The LIV Golf League begins its fourth season Thursday, under the lights, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The first of 14 events will be played at Riyadh Golf Club, which is lighted and will allow for late-morning and afternoon viewing in the United States.
Here are seven new things to watch around LIV Golf as the season is about to start.
Now on network TV
For the first time, LIV Golf has a network television deal in the United States. Fox Sports will be the provider across its various platforms, with the first event available on FS1 and FS2. LIV Golf still offers streaming via the LIV Golf+ app, which will now come with an annual fee of $60 in the U.S. or $6.99 per event. The league will have several rounds on the main Fox channel, mainly on weekends of U.S.-based events.
Major movement
LIV golfers will have more to play for than just money. The U.S. Open became the first major championship to create a direct exemption category via the individual points list. It’s just one player this year and two next year but it is better than what LIV got prior—which was nothing. LIV had hoped to get more spots, and it is likely to get several exemptions from the PGA of America, which has already awarded invites to Joaquin Niemann and Sergio Garcia.
Counting ’em all
LIV’s team format will see a change this year. For the first time, all four scores in each round will count toward the team score. Last year, three of four scores counted the first two days with all four only on the final day.
A quiet offseason
Unlike last year, LIV Golf had no big-name offseason signing. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton joined LIV prior to the 2024 season but this time LIV saved money and went with a younger crop of players. Tom McKibbin (Northern Ireland), Yubin Jang (South Korea), Luis Masaveu (Spain), Frederik Kjettrup (Denmark), Ben Campbell (New Zealand) and Chieh-po Lee (Chinese Taipei) joined the league. Chieh-po earned his spot via the LIV Golf Promotions event and will be a wildcard player, joining Anthony Kim, who is returning in that role.
New places to play
There are five new venues this year, starting with Riyadh. Others are Mexico City (at Chapultepec Golf Club, former home to the WGC Mexico Championship), South Korea (Jack Nicklaus Golf Club, Incheon), Indianapolis (the Club at Chatham Hills) and Michigan (The Cardinal at Saint John’s) for the team championship.
New leadership
LIV Golf has a new CEO. Scott O’Neil recently took over for Greg Norman, the two-time major winner and Hall of Famer who helped launch the league in 2022. O’Neil has already attempted to project a more conciliatory tone, saying he wanted to work within the framework of the existing professional golf landscape while a proposed deal between the Public Investment Fund—which backs LIV Golf—and the PGA Tour and DP World Tour is still being worked out. Norman is remaining with LIV Golf this year but it is unclear in what type of role.
Taking on the PGA Tour
In its previous three years, LIV Golf has largely avoided playing against what Norman described as the “legacy” PGA Tour events. But whether it was by design or out of necessity, several LIV events are being played the same week as some of the bigger PGA Tour events. Next week’s Adelaide tournament is the same week as the Tour’s Genesis Invitational, a signature event. Events in Hong Kong and Singapore are played the same weeks as the Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship. And LIV’s final three events are the same weeks as the FedEx Cup playoffs.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as LIV Golf 2025: Seven New Things to Watch As the Season Begins.
