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After failing to finalize a partnership agreement with the PGA Tour ahead of the December 31 deadline (negotiations are still ongoing), LIV Golf is moving ahead on its own with 14 events scheduled for the 2024 campaign.
But things will look a little different for the breakaway circuit in this third year of play, as the governing body announced a series of changes ahead of the season-opening event in Mexico, which will be contested at El Camaleon Golf Course at Mayakoba.
The “enhancements” will affect both the individual and team aspects of LIV Golf, perhaps the most noteworthy of which is the expansion of the overall field.
In the first two seasons, each tournament featured a field of 48 players, each of whom was a member of one of the 12 four-man teams.
But with the addition of a 13th team, which is captained by two-time major champion Jon Rahm and also includes new addition Tyrrell Hatton, and two Wild Card players, who are not members of a team, each LIV Golf event will now feature 54 players.
How the LIV Golf Changes Affect the Individual Standings
As it was the first two years, those finishing in the top 24 in the individual LIV Golf standings will automatically retain their spot on the circuit for 2025.
For those who finish in slots 25-48, which the circuit now calls the Open Zone, players “out of contract” will need to be re-signed by their current team or signed by another team to maintain status for the ’25 campaign.
Players in the Drop Zone, meaning 49th or lower, lose their status and must work their way back via the 2024 LIV Golf Promotions event.
Despite the expanded field, individual points will still only be awarded to the top 24 finishers in each event. In the event of a tie, points will be added and distributed evenly to those who finished with the same score. Actual tiebreakers will only be used to determine podium positions.
As for the individual prize money, payouts have been adjusted to account for the extra six players in the field. The top prize, however, has not changed, as the tournament winner still collects $4 million.
How the New LIV Golf Enhancements Affect the Team Competition
As for how the new “enhancements” affect the LIV Golf team competition, the biggest change concerns the final round of each event.
In years past, the top three scores from each four-man team were counted for all three rounds. Now, while the old rule remains for Rounds 1 and 2, all four scores will now be counted in the final round, which certainly would’ve affected the outcomes of past tournaments. The team with the lowest cumulative score, of course, wins the tournament.
The payouts for the team competition remain the same, with $3 million going to the winning squad, $1.5 million going to the second-place team, and $500,000 going to the third-place finisher.
Following the 13th regular-season event, the top 12 teams will be seeded for the Team Championship tourney. The 13th team will not compete in the event, but the members are expected to attend.
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