season. He finished tied for 26th at the Masters last year. He's a pretty good player, but not in the upper echelon of the PGA Tour. He has earned more than $17.3 million during his tour career.

Jones said playing in just seven regular-season events and a team championship finale would allow him to spend more time with his three young daughters. He still hopes to at least be eligible for the majors, if not PGA Tour events. He acknowledged receiving a signing bonus from LIV Golf.

"I want to be around as a dad," Jones said. "I mean, I've been out here for 15 years. I've missed a lot of what goes on in my kids' life. I was raised with a mom and dad that were always there for me. They were there at every sporting event, every schooling event, and that's something I'd like to try and do for my kids."

Swafford is another PGA Tour member who plans to play in London. He picked up his third career tour victory at the American Express in January and has earned more than $9.65 million. Swafford has two children.

"I've got two kids now," Swafford said. "Not traveling as much is appealing. There's a lot of things that went into the decision. I still want to play the PGA Tour. I definitely do. I love the tour."

What is LIV Golf? Explaining the PGA Tour competitor Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson are joining

The PGA Tour and LIV Golf have agreed to merge operations under common ownership.

That golf thing you’ve heard rumblings about for a while is finally here. Maybe you’ve heard it’s controversial, or that some big-name players — Phil Mickelson? Brooks Koepka? Dustin Johnson? Bryson DeChambeau? — are involved, or just that a lot of cash is on the table. But now it’s time to start thinking about whether or not you need to care about it.

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The first LIV Golf International Series event tees off Thursday. Here’s what you need to know:

What is LIV?

The LIV Golf International Series is an upstart league led by Australian former golf star Greg Norman meant to challenge the longstanding reign of the PGA Tour. The endeavor is controversial for multiple reasons, including that it’s backed by Saudi financing and plans to make stops at two Donald Trump-owned courses.

The eight-tournament circuit will feature seven regular-season events and one team championship in late October. Play begins in London on Thursday. The remaining stops are in Portland, Ore., New Jersey, Boston, Chicago, Bangkok, Saudi Arabia and Miami.

LIV is backed by an investment arm, LIV Golf Investments, of which Norman is the CEO. 

Why is it called ‘LIV’?

LIV is the Roman numeral for 54, the number of holes in each tournament (more on that next). It is also the score a player shoots if they birdie every hole on a par-72 course. 

What’s the format?

Each tournament will be a three-round, 54-hole contest with 48 players and no cuts. The events feature shotgun starts (every player starts at the same time, but at a different hole) and a team element.

The individual event will be scored as usual, by stroke play.

For the team event, players will be divided into 12 four-person groups based on a draft the week of each tournament. Each team will have a LIV-appointed captain who will select the other three teammates.

The best two stroke play scores over the first two rounds will count for each team. For the final round, the best three scores will count. The team with the lowest overall score after 54 holes will be named the team winner. The captain will set the lineup each week and choose the scores that will count. 

The team championship will be a seeded four-day, four-round, match-play knock-out.

Who are the most notable names at the first tournament?

Dustin Johnson headlined the initial field  for the inaugural event in London. Johnson’s participation came as a surprise after saying in February he would not participate in the LIV Golf circuit and would stick to the PGA Tour. 

On June 6, however, organizers announced that Phil Mickelson will tee off in London . T he six-time major winner is taking a leave of absence from the PGA Tour after apologizing for controversial comments he made in support of the rebel series and has not competed since the Saudi International in early February.

Talor Gooch, Matt Jones, Sergio Garcia, Kevin Na, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, Hudson Swafford and Lee Westwood are among the other top names. Rumors are swirling that Rickie Fowler could also join.

Who else is joining late?

One-time major winners Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed will join LIV Golf in time for its second event, at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Ore., according to multiple reports. Brooks Koepka, a four-time major winner and former world No. 1, is also reportedly planning to play in Oregon. That event will be the first LIV tournament in the United States.

Bryson's agent says he's joined LIV & will play its next event: "Bryson has always been an innovator. Having the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of something unique had always been intriguing to him. Professional golf as we know it is changing & it's happening quickly." — Adam Schupak (@AdamSchupak) June 8, 2022

On June 2, DeChambeau said he wasn’t in a place in his career where he could “risk” joining the LIV series. Reed withdrew from the RBC Canadian Open, a PGA Tour event, on June 7.

DeChambeau and Reed are ranked No. 28 and 36 in the world, respectively, as of June 5. DeChambeau won the 2020 U.S. Open, while Reed claimed his lone major victory at the 2018 Masters.

Could these players be kicked off the PGA Tour and not be in majors?

It was unclear in the weeks leading up to the series exactly what discipline PGA Tour members could face over their participation in LIV. But as the inaugural event teed off in London, the PGA Tour announced that LIV players are suspended and no longer eligible to participate in tournament play.

The Tour issued a statement on June 1 reiterating that members had not been authorized to participate in the series and that those who “violate the Tournament Regulations are subject to disciplinary action.” Golfers were told on May 10 that regulations barred them from participating, the PGA Tour said.

Johnson, Garcia, Oosthuizen and Na were among those who preemptively resigned from the PGA Tour rather than face the potential discipline. A former world No. 1 with 24 career PGA Tour victories, Johnson said he still hoped to play in the majors, but he’ll now be ineligible for the Ryder Cup.

“I can’t answer for the majors but hopefully they’re going to allow us to play,” Johnson said. “Obviously I’m exempt for the majors so I plan on playing there unless I hear otherwise.”

BREAKING🚨: Dustin Johnson RESIGNS from the PGA Tour The golfer is now ineligible to play in the Ryder Cup. pic.twitter.com/LLmlmIDKmF — Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) June 7, 2022

“If I exercise my right to choose where and when I play golf, then I cannot remain a PGA Tour player without facing disciplinary proceedings and legal action from the PGA Tour,” Na, the world No. 33, wrote on social media . 

Mickelson had not resigned from the PGA Tour before the sanctions and told Sports Illustrated he is looking forward to playing in the U.S. Open (June 16-19). He intends to continue playing in majors, he said in a statement announcing he was joining LIV Golf.

Dominoes have started to fall with sponsors, too. Royal Bank of Canada became the first sponsor to publicly pull its support from LIV Golf participants, ending its relationship with Johnson and fellow Tour golfer Graeme McDowell.

The bank sponsors the RBC Canadian Open in Ontario, which is scheduled for the same weekend as the LIV opener, as well as the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, S.C. in April.

Read this story for ongoing coverage of how the majors are handling LIV players.

Why were they allowed to play in the US Open?

What are other stars saying.

Former world No. 1 Rory McIlroy said that LIV is “not something (he wants) to participate in” and implied that those doing so are in it “purely for money” during his news conference at the 2022 Canadian Open. World No. 6 Justin Thomas also weighed in on the topic, saying that he’s “disappointed” and wishes Johnson and others who have joined “wouldn’t have done it.”

How much money is involved?

A total of $255 million will be awarded in prize money across the eight LIV tournaments. Each of the regular-season events will have a $25 million purse — $20 million for individual prizes and $5 million for the top three teams. 

The top three individuals after the seven regular-season events — among those who play a minimum of four events — will also share an additional $30 million ($18 million, $8 million and $4 million each). Finally, another $50 million will be awarded at the team match-play championship. 

A key component is that no competitor will go home empty-handed from a tournament. The winner gets $4 million and the last-place finisher is set to earn $120,000. (For comparison: the U.S. Open, the biggest purse of the four majors, awards $12.5 million in prize money, with the winner getting $2.25 million.)

And there’s more than just prize money on the table in LIV. Johnson was reportedly offered a $125 million contract just to state his commitment to the new league. Norman told The Washington Post that LIV offered Tiger Woods a “mind-blowingly enormous” amount (think high nine digits) to sign on. 

Norman said LIV Golf Investments is aiming to put a total of $2 billion into the sport between 2023 and 2025, eventually increasing the number of events to 14. 

How long is the schedule and does it conflict with the PGA Tour?

The schedule runs from June through October and does not conflict with any existing majors. However, the first three LIV Golf tournaments do coincide with already scheduled PGA Tour events on the 2021-22 calendar.

Do we think this is sustainable?

Hugh Kellenberger, golf senior managing editor: The Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund, has essentially limitless resources to make this work. LIV Golf is happening, and will continue to happen. The question is whether or not it’s a direct competitor to the PGA Tour, or a side-show event that is happening but not in direct conflict.

There will inevitably be lawsuits that will determine a professional golfer’s ability to play on both tours. If those suits are successful from a LIV perspective, then just remember that no one has ever gone broke betting on pro athletes taking the largest paychecks imaginable. If they’re not, LIV’s future will largely depend on it luring more names on the level of a Johnson.

How does the PGA Tour need to respond?

Kellenberger: Johnson, Na and others found a convenient loophole, it seems, by resigning their membership — they quit before the PGA Tour could try to suspend them, essentially. Mickelson kept the door open by refusing to follow their path.

The first question is how the PGA Tour responds to Mickelson, because that’ll influence the next group through the door, including DeChambeau and Reed. Without decisive action from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan that establishes very clearly a real consequence beyond the public relations blow, DeChambeau and Reed will not be the last to take the blood money.

Wait, are these goofy team names real?

Today in Not The Onion, we have 42-year-old Sergio Garcia captaining a team of fellow golfers called the “Fire Balls.” This is real life. pic.twitter.com/s4566HYmr2 — Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) June 7, 2022

How to watch

LIV is currently slated to stream on YouTube, Facebook and LIVGolf.com; it doesn’t presently have a U.S.-based broadcast partner. The Athletic’ s Richard Deitsch said he can’t see any network with a longtime relationship with the PGA Tour (CBS, NBC, ESPN, etc.) going anywhere near this series. Companies like Fox and Turner may not go for it in the near term with little proof of concept.

Arlo White, the former longtime play-by-play voice of NBC’s Premier League coverage, is serving as the lead broadcaster, joined in the booth by Jerry Foltz and Dom Boulet. The broadcast team will be completed by on-course commentator Su-Ann Heng and on-course reporter Troy Mullins.

The London event tees off on June 9 at 2 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET).

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FIRE PIT COLLECTIVE

An inside look at how the money works on LIV Golf

Editor's Note: This article first appeared in Fire Pit Collective , a Golf Digest content partner.

Jonathan Ferrey/LIV Golf

NORTH PLAINS, Ore. — LIV Golf is about many things: disruption, sportswashing, vengeance (in the case of frontman Greg Norman) and, uh, golf. But more than anything, it’s about cold, hard cash. As with many other issues surrounding this upstart tour, the details around all the money are shadowy. In an effort to get more granular, the Fire Pit Collective spoke with four agents who represent LIV golfers; they were granted anonymity to facilitate candor.

“What you have to understand about professional golfers is that they are all whores,” Agent A says. “That is the starting point.”

Touched off by a recent Brandel Chamblee tweet in which he said prize money is being applied to signing bonuses, there has been discussion this week about how the money is distributed on the LIV tour. The lower-wattage players in the field at Pumpkin Ridge have to kill what they eat, guaranteed nothing beyond the last-place money of $120,000 in the 48-man field. The more established players who jumped to LIV from the PGA and European tours have received guaranteed money that, contrary to Chamblee’s tweet, is in addition to whatever the player claims from the tournament purses, which this week is $20 million plus an additional $5 million for the concurrent team competition. “The prize fund is the prize fund,” says Pat Perez, who is making his LIV debut this week. “Whatever you win you get to keep. That’s why guys are taking this seriously.”

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As with team sports, the guaranteed money on LIV varies from player to player, based on age, starpower, current form and projected performance. “Every deal is different,” Ian Poulter says. “There hasn’t been a lot of talk about the money [among players] because that’s personal.” Some of the numbers that have been floated in media reports have been fantastical: $200 million for Phil Mickelson, $150 million for Dustin Johnson, $100 million for Bryson DeChambeau. “You have to take that with a grain of salt,” Agent B says. “Who does it benefit to inflate those numbers? LIV, obviously, because they’re trying to generate buzz and recruit more players. But it also benefits the agents who are trying to sign new players or nudge other clients to make the jump.”

Though it is subject to negotiation, the standard arrangement in professional golf is that players keep all of the money they win on the course but agents take 20 percent of appearance fees and endorsement deals. LIV’s upfront money is treated like the latter, and as a result, the player representatives are getting a fat cut. (Because there is no cut in the events and players are guaranteed a check, some agencies are taking a commission on the first $120,000 of a player’s winnings, treating it as a de facto appearance fee.) One veteran caddie to a top player who has remained loyal to the PGA Tour says in a text message, “I honestly think that one of the backstories to this LIV thing are agents who desperately want the biggest payday of their lives.”

A key player in the building of LIV Golf is GSE Worldwide, a New York-based outfit that represents seven players who have made the jump: DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Brendan Grace, Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz and Eugenio Chacarra (who just turned pro). On Thursday, Norman told me, “We still have some big announcements coming.” Speculation has centered around another GSE client, Sam Burns. (Andrew Witlieb, the head of the company’s golf division, did not respond to a request for comment for this story.) GSE’s aggressive business model dovetails nicely with LIV’s desperate need to sign players. “We call it pushing paper,” Agent A says. “Those guys buy clients. They go in and say, ‘We’ll guarantee you X millions of dollars in income to sign with us.’ That means if [GSE doesn’t] land some big deals, they get their ass handed to them.” But Agent C pushes back on the notion that he or any of his colleagues have steered their players to LIV despite the risks of being banned from what was their home tour, to say nothing of the blowback attached to LIV’s funding coming from Saudi Arabia. “Our job is to present all the options to the player, but they always make the final decision,” Agent C says. “If you push a player to do something that is not in his best interests long-term, you’re not going to be in this business very long.”

Norman and LIV’s newest signee Brooks Koepka pressing flesh on Thursday with Majed Al Sorour, CEO of the Saudi Golf Federation.

Chris Trotman/LIV Golf

How are players taking care of the rest of their “team” in this era of inflated purses? Most caddies and swing coaches to LIV players are getting the same percentages as always, which means 10 percent of a victory this week is worth a cool $400,000 to the looper. “I’ve heard a little grumbling from the players,” Agent D says, “but there has been so much talk about quote unquote player greed that I think they are sensitive to not squeezing anyone right now. I do expect that at the end of this season some percentages will get adjusted.”

Perez has no such plans. “The whole thing about this is I’m trying to take care of my family,” he says. “And H [caddie Michael Hartford] is family. Claude [swing coach Claude Harmon] is family. So I’m still going to take care of these guys the way we usually operate.” Each LIV player is given four plane tickets per tournament: one first class, one premium economy and two economy. He also gets four rooms in a luxury hotel. So caddies who used to have to pay their own way are now traveling for free. With no cut, they are also guaranteed a check every time out, and the 54-hole events reduce the wear and tear on their aching joints. “I have gotten calls from more than a dozen caddies dying for a bag,” Agent D says.

Perez signed with LIV for four years, which will take him to age 50, when he will be eligible for the PGA Tour Champions … if golf’s warring bureaucracies ever make peace. Like other players with relatively modest upfront money, he received his haul in one chunk. “Mine is in,” he says. “I got it all. It’s fucking incredible.” According to Agent C, the contracts that run into high-eight and nine figures are paid in annual installment across the three-, four- or five-year deals. Every player with a long-term LIV deal is compelled to play every event on the schedule, even as it potentially expands from eight tournaments this year to 14 in coming years. There are clawback provisions should a player miss a significant amount of time for injury. Interestingly, there is also a “morals clause” by which LIV can cancel a contract and recoup the upfront money. This covers incidents of on-course cheating and legal troubles, and particular attention has been given to consorting with or being influenced by gamblers. “With so many guys getting guaranteed money,” Agent C says, “there is the concern that a player could be more tempted to do something during the competitive rounds, which might not mean as much to them. Where there is money there is always corruption. That’s just how humans are.”

The way LIV has quickly reshaped the landscape of professional golf has led to a lot of reflection on human nature. On Thursday, a couple of miles from Pumpkin Ridge, a dozen 9/11 families participated in a protest of LIV’s links to Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers. While fans, reporters, political commentators and a few professional golfers wrestle with these larger geopolitical issues, business is booming on the LIV tour. Says Agent A, “I was just talking with the guy doing all the deals for LIV, and he told me he is drinking from a fire hose right now. He is getting bombarded by agents. I think there was some initial apprehension about how this whole thing was going to play out, so a lot of people were on the sidelines, observing. Now the gold rush is on.”

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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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Rory McIlroy says his ‘future’ is with PGA Tour after report of LIV offer

Responding to a report that he was “close” to a big-money deal with LIV Golf, Rory McIlroy said Tuesday that there was no truth to it and that he has never received an offer from the three-year-old venture.

“I’ll play the PGA Tour the rest of my career,” McIlroy declared.

In an interview with Golf Channel while in Hilton Head Island, S.C., for this week’s Heritage tournament, McIlroy also reiterated his desire to see the PGA Tour and LIV find a way for their players to face each other more often. One of those rare occasions unfolded last week at the Masters, where defending champion Jon Rahm played against his former PGA Tour colleagues for the first time since defecting to LIV.

Rahm is thought to have received a contract worth well into nine figures to join the Saudi Arabia-backed league. According to a report Sunday from City A.M. , a business-focused media platform based in London, McIlroy was offered $850 million to leave the PGA Tour.

City A.M. reported that McIlroy also was offered 2 percent equity in LIV. The 34-year-old native of Northern Ireland, who has softened his stance on LIV after initially being its most vocal critic among PGA players, said Tuesday he did not “know how these things get started.”

“I’ve never been offered a number from LIV, and I’ve never contemplated going to LIV,” he said. “Again, I think I’ve made it clear over the past two years that I don’t think it’s something for me.

“It doesn’t mean that I judge people who have went and played over there,” McIlroy continued. “I think one of the things that I have realized over the past two years is people can make their own decisions for whatever they think is best for themselves, and who are we to judge them for that?”

Exclusive: Rory McIlroy tells @ToddLewisGC that LIV Golf rumors are false and, "I will play the PGA Tour for the rest of my career." Tune into Golf Today at 5 p.m. EDT for more. pic.twitter.com/PIPAWMIWGh — Golf Central (@GolfCentral) April 16, 2024

The PGA Tour in June announced plans to partner with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund , which owns LIV Golf. But the circuits are still conducting their business separately. A Dec. 31 deadline for details to be ratified was extended as talks continue, but amid little sign of a deal, players from both sides have expressed concern that golf fans are becoming increasingly disenchanted with the current state of affairs.

After McIlroy said recently that it was “unsustainable” for golf’s highest level to run on parallel tracks, LIV’s Bryson DeChambeau asserted that an alliance between the circuits needed to happen “quicker rather than later just for the good of the sport.”

With 13 LIV players participating in the Masters, DeChambeau had the lead after the first round and finished tied for sixth with another LIV star, Cameron Smith. They were among just eight players to post a total score below par in a tournament won convincingly by the PGA Tour’s Scottie Scheffler, who was described Tuesday by McIlroy as “hands down the best player in the game right now.”

Of the rival circuit’s roster, McIlroy told Golf Channel that there were “obviously some really good players on LIV who would be a great addition to the field this week [at Hilton Head], and they’re not here, and that’s unfortunate.”

“I think the game is way better with all of us together,” he added.

In February 2022, after DeChambeau and some other big-name golfers pledged loyalty to the PGA Tour, McIlroy said LIV Golf was “dead in the water.” The start-up league launched that year and steadily pilfered prominent players, then made a statement about its possible staying power by luring Rahm in December. Less than a month later, McIlroy said LIV was “part of our sport now,” and in February his former agent suggested McIlroy’s changed public stance could be a precursor to a big-money move to the league. Asked about that then, McIlroy said with a chuckle, “You never know — he might know a few things.”

On Tuesday, McIlroy struck an emphatic note about where he intended to play golf.

“My future is here on the PGA Tour,” he said.

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Masters Provides a Respite to the LIV Golf–PGA Tour Divide, Which Still Has No End in Sight

• Author: Bob Harig

More Weekly Read: Tiger's plight | Aberg shows out | Bryson's Masters turnaround

AUGUSTA, Ga. — There is still an appetite for men’s professional golf, it seems. Perhaps the Masters attracted all the fans that stayed away during the early part of 2024. Maybe it was because the stars of the game came together for the first time. It could be a combination of both.

But the malaise that has hovered over the game in recent months as the PGA Tour/LIV Golf divide sees no end suggests that the biggest tournaments in the game will still attract a big audience and that—just maybe—golf fans don’t like the fact there is division.

“Absolutely,” Rory McIlroy said. “The Masters stands alone in terms of every other golf tournament, but I think even in terms of the ratings the first two days on ESPN looked like they were up, which is a sign that when we're all back together, then golf thrives. When we're divided, it doesn't. That's just another example of why we should all try to put our heads together and get back together.”

ESPN reported its first two rounds were the highest since 2015. McIlroy, who has been saying for months he believes a deal between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia—which backs LIV Golf—is crucial, has suggested that all the bickering and money talked has turned off fans to regular events.

There is some anecdotal evidence to support his claims, along with TV ratings that have been off about 20 percent but could also be attributed to other factors such as weather or lack star power in tournaments. And that could be viewed as a watered down PGA Tour with players such as Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau playing for LIV Golf. However, CBS's final-round viewership for Sunday's final round at Augusta was down 20% from last year's final round , which fell on Easter Sunday.

Having stars such as Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa together at the Masters was a welcome sight.

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Network

DeChambeau stepped up at the Masters, leading after the first round and eventually tying for sixth. Cam Smith, Tyrrell Hatton and Patrick Reed had good weeks, even if they were never in contention. And the idea that it would be good to have these players competing against the likes of McIlroy and Masters winner Scottie Scheffler more often—regardless of how we got here—seems to be gaining more traction.

The problem: a deal does not appear close.

Tiger Woods, who met with the governor of the PIF, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, last month in the Bahamas via a round of golf along with the rest of the player directors on the PGA Tour Policy Board, said Sunday the meeting was positive but “I don’t know if we’re closer.”

That was certainly the vibe that board members Webb Simpson and Peter Malnati elicited last month following that meeting.

And Rahm, who was LIV’s biggest signing, said at his pre-Masters news conference that his decision to make the move came with confidence that there would be some quick resolution.

“I understood that it could be, what I hoped, a step towards some kind of agreement, yes,” he said. “Or more of an agreement or expedited agreement.

“But unfortunately, it’s not up to me. But I would hope it would be something that would help expedite that process. But at the end of the day, I still did what I thought was best for myself.”

Lots of talk. Very little known action. Another month has passed since the Bahamas meeting and the golf calendar gets extremely busy now. It’s difficult to expect player directors to be focused on all these matters with important tournaments coming fast and furious.

And yet, the governance now is in place that gives the players a final say in any potential deal. While it’s impossible to think they could be involved in the nitty-gritty details, they also need to know what’s going on in order to make any kind of legitimate assessment.

A path to a resolution does not appear any clearer.

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Ethical considerations drowned out as Adelaide’s LIV affair continues

More in South Australia are seemingly able to turn the other way and view the Saudi-backed rebel golf tour’s presence as a boon for the sport

A s LIV golf returns to Adelaide next week, Australia’s appetite for the breakaway tour appears stronger than anywhere in the world. The South Australian capital has been the most successful venue in the short history of the tour, and there are few signs that any ethical misgivings about the tour’s Saudi backers have diminished that popularity.

The manner of the challenger brand’s ingratiation of Australian officials, players and spectators serves as a model for LIV, particularly as the mooted merger with the PGA Tour shows little sign of delivering a united sport. The 2024 event, which gets under way on Friday 26 April, is therefore significant.

The existing deal with SA covers this year’s event, plus two more, and the state’s premier, Peter Malinauskas, has trumpeted its success. He has acknowledged the ethical misgivings about LIV, but has ploughed on anyway. The state “went out on a limb”, he told ABC last year, “and provided LIV Golf their breakthrough moment globally”.

Public discussion of the human rights record of Saudi Arabia, which has bankrolled LIV’s rapid establishment through the country’s Public Investment Fund, has largely fallen away, but amid the South Australian backslapping there are still some who are pushing back. The Liberal opposition leader, David Speirs, has been opposed to the event since its announcement, and continues to criticise Malinauskas on the decision to host the event due to the links to Saudi Arabia.

But more in Australia are seemingly able to turn the other way, and view LIV’s presence as a boon for the sport. Golf Australia’s chief executive, James Sutherland, said last month this part of the world looks at LIV differently. “There’s clearly an ‘anti’ or a conservative sentiment about the Saudis in the US, and the further east you go on a world map from America, the more moderate the views are,” he told the SportNXT conference in a room featuring many of Australian sport’s senior executives.

Golf Australia’s close collaborator is the PGA of Australia, the body representing tournament and club professionals and organiser of the Australasian Tour, which is still aligned with LIV rival the DP World Tour. Despite the political complexity, Sutherland was matter of fact. “The Australian public just wants to embrace great talent in that golf sphere that ordinarily wouldn’t come to Australia.”

Indeed, the most vocal local criticism of LIV’s Adelaide event last year was not about the crackdown on dissent in Saudi Arabia or the country’s repression of women , but rather the impact the event had on the condition of the host course.

Sutherland’s comments highlight the region’s appetite for the sport which – due to the PGA Tour’s historical dominance – has largely focused on audiences in the US and, to a lesser extent, Europe. They suggest LIV’s formula is, at least in Australia, working, despite close connections between Australia’s golf establishment and the DP World Tour, which alongside the PGA Tour in the US has been at loggerheads with LIV.

The appeal of LIV in Adelaide is simple. Never before has such an expensive collection of golfing talent been taken to Australia’s fifth-largest city. Last year 77,000 tickets were sold, roughly double the estimated attendance of LIV’s next most popular event (figures are not formally reported).

Although LIV has demonstrated its almost unlimited financial resources in the pursuit of players, the taxpayers of SA have paid – in money and time – for the privilege of hosting. The exact amount has been kept under wraps, with the government refusing to detail the deal in parliament.

The deep pockets of the breakaway tour have been regarded as its greatest power. December’s deal for John Rahm – reported to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars – underscores LIV’s long-term financial commitment, close to two years after it initially picked off its opening lineup.

But last year’s Adelaide event – although managed by LIV’s operating partner Performance 54 (another PIF-backed entity) – was only pulled off thanks to the help of more than 700 unpaid helpers. A similar callout is under way this year.

LIV has reportedly offered millions in site fees to clubs in the US to host the tournament . But no such windfall has come the way of Australian host, the Grange Golf Club.

T he Grange sits close to the beach not far from Adelaide’s CBD, and is approaching its 100th year. Its financial results for last year show no specific revenue spikes attributed to LIV, and the largest unexplained growth in a single line item was a $350,000 increase in “sundry income”. However, the documents describe a healthy club, boosted by more than $300,000 in additional bar and catering profit, a reduction in the club’s debt and a membership fee increase that was below inflation.

The club is not looking to be handsomely compensated, according to the general manger of the course, Barry Linke. He said hosting the event delivered multiple benefits, although the precise terms of the agreement with LIV were commercial in confidence. “[There were] improved playing conditions for members due to the additional maintenance and work done on the golf course – in 2023 we spent twice as much on course maintenance as a normal year,” he said.

“There is a financial benefit, improved infrastructure, worldwide recognition to the Grange, increase in membership inquiry and demand, increase in visiting player revenue, and improved club reciprocal opportunities for our members.”

The announcement of the Grange as LIV’s Australian host came in late 2022, but not out of the blue. One of its two courses is designed by LIV commissioner Greg Norman, and the club was the site of his first professional victory in 1976. He even has a testimonial on the club’s website.

Grange reported 86% of members were satisfied with the LIV event, even though it interfered with access to the course. One member of 45 years went to the local newspaper complaining about the damage hosting LIV had caused. Not long after, his scorecard was leaked by another Grange member seemingly unhappy with the dissent. The X account that posted the hacker’s card said the complainant “should probably worry more about the state of his golf game than the state of the course”.

LIV’s divisive attack on world golf and sensitivities around the source of its wealth may linger in these debates. But they suggest SA’s long-ignored golfing community may be less concerned with the death of Jamal Khashoggi, and more with the condition of a course.

Speirs said the opposition party maintains its anti-LIV stance while the rebel event “remains under the control of the Saudi regime, which is notorious for sports-washing in order to cover up the deplorable mistreatment and basic rights violations of women”. That position means, come 26 April, the spectre of Saudi Arabia’s influence will not have been extinguished entirely amid the beats and beers along Grange’s exclusive fairways. But, like Chase Koepka on last year’s party hole, that sentiment is likely to be drowned out.

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Rory McIlroy dismisses report he was offered $850M to join LIV Golf

• Updated: Apr. 16, 2024, 5:38 p.m. |
• Published: Apr. 16, 2024, 4:43 p.m.

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, waits to tee off on the 11th hole during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament, Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack

• Brandon Champion | [email protected]

Rory McIlroy reconfirmed what was already known this week. He’s a PGA Tour lifer.

The 4-time major champion was asked about his future with the tour on Tuesday after a London newspaper reported he was offered $850 million and an equity stake in the league to move to LIV Golf.

Speaking with Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis from Hilton Head Island ahead of this week’s RBC Heritage, the man from Northern Ireland confirmed there is no validity to the report and that he has no plans to leave the PGA Tour.

“I honestly don’t know how these things get started,” he said with a smirk. “I’ve never been offered a number from LIV and I’ve never contemplated going to LIV. I think I’ve made it clear over the past two years that I don’t think it’s something for me.”

McIlroy acknowledged there are likely guys playing on tour who have talked to LIV. But he has consistently been the PGA Tour’s biggest supporter over the last two years and he reaffirmed his loyalty to the tour where he is a 24-time winner on Tuesday.

“It’s never even been a conversation for us,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that we have to deal with it and that this is the state that our game is in but I’m obviously here today and I’m playing this PGA Tour event this week and I will play the PGA Tour for the rest of my career.

Sean O’Flaherty, McIlroy’s agent, told the Irish Independent in an email that there was “zero truth” to the report by City A.M. , a London financial paper.

McIlroy, who is coming off a T-22, four-over at the Masters, said tradition, legacy and the players from past eras are what motivates him to play on the PGA Tour.

And while it appears he’s softened his overt criticism of LIV and its format, he still wishes all the best players were playing together like they were at Augusta National last week.

He added that golf’s current fracturing hurts everyone involved with the game including players, fans, media partners and sponsors.

“The game is way better with all of us together,” he said. “There’s obviously some really good players on LIV that would be a great addition to the field this week and they’re not here. And that’s unfortunate, I think for everyone.”

RELATED: Greg Norman was denied Masters ticket, so he hit the secondary market

The PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced a framework agreement to form an alliance in June 2023 , but the sides haven’t been able to finalize an agreement.

LIV Golf boasts an impressive roster of players like Jon Rahm , Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith, Patrick Reed, Phil Mickelson and others.

But last week at Augusta belonged to the PGA Tour, which claimed the top five spots on the leaderboard and saw world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler win his second green jacket.

In addition to this week at Harbour Town Golf Links, McIlroy is scheduled to play with Ireland’s Shane Lowry in next week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which is a team event.

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Golf | LIV golfers, PGA Tour stars together at the Masters, for now

Liv golf has 13 players in the field, seven of them former champions who can play as long as they want, but that’s down from 18 a year ago and only nine liv players are assured of being back next year.

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer

AUGUSTA, Ga. — More than golf’s first major championship of the year, the Masters represents unification. This is the first time since July at the British Open the best players regardless of their tours compete against each other – same course, same tournament, same television network.

“I believe everyone agrees there’s excitement in the air this week,” Masters Chairman Fred Ridley said Wednesday. “The best players in the world are together once again.”

Still unclear at Augusta National is for how much longer.

Saudi-funded LIV Golf has 13 players at the Masters, seven of them former champions who can play as long as they want. That’s down from 18 a year ago. Only nine LIV players are assured of being back to Augusta National next year, depending on how they fare in the majors this year.

Ridley offered little hope the pathway for LIV to Augusta National was about to get wider.

He said the Official World Golf Ranking was a “legitimate determiner” of the best in golf, bad news for a rival league that does not get world ranking points. And while the Masters annually reviews its criteria for invitations, Ridley announced no new changes.

Instead, he leaned on the Masters being an invitational, and the club alone decides who it deems worthy of getting that elegant, cream-colored invitation in the mail.

“If we felt that there were a player or players, whether they played on the LIV Tour or any other tour, who were deserving of an invitation to the Masters, we would exercise that discretion with regard to special invitations,” Ridley said.

The battle is for a green jacket, but that might not be the only competition.

It will be difficult to look at a leaderboard without considering who is with LIV Golf. That much hasn’t changed from last year – the first Masters since LIV was launched – and LIV certainly showed the 54-hole, no-cut league didn’t affect them. Three players were among the top four on the final leaderboard.

And just like last year, there is no animosity inside the ropes.

Phil Mickelson and Joaquin Niemann from LIV Golf played a practice round with Akshay Bhatia, the final player into the field because of his Texas Open victory last week. Xander Schauffele told of running into Dustin Johnson and the two decided to play a practice round, no different from what would have happened long before LIV began luring away players with guaranteed riches.

But the future remains murky.

Augusta National and the other three organizations that run majors have seats on the OWGR board that reviewed LIV’s application to join and get world ranking points. The vote was unanimous not to award points until certain enhancements were met.

LIV eventually decided to withdraw its application, and several players decried the world ranking as no longer relevant.

It is to Ridley and the Masters. The top 50 at the end of the year and a week before the Masters still get invitations. Bryson DeChambeau said the majors, including the Masters, should invite the top 12 from the LIV points list.

Ridley wasn’t buying that.

“I think it will be difficult to establish any type of point system that had any connection to the rest of the world of golf because they’re basically – not totally, but for the most part – a closed shop,” Ridley said. “There is some relegation, but not very much.

“But I don’t think that prevents us from giving subjective consideration based on talent, based on performance to those players.”

That’s what led Augusta National to offer an invitation to Niemann. The club did not cite anything he did on LIV – the Chilean has two LIV wins this year – but his willingness to travel outside LIV and win the Australian Open, along with a top finish in the Australian PGA.

Talor Gooch did not get an invitation. He won three LIV events last year and later suggested Rory McIlroy would have an asterisk next to his name if he won the Masters because all the best aren’t there.

Gooch is unlikely to be missed, not with Scottie Scheffler going for a second green jacket, with McIlroy chasing the career Grand Slam, Tiger Woods playing for only the second time this year and a host of others from all tours chasing one of golf’s most prized possessions.

And then the PGA Tour will head to Hilton Head and LIV Golf will make its way to Australia, and they all have to wait until the next major May 16-19 at the PGA Championship.

“There’s a lot of people a lot smarter than me that could figure this out in a much more efficient way,” Jon Rahm said. “But the obvious answer is that there’s got to be a way for certain players in whatever tour to be able to earn their way in. That’s the only thing can I say. I don’t know what that looks like. But there’s got to be a fair way for everybody to compete.”

MASTERS TEE TIMES

Thursday-Friday, all times are PT

5 a.m.-8:06 a.m. — Erik van Rooyen, Jake Knapp

5:12 a.m.-8:18 a.m. — Jose Maria Olazabal, Taylor Moore, a-Santiago De La Fuente

5:24 a.m.-8:30 a.m. — Danny Willett, Austin Eckroat, Stephan Jaeger

5:36 a.m.-8:42 a.m. — Charl Schwartzel, Luke List, a-Christo Lamprecht

5:48 a.m.-8:54 a.m. — Gary Woodland, Thorbjorn Olesen, Bryson DeChambeau

6 a.m.-9:12 a.m. — Zach Johnson, Corey Conners, a-Jasper Stubbs

6:12 a.m.-9:24 a.m. — Sergio Garcia, Chris Kirk, Ryan Fox

6:24 a.m.-9:36 a.m. — Lucas Glover, Byeong Hun An, Harris English

6:36 a.m.-9:48 a.m. — Phil Mickelson, Sepp Straka, Tony Finau

6:48 a.m.-10 a.m. — Nick Taylor, Joaquin Niemann, Russell Henley

7:06 a.m.-10:12 a.m. — Patrick Cantlay, Min Woo Lee, Rickie Fowler

7:18 a.m.-10:24 a.m. — Hideki Matsuyama, Will Zalatoris, Justin Thomas

7:30 a.m.-10:36 a.m. — Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Nick Dunlap

7:42 a.m.-10:48 a.m. — Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele

7:54 a.m.-11 a.m. — Wyndham Clark, Viktor Hovland, Cameron Smith

8:06 a.m.-5 a.m. — Lee Hodges, Adrian Meronk, Grayson Murray

8:18 a.m.-5:12 a.m. — Camilo Villegas, Denny McCarthy, Cameron Davis

8:30 a.m.-5:24 a.m. — Mike Weir, Ryo Hisatsune, a-Neal Shipley

8:42 a.m.-5:36 a.m. — Vijay Singh, Si Woo Kim, Emiliano Grillo

8:54 a.m.-5:48 a.m. — Fred Couples, Adam Hadwin, a-Stewart Hagestad

9:12 a.m.-6 a.m. — Justin Rose, Eric Cole, Peter Malnati

9:24 a.m.-6:12 a.m. — Akshay Bhatia, J.T. Poston, Shane Lowry

9:36 a.m.-6:24 a.m. — Bubba Watson, Nicolai Hojgaard, Adam Schenk

9:48 a.m.-6:36 a.m. — Patrick Reed, Sungjae Im, Kurt Kitayama

10 a.m.-6:48 a.m. — Keegan Bradley, Mattieu Pavon, Tyrrell Hatton

10:12 a.m.-7:06 a.m. — Adam Scott, Sam Burns, Cameron Young

10:24 a.m.-7:18 a.m. — Tiger Woods, Jason Day, Max Homa

10:36 a.m.-7:30 a.m. — Brian Harman, Brooks Koepka, Tom Kim

10:48 a.m.-7:42 a.m. — Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Aberg, Sahith Theegala

11 a.m.-7:54 a.m. — Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood

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LIV Golf Results by Year

Listing the results and rankings for LIV Golf golfers.

2024 Earnings Rankings

Corales Puntacana Championship, Round 1: How to watch, live scores, tee times, TV times

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Round 1 of the Corales Puntacana Championship gets underway Thursday from Puntacana Resort & Club’s Corales Golf Course. The Full-Field Additional Event is played alongside the RBC Heritage. Nicolai Højgaard headlines the field a week after his strong showing at the Masters.

Here's everything you need to know to follow the action.

HOW TO FOLLOW (all times ET)

Television:

• Thursday-Friday: 8-10 a.m. (Golf Channel)
• Saturday-Sunday: 3-5 p.m. (Golf Channel)

Special programming alerts:

• Sunday: 2-3 p.m. on CBS

Monday qualifiers

Inside the Field

Purse breakdown

The Marías Announce “The Submarine Tour”

ARTIST PRESALE APRIL 16 10AM LOCAL TIME

General on sale april 19 10am local time, tickets available here, new album submarine out may 31st, pre-order/pre-save the album here.

Today, Grammy-nominated band The Marías announce their long-awaited and highly anticipated “The Submarine Tour,” produced by Live Nation, hitting major cities across North America including Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Chicago, Toronto and more. They will play iconic venues including Radio City Music Hall in NYC and Hollywood Forever Cemetery in LA. Last week, the band announced their run of shows in support of the album for Mexico City. The first two nights sold out immediately in pre-sale, leading to the addition of two extra nights due to high demand. The 4-night run, now fully-sold out, will be June 11th, 12th, 14th, and 15th, marking the first shows where fans will experience Submarine live.

The Marías will be supported by opener, Los Angeles based-band, Automatic. Artist presale tickets will be available starting Tuesday, April 16th at 10am local time through Thursday, April 18th at 10pm local. Additional presales will run ahead of the general on sale beginning Friday April 19th at 10am local time. For more information and to register for the artist presale, please visit themarias.us/shows .

The tour will follow the release of The Marías’ new album, Submarine, out May 31st via Nice Life Recording Company/Atlantic Records. Pre-order/pre-save Submarine here . The first single released from the new album “Run Your Mouth,” garnered over 1 million streams in its first week of release – listen and watch here . Second release from the album, “Lejos De Ti,” is a Spanish-language track showcasing lead singer María’s versatility – listen and watch the video directed by María here .

  Submarine is the follow up to the band’s critically acclaimed debut album Cinema (2021), with lead single “ Hush ” going No.1 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart. Known for delivering striking visuals that compliment their dreamlike songs, the band continues to create a unique and transformative experience for fans and audiences alike.

“The Submarine Tour” Routing

Tue Jun 11 | Mexico City, MX | Foro Puebla – SOLD OUT

Wed Jun 12 | Mexico City, MX | Foro Puebla  – SOLD OUT

Fri Jun 13 | Mexico City, MX | Foro Puebla  – SOLD OUT

Sat Jun 14 | Mexico City, MX | Foro Puebla  – SOLD OUT

Tue Jul 16| Oakland, CA | Fox Theater *

Fri Jul 19 | Las Vegas, NV | The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

Sat Jul 20 | Phoenix, AZ | Arizona Financial Theatre

Mon Jul 22 | Dallas, TX | South Side Ballroom

Wed Jul 24 | Houston, TX | 713 Music Hall

Fri Jul 26 | Orlando, FL | Hard Rock Live

Sat Jul 27 | Miami, FL | The Fillmore Miami Beach

Tue Jul 30 | Atlanta, GA | Tabernacle

Fri Aug 02 | Washington, DC | The Anthem *

Sat Aug 03 | Philadelphia, PA | The Met Presented by Highmark

Tue Aug 06 | Toronto, ON | HISTORY

Thu Aug 08 | New York, NY | Radio City Music Hall

Sun Aug 11 | Boston, MA |MGM Music Hall at Fenway

Tue Aug 13 | Chicago, IL | The Salt Shed

Thu Aug 15 | Denver, CO | The Mission Ballroom *

Fri Aug 16 | Salt Lake City, UT | Twilight Concert Series *

Sun Aug 18 | San Diego, CA | Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU

Thu Aug 22 | Los Angeles, CA | Hollywood Forever Cemetery *

*Non-Live Nation date

FOLLOW THE MARÍAS

About The Marías

The Marías are the Grammy-nominated psychedelic-soul lovechild of Puerto Rican-bred, Atlanta-raised María Zardoya and Los Angeles native, Josh Conway. The two are joined by their closest friends, Jesse Perlman on guitar and Edward James on keys. Their undeniably intuitive musical chemistry can be heard in the band’s smooth rendezvous of jazz percussion, hypnotic guitar riffs, smoke-velvet vocals and nostalgic horn solos. There’s something undeniably sensual in their dreamlike fusion of jazz, psychedelia, funk and lounge. Since the release of their critically acclaimed debut album, Cinema , The Marías have earned the reputation behind their impressive upward trajectory, including two Grammy nominations, a Billboard chart-topper and collaborations with some of the biggest names in Latin music, including Bad Bunny and Tainy. In the live show, The Marías are joined by Gabe Steiner on trumpet and Doron Zounes on bass. The detail that has defined their cinematic style off-stage is brought to life during their live performance as the group delivers striking visuals that beautifully compliment their dreamlike songs, creating an indisputably unique and seemingly transportive experience. Their upcoming sophomore album Submarine , set for release on May 31st, features new single “Run Your Mouth,” which garnered over one million streams in its first week of release.

About Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is the world’s leading live entertainment company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, and Live Nation Sponsorship. For additional information, visit www.livenationentertainment.com .

The Marías Contacts:

Kristin Somin

[email protected]

Viveca Ortiz-Torres

Libby Kober

Live Nation Concerts Contacts:

Monique Sowinski

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