2025 LIV Golf Primer: All you need to know about new season

Feb 4, 2025 - 6:44 PMWritten by: Mike McAllister

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New players, format change, new venues, new broadcast partner and plenty more in 2025

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – LIV Golf cranks up its third league season (and fourth overall) this week under the lights in Riyadh. A few notes and tidbits to get you prepped for what promises to be another 14-tournament thrill ride.

WHAT’S NEW

PLAYER DEBUTS

Six players, each from a different country, will make their LIV Golf debuts as full-time players in Riyadh:

  • Legion XIII’s Tom McKibbin (N. Ireland)
  • Iron Heads GC’s Yubin Jang (Korea)
  • Fireballs GC’s Luis Masaveu (Spain)
  • Cleeks GC’s Frederik Kjettrup (Denmark)
  • RangeGoats GC’s Ben Campbell (New Zealand)
  • Wild Card player Chieh-po Lee (Chinese Taipei)

McKibbin, Jang, Masaveu and Kjettrup are each in their early- to mid-20s and add to the exciting collection of next-gen stars now competing in LIV Golf.

Campbell made three appearances in the league in 2024 as a reserve player.

Lee Chieh-po turned 30 in November and won LIV Golf Promotions in Riyadh to earn his spot in the league.

Also, Ollie Schniederjans will make his LIV Golf debut as a reserve player, filling in for injured HyFlyers GC Captain Phil Mickelson in Riyadh. In December, Schniederjans earned a full-time spot on The International Series through his play at LIV Golf Promotions, and then promptly won in his debut last week at the International Series India.

FORMAT CHANGE

For the first time, all four scores count in each round for every team. In 2024, only the final round counted all four scores, with just the top three scores counting for each of the first two rounds.

The scoring adjustment for 2025 will increase the drama and volatility on the team leaderboard throughout the three tournament days, putting added pressure on every player to contribute a low score (or at least avoid the really high ones) for their teams.

image: Captain Joaquín Niemann of Torque GC hits his shot before the start of LIV Golf Riyadh at Riyadh Golf Club on Monday, Feb. 03, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Trotman/LIV Golf)
image: Captain Joaquín Niemann of Torque GC is seen before the start of LIV Golf Riyadh at Riyadh Golf Club on Monday, Feb. 03, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Trotman/LIV Golf)
image: Captain Joaquín Niemann of Torque GC hits his shot before the start of LIV Golf Riyadh at Riyadh Golf Club on Monday, Feb. 03, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Trotman/LIV Golf)
image: A general view of the LIV Golf Riyadh shirt before the start of LIV Golf Riyadh at Riyadh Golf Club on Monday, Feb. 03, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Matthew Harris/LIV Golf)
image: Harold Varner III of 4Aces GC warms up before the start of LIV Golf Riyadh at Riyadh Golf Club on Monday, Feb. 03, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Charles Laberge/LIV Golf)
image: Captain Joaquín Niemann of Torque GC hits his shot before the start of LIV Golf Riyadh at Riyadh Golf Club on Monday, Feb. 03, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Trotman/LIV Golf)
image: A general view of the LIV Golf Riyadh shirt before the start of LIV Golf Riyadh at Riyadh Golf Club on Monday, Feb. 03, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Matthew Harris/LIV Golf)
image: Danny Lee, Captain Kevin Na and Yubin Jang of Iron Heads GC are seen before the start of LIV Golf Riyadh at Riyadh Golf Club on Sunday, Feb. 02, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Trotman/LIV Golf)
image: A general view of fan village before the start of LIV Golf Riyadh at Riyadh Golf Club on Monday, Feb. 03, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Matthew Harris/LIV Golf)
image: A general view of the money clip belonging to Captain Bryson DeChambeau of Crushers GC before the start of LIV Golf Riyadh at Riyadh Golf Club on Monday, Feb. 03, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Trotman/LIV Golf)

NEW VENUES

Riyadh is one of five new markets making their debuts as LIV Golf hosts. The others include Mexico City (April 25-27), Korea (May 2-4), Indianapolis (Aug. 15-17, when the Individual Champion will be crowned) and the Team Championship in Michigan (Aug. 22-24).

In addition, DC (June 6-8) is returning as a host market after a one-year absence but at a different course.

Meanwhile, Adelaide moves up the schedule; instead of April, it’s now next week in the middle of the Australian summer. Dallas, which hosted the Team Championship last year, now gets a spot in the regular season in late June.

BROADCAST

FOX Sports begins the first year of its multi-year media rights agreement with LIV Golf starting in 2025. The FOX family of networks will air live coverage of the league to viewers throughout the U.S.

Former LIV Golf player Pat Perez of 4Aces GC moves to the league’s broadcast team as an on-course reporter and will also make pre- and post-show appearances.

NEW LOOKS

Cleeks GC recently unveiled its new logo as part of the team’s Tradition Refreshed brand evolution. In addition, multiple teams announced apparel and sponsorship partnerships during the offseason.

NIGHT GOLF

For the first time, LIV Golf will be played at night, with each round scheduled for under the lights at Riyadh Golf Club.

AVERAGE TEAM AGE

Legion XIII

26.25

Torque GC

30.00

Fireballs GC

30.75

Iron Heads GC

31.75

RangeGoats GC

34.75

4Aces GC

35.25

Ripper GC

36.25

Cleeks GC

37.00

Smash GC

37.75

Stinger GC

38.25

HyFlyers GC

39.50

Crushers GC

39.75

Majesticks GC

44.00


CHAMPIONS

TEAM

Team Championship winners

  • 2022 – 4Aces GC (Captain Dustin Johnson, Talor Gooch, Patrick Reed, Pat Perez)
  • 2023 – Crushers GC (Captain Bryson DeChambeau, Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri)
  • 2024 – Ripper GC (Captain Cameron Smith, Lucas Herbert, Matt Jones, Marc Leishman)

Most Team victories (including Team Championship)

7 – 4Aces GC

6 – Crushers GC

4 – Fireballs GC, Legion XIII, Ripper GC, Torque GC

3 – Smash GC

2 – Stinger GC

1 – Cleeks GC, RangeGoats GC

The only teams without a tournament victory are HyFlyers GC, Iron Heads GC and Majesticks GC.

INDIVIDUAL

Season-long Individual Champions

  • 2022 – Dustin Johnson, 4Aces GC
  • 2023 – Talor Gooch, RangeGoats GC
  • 2024 – Jon Rahm, Legion XIII

Most Individual victories

5 – Brooks Koepka
3 – Talor Gooch, Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith

2 – Bryson DeChambeau, Joaquin Niemann, Jon Rahm

1 – Abraham Ancer, Dean Burmester, Eugenio Chacarra, Sergio Garcia, Branden Grace, Tyrrell Hatton, Charles Howell III, Danny Lee, Carlos Ortiz, Charl Schwartzel, Brendan Steele, Henrik Stenson, Harold Varner III

Of the seven LIV Golf players with multiple individual victories, three did not win in 2024 – DeChambeau, Gooch and Smith.

The only team without an individual tournament winner is Cleeks GC.

THE ORIGINAL 13

A total of 13 current players have started each of the first 36 LIV Golf tournaments in the last three years:

  • Richard Bland
  • Sergio Garcia
  • Talor Gooch
  • Branden Grace
  • Dustin Johnson
  • Matt Jones
  • Phil Mickelson
  • Kevin Na
  • Louis Oosthuizen
  • Ian Poulter
  • Charl Schwartzel
  • Peter Uihlein
  • Lee Westwood

Of those 13, Bland, Garcia, Gooch, Johnson, Jones, Mickelson, Poulter and Uihlein have completed every tournament (the others having to withdraw at some point).

Unfortunately, Mickelson’s streak ends this week after having to withdraw with a shoulder injury.

OFFSEASON SUCCESS

Several returning LIV Golf players enjoyed success since the last time we saw them competing in a LIV Golf tournament:

  • Joaquin Niemann (Torque) won the PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers and claimed season-long International Series crown
  • Tyrrell Hatton (Legion XIII) won two DP World Tour events – the Dunhill Links Championship in October and the Dubai Desert Classic in January
  • Peter Uihlein (RangeGoats) won International Series Qatar, his second victory during the 2024 International Series season
  • Patrick Reed (4Aces) shot a third-round 59 en route to winning Link Hong Kong Open
  • Lucas Herbert (Ripper) won the NSW Open in his native Australia
  • Dean Burmester (Stinger) won the Vodacom Origins of Golf Final on the Sunshine Tour

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