Golf - LIV Golf - TGL Tournament - Riyadh Golf Club, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - February 6, 2025 General view of the LIV Golf trophies REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
(Reuters) -LIV Golf events will be played over 72 holes starting in 2026, the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit announced on Tuesday in a move that could help its bid to have players earn crucial world ranking points.
Since its inception in 2022, LIV Golf tournaments have been 54-hole, no-cut events, with the majority played Friday through Sunday, an unconventional format that played a role in the Official World Golf Ranking denying it ranking points.
LIV Golf also said its individual and team competitions will continue to run concurrently with the shotgun-start format remaining in place.
'A WIN FOR THE LEAGUE'
Moving to four days of competition with events generally beginning on Thursday of tournament weeks puts LIV Golf more in line with the setup of other established circuits like the PGA Tour.
There was no mention as to whether LIV Golf will impose a halfway cut.
"This is a win for the League, and the players," said two-time major champion Jon Rahm, LIV Golf's reigning individual champion and captain of the circuit's Legion XIII.
"LIV Golf is a player's league. We are competitors to the core and we want every opportunity to compete at the highest level and to perfect our craft.
"Moving to 72 holes is the logical next step that strengthens the competition, tests us more fully, and if the growing galleries from last season are any indication, delivers more of what the fans want."
HIGH STAKES
The stakes are high for LIV's star-studded roster, a cast that in addition to Rahm includes Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton and Phil Mickelson, as world rankings play a key role in determining entry into golf's four majors.
The lack of ranking points has led to LIV Golf players tumbling down the rankings, with former world number one Dustin Johnson now ranked 604th in the OWGR.
"The move to 72 holes marks a pivotal new chapter for LIV Golfthatstrengthens ourleague, challenges our elite field of players, and delivers more of the world-class golf, energy, innovation and access that our global audience wants," said LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil.
NEW APPLICATION
In October 2023, LIV Golf's bid to have its players earn ranking points was unanimously rejected by the OWGR, which said "at this time" the circuit would not be recognised as an Eligible Golf Tour in its system.
At the time, the OWGR said LIV Golf's 54-hole, no-cut events were an issue but added that it was one that was capable of being managed through an appropriate mathematical formula.
LIV formally withdrew its application in March 2024 but the OWGR said this year that it had received a new application in June from the circuit and had commenced a review process.
The 2026 LIV Golf season is scheduled to begin under the lights at Riyadh Golf Club in Saudi Arabia on February 4.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Christian Radnedge and Toby Davis)
