The LIV Golf League returns to action this week with the final event of its regular season in Saudi Arabia, where tens of millions of dollars, first-round byes and future eligibility are all on the line.
At the end of LIV Golf Jeddah, once again held at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, the season-long individual champion will be decided and the winner will take home the lucrative $18 million top prize. Dustin Johnson won the individual title a week before last year’s season finale, but this year’s race is much closer with three players in the mix: Cam Smith, Talor Gooch and Bryson DeChambeau.
Here’s a rundown of what’s on the line this week at LIV Golf Jeddah.
Individual championship
The season-long individual champion will be crowned at the end of the week in the Kingdom, with Ripper GC captain Cam Smith leading the way. The Aussie has two wins in London and Bedminster and six top 10s on the season. The RangeGoats GC’s Talor Gooch is in second thanks to his three wins on the season in Adelaide, Singapore and Andalucia, making him and Smith the league’s only three-time winners. Bryson DeChambeau, captain of Crushers GC, is the hottest player on the upstart circuit these days with two wins in his last three LIV starts, one of which was aided by his impressive 58 at the Greenbrier.
Those three are the only players with a shot at the title this week, but a few more could play their way into the season-long top three.
DeChambeau and Co.
While Smith and Gooch are guaranteed a spot in the top three, DeChambeau is not, which opens the door for a handful of other competitors to play their way into the bonus money. Last year’s champion Johnson, as well as Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka, Branden Grace and Mito Pereira can all climb into the top three with strong performances (and a little help from DeChambeau) this week.
LIV has outlined the various scenarios here. Second place will take home $8 million, with third banking $4 million.
All eyes should be on Koepka to make the move out of that group, seeing as he and his Smash GC swept the individual and team titles at Royal Greens last year.
Bye bye bye
Following LIV Golf Jeddah will be the season-ending Team Championship at Trump National Doral near Miami, where the top four teams will earn a first-round bye and move directly to the semifinals.
Johnson’s 4Aces GC lead the team championship and already clinched one of the four byes, leaving four other teams – Crushers GC, Torque GC, Stinger GC and RangeGoats GC – to compete for the remaining three.
Lock, Open and Drop Zones
LIV Golf Jeddah will also have some future implications as far as player eligibility is concerned.
Players can secure their LIV Golf League status for the 2024 season if they finish inside the top 24 on the points list (the Lock Zone). Nos. 25-44 (the Open Zone) can be traded or released from their team during the offseason transfer period. Nos. 45 and below (the Drop Zone) are “relegated” from the LIV Golf League, but not fully. They can still qualify via the league’s inaugural promotion tournament (more on that here).
Not only that, team captains from the 2023 season are fully exempt from any relegation.
For instance, Lee Westwood, one of three captains on the Majesticks GC, and Martin Kaymer, the injury-riddled captain of Cleeks GC, are currently in the drop zone, but their status as captains will push them through to 2024. The next-closest captains to the drop zone are Phil Mickelson (38, HyFlyers GC), Bubba Watson (35, RangeGoats GC) and Ian Poulter (34, Majesticks GC).
