The inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series kicks off Thursday, June 9. The league, funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is seeking to take on the PGA Tour with an alternative golf league.
About LIV: The tournaments in the LIV series will be different than traditional PGA Tour events. One of the major differences is golfers will play three rounds (instead of four on the PGA Tour), which coincides with the number of holes in the event of 54, which is LIV in Roman numerals.
LIV Golf London tournament is at the Centurion Club, located outside of the city, and begins on June 9 consisting of 48 golfers. Golfers won't be cut after two days but will participate in all three rounds.
There will be a shotgun start with groups of golfers beginning at the same time at different holes. Twelve captains were selected with a snake draft to pick teams.
The winner of the event takes home $4 million and last place gets $120,000.
How to Watch: Unlike the PGA Tour, which has major broadcast deals in the U.S., LIV will hope to capture fans through other viewing mediums.
LIV Golf London can be watched on Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL)-owned YouTube, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB)-owned Facebook and the LIV Golf website.
The LIV Golf website says the tournament will be broadcast in 138 countries around the world and may include some free-to-air broadcasters.
Coverage starts at 9 a.m. ET Thursday, June 9 and concludes at the end of the round. Friday and Saturday will also kick off at 9 a.m. ET.
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Betting Odds: Sixteen of the top 100 golfers in the world will take part in the first LIV Golf event. The roster includes many well-known names from the U.S. and Europe, including four former Masters Tournament winners.
Many states will not offer betting on the inaugural tournament. Draftkings Inc (NASDAQ:DKNG) is offering bets in Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Oregon and Wyoming, according to Action Network.
Here are the favorites for the LIV Golf London event:
Dustin Johnson +400
Talor Gooch: +900
Louis Oosthuizen: +1000
Sergio Garcia: +1200
Kevin Na: +1200
Outside of the top five golfers, Phil Mickelson is listed at odds of +2800 to win.
In 10 events for the current PGA Tour season, Johnson has two top 10s and has made the cut seven times.
Gooch has played in 20 events this season with a win and four top 10s. Gooch has also made the top 25 in 12 of the tournaments.
Johnson will have a ton of pressure on him for the inaugural tournament and has not played in as many 2022 events. Gooch has played well in PGA Tour events this season, making him a strong contender to perform well.
Many will likely choose to wait and bet on the next tournament to see how players perform and adjust to the different scoring format and league rules. More rumors of golfers such as Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed joining the league could greatly impact betting odds going forward.
Photo: Mikael Damkier via Shutterstock
