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LIV Golf will finish its third season this weekend in Dallas with the controversial tour’s $50 million team championship event.
And while questions remain about LIV’s future—from its next media-rights deal to its Saudi financial backers’ negotiations with the PGA Tour—the circuit has already released dates and locations for the first four tournaments of its 2025 schedule.
But before that happens, there’s some intriguing and potentially very expensive business to finish on the golf course.
The Rich Get Richer
Jon Rahm joined LIV in December after signing a contract worth more than $300 million. On Sunday, he earned another $18 million bonus after winning in Chicago and clinching the season-long individual points championship. Combined with his individual tournament winnings, Rahm’s first season on LIV has resulted in $34.73 million. His team, Legion XIII, has won several million more dollars, but that cash doesn’t go directly into golfers’ pockets, as it’s mostly used for franchise operations.
For this week’s team championship, though, the four players on each squad will take home 10% each of whatever they win, with the team taking 60%. Here are the top five team payouts up for grabs:
- First: $14 million
- Second: $8 million
- Third: $6 million
- Fourth: $4 million
- Fifth: $3.25 million
Entering the final, the top three teams get first-round byes in the team match-play tournament: Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC, Rahm’s Legion XIII, and Cam Smith’s Rippers GC.
Captain’s Choice
With the individual portion of the season over, LIV’s complicated promotion and relegation system will be put to the test.
Only the top 24 finishers are guaranteed spots on their LIV teams next year. Places 25–48 are subject to being dropped or traded, and players 49th or below in the standings are supposed to be relegated. However, in that mandatory relegation zone is the two-time Masters champion and captain of the RangeGoats, Bubba Watson, who finished 53rd out of 57 players who earned points this season.
Team captains have equity in their franchises, and they can avoid relegation if LIV decides there is a “business reason” for doing so, according to Sports Illustrated. “We’ve already had realistic discussions about this and his teammates have confidence that he will return to form,” RangeGoats GM Randall Wells told SI.
Watson isn’t the only captain to struggle this season. Six other team bosses finished in the “open zone” that would leave them vulnerable: Kevin Na (33rd), Henrik Stenson (35th), Lee Westwood (36th), Ian Poulter (37th), Martin Kaymer (40th), and Phil Mickelson (47th). However, as team captains, they can simply decide to keep themselves on the four-man roster.
