LIV Golf 2025: All Team Scores Now Count Every Round in Major Format Change
LIV Golf has announced a significant format change for the 2025 season, requiring all four player scores to count in every round for each team. This marks a departure from previous formats where only select scores counted during different rounds.
Key changes to the format:
- All four player scores will count in every round
- Previously, only three scores counted in early rounds
- In 2024, all four scores only counted on Sunday
- Format applies to all 13 teams
Impact of the change:
- Increases pressure on all team members
- No ability to drop poor scores
- Greater volatility in team standings
- More dramatic leaderboard changes possible
Festival banners among trees
Player reactions:
- Bubba Watson: "Nobody can hide. You're going to have to be committed on every hole, every shot."
- Jon Rahm: "I think it benefits a team like ours. I think we have four really strong players that are really consistent."
- Louis Oosthuizen: "There's no more looking at the scoreboard and thinking, 'I'm OK, my team's playing well.'"
Two golfers on green fairway
The new format debuts at LIV Golf Riyadh 2025, which will be played under floodlights at Riyadh Golf Club. Legion XIII enters as favorites for both the season-long team title and the opening event, with Rahm and Hatton leading betting odds for individual victory.
Phil Mickelson will miss the opening event due to a minor injury, with Ollie Schniederjans stepping in as his replacement for HyFlyers GC.