LIV Golf makes huge format change for 2025 season: ‘Nobody can hide!’
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LIV Golf’s new format promises more drama and volatility as action gets underway this week.
Season 4 of LIV Golf gets underway this week and with it comes a new format designed to make the team element more dramatic and interesting to watch.
For the first time in LIV Golf’s history, every player’s score in every round will count toward his team’s total score in the team competition at each regular season tournament.
Last season, all four scores only counted in the third and final round; the first two rounds were a friendlier ‘best three scores from four’ format.
LIV Golf scoring evolution
- 2022 London (inaugural event): Two scores count in rounds 1-2. Three scores count in round 3
- 2022 Bangkok (6th event): Three scores now count in rounds 1-2. Three scores count in round 3
- 2024 (start of season): Three scores count in rounds 1-2. Four scores now count in round 3
- 2025 (start of season): Four scores now count in all rounds
The final stroke-play round of the season-ending Team Championship has always counted all four scores.
The new format begins with the 2025 season opener at LIV Golf Riyadh.
What impact will LIV Golf’s new format have?
Increased volatility
The first two rounds should now provide bigger shifts on the leaderboard that have previously only been seen in the final round since all four scores have counted. “It’s going to add a little bit more pressure,” says Ripper GC’s Marc Leishman. “And we’re going to have that extra volatility early in the week, not just on Sunday.”
“It does make volatility bigger, crazier,” says RangeGoats GC captain Bubba Watson.
High scores are a killer
In previous years, any player who had a bad day during the first two rounds could hope to be bailed out by his three teammates. Not anymore. Shooting 77 or worse on Friday or Saturday will now be crippling to the team.
Last year, there were 31 non-counting scores of 77 or worse. Grinding to turn those into 74s or 75s will be vital.
“There’s no more looking at the scoreboard and thinking, I’m OK, my team’s playing well. That definitely changes things,” says Stinger GC Captain Louis Oosthuizen.
Strength in depth matters a lot
The teams with the strongest back-end of the roster should benefit the most. The best No. 4 players will arguably be more valuable from a team standpoint than top-end No. 1s. That’s why a team like Crushers GC, who were the best-scoring team in all four rounds last year, are embracing the change. “If you look historically, if every score counted for every round, we’d be very successful,” says Anirban Lahiri. “Not that we haven’t been. We have been successful, but we would’ve been more successful.”
“I think it suits our team,” argues Smash’s Graeme McDowell. “I think we’re deeper than most teams.”
New guys under pressure
There are six new full-time players this season – four of whom are aged 25 or younger. The pressure will be on them to deliver the goods immediately instead of easing into the LIV Golf environment.
LIV Golf’s new substitution policy
Since all four scores now count in every round, adjustments have been made to LIV’s substitution policy.
If a player withdraws during the playing of a round, his team may select one of the available reserve players to play the remainder of the round/tournament.
- If a player withdraws between the play of two holes, the reserve will begin play on the following hole.
- If a player withdraws while playing a hole, the reserve will put his ball in play at the same spot as the original ball and complete the hole.
If a player starts a tournament but is forced to withdraw while on the course, that player can return to compete for his team at the start of any remaining rounds. But he will only compete to contribute a team score, not in the individual competition.
No substitute player is permitted to replace a disqualified player. His team will also be disqualified.
How much difference will it make?
The season-long standings
Had this format been in place last year, Crushers still would have topped the season-long team standings ahead of the Team Championship, but Ripper would have finished above Legion XIII to take second spot. A few other teams would have finished in slightly different positions.
Different tournament winners
Six 2024 tournaments would have had different winners, while another tournament would have required a team playoff.
- Stinger would have won LIV Golf Jeddah (not Crushers)
- Stinger would have won LIV Golf Adelaide (and avoided playoff loss to Ripper)
- Cleeks and Smash would have tied LIV Golf Houston (instead, Cleeks won)
- Crushers would have won LIV Golf Andalucía (and avoided playoff loss to Fireballs)
- Ripper would have won LIV Golf UK (not Legion XIII)
- Ripper would have won LIV Golf Greenbrier (not Smash)
- Fireballs would have won LIV Golf Chicago (not Crushers)
Is this a good change?
I’m in favour of this change to LIV Golf’s format. It makes the team element feel more like a real competition and less like one of those relaxed team formats they use in charity days or corporate golf to make everyone feel like they’ve contributed and to take the pressure off the lesser golfers.
Tour golf should be about grinding to limit the damage of bad rounds as much as it is trying to shoot the lights out on good days, and this change promotes that. Previously, a golfer having a nightmare round likely knew he wasn’t going to win the individual competition and could be carried by his team in the team element, giving him little incentive to fight for every shot, but not anymore. “Nobody can hide,” says Bubba Watson. “You’re going to have to be committed on every hole, every shot.” Quite right.
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LIV Golf has a new format for 2025 that should make the team element much more interesting.
