Just a week after the final regular event of the LIV Golf season at Bolingbrook Golf Club in Chicago, the circuit heads to another new venue, Maridoe Golf Club in Dallas, for the 2024 finale the Team Championship.
Last week, Jon Rahm took the $4m first prize for his win and an $18m bonus for topping the Individual Championship, but now attention turns to the team standings as the 13 four-player squads compete for the biggest purse of the season, $50m.
Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC took the honors at Trump National Doral in 2023, claiming $14m in prize money in the process, and the team is in pole position to repeat that success this year.
Crushers GC, which also includes Anirban Lahiri, Charles Howell III and Paul Casey, heads into the three-day event as the number one seed after three victories this season, with Rahm’s Legion XIII the number two seed.
Immediately beneath Legion XIII in the team standings is Cameron Smith’s Ripper GC, and that gives the three the advantage of a bye, meaning they have automatically qualified for Saturday’s semi-final.
The first two days will see match play of foursomes and singles, while the third day will feature strokeplay to determine the Team Champion. The winning team will earn $14m. Meanwhile, the team finishing second will win $8m and the team finishing third will claim $6m.
Of the money the teams earn, 60% will be reinvested into the franchises, with 40% being distributed among the players. That means the winning team will be boosted by $8.4m, with the four players each receiving $1.4m.
Below is the prize money payout for the 2024 Team Championship.
LIV Golf Team Championship Prize Money Payout
Breakdown:
60% to team
40% to players (10% each)
Who Are The Star Names In The LIV Golf Team Championship?
Unlike regular events, the 2024 Team Championship doesn’t include the two wildcards, Anthony Kim and Hudson Swafford, so a field of 52 (comprising 13 teams of four) will be competing.
The top three seeds receive a bye to the semi-finals, so we won’t see three of the biggest names on LIV Golf, Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau, Legion XIII leader Jon Rahm and Ripper GC captain Cameron Smith, until the second day.
Teams seeded fourth to 13th are involved from the start, though, meaning appearances in either one of the two head-to-head singles matches or the foursomes for the likes of Smash GC captain Brooks Koepka, Fireballs GC leader Sergio Garcia and 4 Aces GC captain Dustin Johnson.
Another big name appearing is Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann, who finished runner-up in the Individual Championship. Hy Flyers GC captain Phil Mickelson, Stinger GC leader Louis Oosthuizen and the leader of Range Goats GC, Bubba Watson, who finished in the Drop Zone at the end of the regular season, play too.
What Happens To Team Earnings In LIV Golf?
In regular LIV Golf events, the $25m in prize money is divided between the top three teams and the players.
The players claim the bulk of it, with $20m distributed among the 54 in each field. The remaining $5m sees $3m go to the winning team, $1.5m to the team finishing second and $500,000 to the team in third. That money is then reinvested into the teams to help grow their franchises.
The season finale is the Team Championship. In that, teams are seeded based on their position in the Team Standings heading into the event. Each of the 13 teams receives a share of the $50m purse, with the winning team claiming $14m.
Overall, 60% of the prize money earned by a team is reinvested into it, with the other 40% being distributed among the players. So, in the case of the winning team, $8.4m goes towards building the team franchise with the remaining $5.6m divided between its four players.
Who Won The 2023 LIV Golf Team Championship?
In 2023 Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC won the Team Championship at Trump National Doral. The team beat the Range Goats GC by two shots to lift the title as DeChambeau shone with a five-under-par 67.
