By Kent Gray
Weekly NFL-style player drafts, a faster, broadcast and fan-friendly format with fewer holes, modified shot-gun starts and no cut. Individuals playing for unimaginable, guaranteed riches as well as for ever-changing teams and even more eye-watering wads of cash. Did we mention the money. Holy-Moley. It’s tournament golf but not as you’ve known it.

Long on speculation but short on specifics, the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Investments finally put some detail around its relentlessly rumoured breakaway league on Wednesday. 

A media statement announcing the eight event LIV Golf Invitational Series, complete with its $225 million combined prize purse, described the league as “100 percent additive” to the pro game rather than a rival to the PGA and DP World Tours. Indeed, the league has been positioned as the “building blocks of a next generation golf experience”.

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• LIV Golf will welcome Mickelson back on Lefty’s ‘time schedule’

“I want golf to grow, players to have additional opportunities, and fans to have more fun,” said Greg Norman, LIV Golf Investments CEO.

“My mission is to help the game reach its full potential and we know the role of golf as an entertainment product is critical to overall participation in the sport. In many ways, we are a start-up. We have a long-term vision and aim to grow. I believe we have a very bright and exciting future.”

So, what is this well-funded “start-up”, which will draw on $400 million in initial seed capital from Saudi’s Public Investment Fund, promising? And how will it appeal to players and fans? 

No ‘I’ in Team Accept When There Is
Greg Norman attended his first Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits last year as a  radio commentator. The event was a lightbulb moment for the former world No.1 who realised what we’ve known all along: team golf is a fan favourite.

Thus, a team component will be at the “heart of the new structure” with $5 million of the $25 million purse on offer at each of the first seven LIV Golf Invitational Series events going to top three placed teams.

There will also be a Team Championship grand finale, played in a match-play format for a whopping $50 million, at the conclusion of the series in late October at a venue TBC. 

With $20 million on the line for individual performances at each event, plus a $30 million bonus pool for the top three players after the opening seven “regular season” events, it will be fascinating to see how the team component plays out in a sport where selfishness has traditionally paid the mortgage.

A (Weekly) Player Draft
We have it on good authority that the league initially planned to incorporate 48-players evenly divided into 12 teams of four, with high profile stars such as Phil Mickelson set to take fiscal and playing captain stakes in the teams. Transfers would have been possible in a transfer window, for injury reasons or at the discretion of Commissioner Norman.

It seems that concept is on ice, at least initially. The draft stays but will happen before each event with captains choosing from a pool of available players. 

It’s a proven concept, borrowed from the successful Aramco Team Series sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour. It won’t generate the fan allegiance to potentially corporate-backed teams, aka F1’s Red Bull v Mercedes. That, we suspect, is part of the “long term vision” Norman has spoken to. 

Shotgun Starts
You switch on TV hoping to watch your favourite players or even the final group in action, only to find said player or players haven’t teed off yet. No such frustrations will ensue in the LIV Golf Invitational Series with all 48 players playing simultaneously.

It should make for quick-fire entertainment, perfect for a condensed broadcast spot. The trick might be keeping up with who is doing what.

54-hole events
Let’s be honest, outside the majors and the Ryder/Presidents Cup, how many people tune into events religiously for all four days? Who has the time? That won’t be a problem for the LIV Golf series where each round will be confined to a shorter period due to the shotgun starts, plus the fact there will be 18 fewer holes to film or consume. In the right time zone, that means your Friday, Saturday and Sunday viewing pleasure will be taken care of in a refreshing change from the vanilla 72-hole strokeplay events we’ve become used to.

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LIV Golf Invitational Series 2022

June 9-11: Centurion Golf Club (London)
July 1-3: Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club (Portland)
July 29-31: Trump National Golf Club Bedminster (New Jersey)
Sept 2-4: The International (Boston)
Sept 16-18: Rich Harvest Farms (Chicago)
Oct 7-9: Stonehill (Bangkok)
Oct 14-16: Royal Greens Golf Club (Jeddah)
Oct 28-30: Team Championship (TBC)

No Cuts
You’ve purchased a ticket to the golf on the weekend, maybe even a costly corporate box. And the superstar/s you hoped to watch is already on his way home, having missed the cut. Doh! 

That won’t happen in the LIV Golf Series where the 48-players will be guaranteed three rounds and a cut of the $20 million individual purse. We wonder what will happen to the scoring (think epic comebacks) with the fiscal pressure off. It will also guarantee big names for sponsors who fly in corporates from around the globe. It’s all about ROI after all.

Show Me the MONEY! 
LIV Golf Investments is providing more than $400 million in “seed money” to launch the series, $225 million of which will be for prize money alone. 

To reiterate, there will be $25 million on the line at each of the first seven events ($5 million to be shared between the top three teams), a $30 million end of season bonus pool for the three leading individuals, plus $50 million for the match-play Team Championship finale. 

Remember also that players have long been linked to lucrative sign-in fees. With Official World Golf Ranking points likely via LIV Golf Investment’s Asian Tour connection, don’t be surprised if some of the recent PGA Tour and DP World Tour aligners do abrupt about-faces and follow the money. If the expected legal challenge to determine the right of players to play where and when they want as independent contractors goes LIV Golf’s way, expect a stampede. 

What’s in the name?
LIV, as in Live and Let Live, just happens to be the roman numeral for 54, as in holes to be played under the new format. It’s also the name of the marketing and consultancy company, Performance 54, peddling PR for LIV Golf Investments and is majority-owned by the Saudis.