Answering the key questions and explaining the need-to-know changes ahead of the fourth season of LIV Golf, and the third under the League format, ahead of the Saudi-backed series’ 2025 opener in Riyadh.

Who has joined for 2025?

While none of LIV’s signings over this winter have been as seismic as Jon Rahm’s arrival for 2024, the Saudi-backed league have still managed to sign one of the rising stars of the established tours in Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin.

McKibbin, the 22-year-old dubbed the ‘next Rory McIlroy’ after hailing from the same Holywood Golf Club as the four-time major champion, has joined Rahm’s Legion XII team which already features Tyrrell Hatton, who was another major 2024 recruit, and 20-year-old Caleb Surratt.

McKibbin is one of six new entrants in the 54-player field for this year.

New Zealand’s Ben Campbell (RangeGoats GC) South Korea’s Jang Yu-bin (Iron Heads GC), Denmark’s Frederik Kjettrup (Cleeks GC) and Spain’s Luis Masaveu (Fireballs GC) have been signed to teams, while Chieh-Po Lee from Chinese Taipei earned his place as a wildcard by winning the LIV Golf Promotions qualifying event.

What’s different about the 2025 schedule?

The LIV Golf season will again consist of 14 tournaments but this year features six new courses.

The season starts on February 6-8 with a new floodlit event in Riyadh after the Saudi Arabian round was moved from its previous home at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.

Mexico’s event in April is also being played on a different course – Club Golf de Chapultepec, located just outside Mexico City – while South Korea will stage a tournament for the very first time at the start of May at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club.

After a year’s absence, LIV will return to Washington DC in June, this time at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, with Dallas moved up the schedule to the summer after staging the Team Championship finale in 2024.

The Individual Championship finale will this year conclude at a new venue in The Club at Chatham Hills in Indianapolis on August 15-17, a week before the Team Championship is decided at The Cardinal at Saint John’s course in Michigan.

Where and when do LIV Golf League events take place in 2025?

February 6-8 – LIV Golf Riyadh – Riyadh Golf Club

February 14-16 – LIV Golf Adelaide – The Grange Golf Club

March 7-9 – LIV Golf Hong Kong – Hong Kong Golf Club

March 14-16 – LIV Golf Singapore – Sentosa Golf Club

April 4-6 – LIV Golf Miami – Blue Monster at Trump National Doral

April 25-27 – LIV Golf Mexico City – Club de Golf Chapultepec

May 2-4 – LIV Golf Korea – Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea

June 6-8 – LIV Golf Washington DC – Robert Trent Jones Golf Club

June 27-29 – LIV Golf Dallas – Maridoe Golf Club

July 11-13 – LIV Golf Andalucia – Real Club Valderrama

July 25-27 – LIV Golf UK – JCB Golf and Country Club

August 8-10 – LIV Golf Chicago – Bolingbrook Golf Club

August 15-17 – LIV Golf Indianapolis – The Club at Chatham Hills

August 22-24 – Team Championship – LIV Golf Michigan – The Cardinal at Saint John’s Resort

What else is different for 2025?

In a significant change at the top of the LIV Golf organisation, Greg Norman has stepped down after three years in the chief executive role.

Norman, the two-time major winner, had been considered one of the most divisive figures in golf’s civil war and, at the height of the tensions between the breakaway series and the established tours in 2022, was heavily criticised and called on to step down by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

The Australian has been replaced by experienced American executive Scott O’Neil, who comes from a sports and entertainment background having held senior roles at the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and, most recently, theme park operator Merlin Entertainments.

Another notable change for LIV in 2025 comes in the form of a multi-year new US TV deal with Fox Sports, while they have signed up leading golf content creator Rick Shiels as an ambassador. There have also been notable commercial deals elsewhere, including Rahm and his Legion XII side striking a deal with clothing brand Greyson.

Which players were already involved?

Rahm, the 2023 Masters and 2021 US Open champion, returns for his second season after winning the Individual Championship and topping the money list in his debut campaign.

Former major winners Phil Mickelson, Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau – whose Crushers GC side won the 2024 Teams Championship – all return for the new season too.

Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Paul Casey are the other experienced names part of the LIV field.

Mickelson will be absent from the Riyadh opener due to a shoulder injury but is expected to return at the following event in Adelaide. He is being replaced in the Saudi field by reserve player Ollie Schniederjans, who won his maiden Asian Tour tournament last week.

What’s the state of the talks to unite golf?

It’s now more than a year since the targeted date of New Year’s Eve 2023 came and went without a deal being announced between LIV’s backers, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour to formalise the Framework Agreement unexpectedly announced in June 2023 to unite golf.

Despite plenty of reports since then suggesting that a resolution was imminent, there has been no final breakthrough as yet continuing talks between the key players.

But there have still been plenty of examples over the past year to show that relations between the parties have thawed substantially since the early hostilities around LIV’s launch and the defection of major names.

One-time arch critic McIlroy has spoken about the benefits of a deal, while PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan even played a round of golf alongside PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

However, as yet, no final deal and agreed plan forward is in place.

What’s the format of LIV tournaments?

Each LIV Golf event is played across three days, which means tournaments are 54 holes in length. There is no cut.

Fields comprise 54 players – 52 of which are attached to one of the 13 teams, while there are two wildcards (which this year are Lee Chieh-po and the returning Anthony Kim) – with each day getting under way via a shotgun start, which sees the players starting at the same time in groups across all 18 holes.

There is an individual and team winner of each event. Points for finishing positions are awarded which count towards the overall season-long Individual and Team Championships.

The individual winner of each tournament is decided by the lowest score at the end of the third day.

In the team competition, each team’s top three player scores count for the first two rounds before all four scores count for the final round. The combined lowest team score at the end of the tournament is the winner.

How do the Championship standings work?

The Individual Championship is determined by points collected by players through the first 13 events of the year. The top 24 finishers earn points on a sliding scale at each event, with the winner gaining 40, second place taking home 30 and third awarded 24. The player with the most points after round 13 ends up as champion.

Only the top 24 players in the season-long standings are guaranteed their 2026 spot in the league, with those finishing between 25th and 48th – providing they’re out of contract – then needing to either be re-signed by their team or picked by another.

Those 49th and below will be relegated out of the league and need to enter the 2024 LIV Golf Promotions tournament, which will take place later in the year.

For the Teams Championship, only the top-eight teams in each tournament earn points, with 32 given to the winning side.

One of the teams will also fail to qualify for the season-ending Team Championship, with seeding in place for the 12 teams who make it through. The team in 13th place will not compete but will still attend. The top 12 teams following the 13th regular season event will be seeded. The team that finishes in 13th place will not compete but will still attend.

Can LIV players play in the Ryder Cup?

While defectors from the established tours remain barred from playing on the PGA Tour, the PGA of America has confirmed that they can feature on the US Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black in New York in September.

Any American player who qualifies through the Ryder Cup points system or is granted a wildcard pick by captain Keegan Bradley can play.

European players can also feature on Luke Donald’s side provided they have retained membership of the DP World Tour and played four events a season, in addition to paying fines and serving any bans. Rahm and Hatton have both appealed against their fines for appearing at LIV events, with a date for hearings yet to be set, so they remain in strong contention.

Can LIV players earn ranking points yet?

After admitting defeat last year in their bid to get world ranking points awarded for their tournaments after being rebuffed by the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) organisation, LIV players only currently earn points when they play in majors – if they’re eligible or hold an exemption – on the DP World Tour if they fulfil certain criteria, or via appearing on other satellite tours.

Rahm, for instance, has slipped from third to 43rd in the rankings since defecting to LIV, having played in only eight ranking-counting tournaments since – three majors, the Paris Olympics and four DP World Tour events.

As of February 2025, Hatton is the highest-rank LIV player in the OWGR in eighth place.