The LIV Golf Invitational Series has caused quite a stir in the world of golf after pitting itself squarely against the PGA Tour for supremacy on the global stage.
The series is a highly controversial breakaway league backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, who boast close ties with the Saudi government and bought Premier League team Newcastle United last year.
A number of golf superstars have been enticed by the new tournament, which kicks off in London this week, but how does it all work?
RadioTimes.com brings you the complete guide to the LIV Golf Invitational Series including how it all works and which players and teams are competing.
LIV Golf format – how does it work?
Each event is comprised of 54 holes over three days, already different to the 72 holes usually played out in a regular PGA Tour event.
Shotgun starts are deployed in the LIV Series, meaning small groups of players will be assigned to all 18 holes to begin the day. The PGA Tour sees all competitors tee off from Hole 1 and work through to 18 – of course, this means at the start of the day, 17 holes are untouched.
The shotgun start means play can get into full swing sooner. If you start at Hole 8, for example, you will work around the course up to the 18th, back to the 1st and up to the 7th.
There will also be no cuts after a designated period of time in each tournament. This means the field will remain in tact for the full tournament.
The field of 48 players is much smaller than PGA Tour events, while those players will be divided into 12 teams. In the same way Formula 1 celebrates individual drivers and overall constructors, the LIV Series will score points for players and teams.
Check out all the players below as well as all the information on how the team event works.
LIV Golf players 2022
Players accrue points for their performances in each event. The player with the most points after seven events will be crowned the Individual Champion.
The list of current players ahead of the opening event is as follows:
Adrian Otaegui, Andy Ogletree, Bernd Wiesberger, Blake Windred, Branden Grace, Charl Schwartzel, Chase Koepka, David Puig, Dustin Johnson, Graeme McDowell, Hennie du Plessis, Hideto Tanihara, Hudson Swafford, Ian Poulter, Ian Snyman, Itthipat Buranatanyarat, James Piot, JC Ritchie, Jediah Morgan, Jinichiro Kozuma, Justin Harding, Kevin Na, Kevin Yuan, Laurie Canter, Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen, Martin Kaymer, Matt Jones, Oliver Bekker, Oliver Fisher, Pablo Larrazabal, Peter Uihlein, Phachara Khongwatmai, Phil Mickelson, Richard Bland, Ryosuke Kinoshita, Sadom Kaewkanjana, Sam Horsfield, Scott Vincent, Sergio Garcia, Shaun Norris, Sihwan Kim, Taylor Gooch, TK Chantananuwat, Travis Smyth, Turk Pettit, Viraj Madappa, Wade Ormsby.
LIV Golf teams 2022
The team event is a little more complicated. Each team has one consistent player, the captain, throughout the whole series. In the week leading up to an event, they will select the rest of their four-man team via a draft system.
In the first two rounds of an event, the best two stroke play scores will count for each team. In the third round, the top three scores from each team will count. The team with the lowest score over 54 holes will win the event.
The eighth and final event of the series will involve four days of knockout match play. The bottom eight teams from the regular season will play on Day 1. The four winners advance to play the top four teams from the regular season on Day 2. The four winners advance to play each other in semi-finals on Day 3. The two winners advance to a final, the two losers advance to a third-place play-off on Day 4.
4 ACES – Dustin Johnson (C)
HY FLYERS – Phil Mickelson (C)
PUNCH – Wade Ormsby (C)
CLEEKS – Martin Kaymer (C)
IRON HEADS – Kevin Na (C)
SMASH – Sihwan Kim (C)
CRUSHERS – Peter Uihlein (C)
MAJESTICKS – Ian Poulter (C)
STINGER – Louis Oosthuizen (C)
FIREBALLS – Sergio Garcia (C)
NIBLICKS – Graeme McDowell (C)
TORQUE – Taylor Gooch (C)
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