{"id":95152,"date":"2025-08-25T17:25:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T17:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/95152\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T17:25:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T17:25:09","slug":"the-10-biggest-takeaways-from-liv-golfs-season-as-its-fourth-year-comes-to-an-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/95152\/","title":{"rendered":"The 10 biggest takeaways from LIV Golf\u2019s season as its fourth year comes to an end"},"content":{"rendered":"

[PHOTO: Michael Miller\/ISI Photos]<\/p>\n

The LIV Golf season ended overnight in Plymouth, Michigan, with Jon Rahm adding a team title to last week\u2019s individual title. It came only hours after the PGA Tour saw an emotional Tommy Fleetwood<\/a> finally break through to claim his maiden US victory along with the FedEx Cup.<\/p>\n

From 14 LIV tournaments held across seven months and nine countries, here are the biggest takeaways from the 2025 campaign.<\/p>\n

RELATED: LIV Golf Team Championship \u2013 Cam Smith\u2019s Ripper GC out of the season finale<\/a><\/p>\n

Team race was better than the individual<\/p>\n

There was far more excitement, and less confusion, in LIV\u2019s Team Championship than in its individual finale a week ago in Indianapolis. In Indiana, Rahm left many wondering<\/a> how a player could capture the season-long title with no victories while Joaquin Niemann won five times. The answer, although not palatable, was Rahm was more consistent over the season, with four runner-up results and only one finish outside the top-10 in 13 events (a T-11). Niemann accrued only 23 points from the eight events he didn\u2019t win, while Rahm beat the Chilean in those legs. Still, even Rahm called the season-long victory \u201cslightly bittersweet\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Team Championship at the Cardinal at St John\u2019s saw much more compelling and understandable drama. Rahm\u2019s Legion XIII (which includes Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin and Caleb Surratt) defeated Bryson DeChambeau\u2019s Crushers in a playoff. Legion XIII had come from behind to match the Crushers at 20-under while the all-South African Stinger team was 12-under in three-team final. The event\u2019s format was matchplay for the first two rounds before strokeplay on the final day with each team having all four scores count.<\/p>\n

THAT WINNING FEELING \ud83c\udfc6\ud83d\ude4c#LIVGolfMichigan<\/a> @legionxiiigc<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/7WrqBUNPa0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) August 24, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Both Rahm and Hatton made two birdies in regulation, before the playoff extended into a second hole. Rahm and Hatton hit it close and ended the playoff with birdies over DeChambeau and Paul Casey. \u201cIn a way, if there was ever a question mark or an asterisk for having won the whole season without winning [an individual event], in my mind, with this it goes away,\u201d Rahm said afterwards. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of validation for all of us\u2026 for the team, just how well we did all year. [It was] stressful, but we got it done, and I wouldn\u2019t want it any other way.\u201d<\/p>\n

New signings<\/p>\n

Most of LIV\u2019s new signings were underwhelming. The league added seven players before and during the year: McKibbin (who finished 20th in the standings), Luis Masaveu (52nd), Jose Luis Ballester (35th), Ben Campbell (36th), Yubin Jang (relegated), Frederik Kjettrup (relegated) and Chieh-Po Lee (47th). Northern Ireland\u2019s McKibbin had four top-10s and was the best of the crop while Ballester, a mid-season signing, was also impressive with a playoff loss in Chicago. Kjettrup, the Danish golfer, ended 57th with no points and was relegated.<\/p>\n

Reunification appears distant<\/p>\n

The hope that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf would come together seems to have cooled significantly and this sapped plenty of hype for LIV. This was evident during new PGA Tour chief executive Brian Rolapp\u2019s first major press conference at the Tour Championship<\/a> in Atlanta. Asked if \u201cthe best players should be meeting more often\u201d than the four majors, the former NFL executive said: \u201cI would offer to you that the best collection of golfers in the world are on the PGA Tour. There\u2019s a bunch of metrics that demonstrate that, from rankings to viewership to whatever you want to pick.\u201d<\/p>\n

World rankings are back in LIV\u2019s sights<\/p>\n

The board of the Official World Golf Ranking met during the Open Championship at Royal Portrush. Whether the group, led by Trevor Immelman, can decide on awarding LIV points in time for its 2026 season is the top question. LIV\u2019s application for OWGR points was formally rejected in 2023, due to uncertainty surrounding the team element and a lack of proper relegation and promotion. But LIV, which resubmitted its application in July, has tidied up some areas and hopes it will go a long way towards earning points. Most importantly, LIV says it will enforce relegation, which last week cut Majesticks GC co-captain Henrik Stenson, as well as Andy Ogletree, Mito Pereira, Jang, Kjettrup and Anthony Kim. Previously, the league had allowed relegated players such as Bubba Watson and Branden Grace back onto LIV.<\/p>\n

At 55, Phil Mickelson is still competitive \"2224800156\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: David Fitzgerald<\/p>\n

Although it wasn\u2019t Lefty\u2019s best year, especially at the majors where The Open was his only made cut, Mickelson (55.97 points) finished 24th on the league\u2019s individual standings. The top 24 are automatically exempt for next season and Mickelson finished with more points than Hatton (52.15), who will be playing for Europe next month in the Ryder Cup.<\/p>\n

A new CEO<\/p>\n

LIV Golf transitioned from former world No.1 Greg Norman to Scott O\u2019Neil<\/a>, who previously stewarded the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA and the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL. O\u2019Neil spoke well and met with golf industry figures frequently, including the organisers of the four major championships. This year, LIV was granted an exemption into the US Open by the USGA for its leading points scorer not already exempt, which was taken by five-time winner Niemann. There was also one LIV spot into The Open, which Sergio Garcia earned. Next year, the US Open will award two spots for LIV players.<\/p>\n

Cooling down at the majors \"2209999267\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Erick W. Rasco<\/p>\n

The major championships last year were a boon for LIV, which rode an enormous wave when DeChambeau won the US Open at Pinehurst with a dramatic bunker save to defeat a crestfallen Rory McIlroy. That was a month after DeChambeau finished second at the PGA Championship at Valhalla.<\/p>\n

This year, LIV players cooled off at golf\u2019s four biggest events. DeChambeau was once again the shining light, although there were glimpses of good golf from Rahm and Hatton. DeChambeau was T-2 at the PGA for a second straight year, and although he came within three shots with nine to play, the Californian couldn\u2019t find the extra gear to pressure Scottie Scheffler on the back nine at Quail Hollow. At Portrush, DeChambeau turned around an opening 78 with rounds of 65-68-64. It was the second-lowest score for the last 54 holes in the 153-year history of The Open. Still, it was too late for the 31-year-old, who is searching for his third major, and only amounted to a T-10 that was a distant eight shots behind Scheffler.<\/p>\n

Former Masters champion Patrick Reed was third at Augusta and DeChambeau played in the final group with McIlroy but faded to T-5. At the PGA, Rahm gave Scheffler a minor chase but faded down the stretch to T-8 alongside Niemann. At Oakmont, Hatton was in the mix until the 71st hole but he and fellow LIV golfer Carlos Ortiz finished T-4. Apart from DeChambeau, LIV golfers were never in position to win any of the four majors.<\/p>\n

Television<\/p>\n

LIV secured a major TV broadcast partner in America in Fox, which debuted this season. Still, US TV ratings continue to be overshadowed massively by the PGA Tour. LIV\u2019s highest ratings day on the main Fox network was 484,000 for the Doral tournament in Miami in April, while the PGA Tour saw 1.7 million tune into the Valero Texas Open that same day. There are, however, international broadcast deals with ITV in the UK and DAZN globally (the Seven Network broadcasts LIV events in Australia). In May, LIV also announced a live broadcast partnership with KC Global Media. The Singapore-based company said it would show LIV events on AXN \u2013 a pay-TV channel owned by KC Media \u2013 to sports fans in more than 94 million homes in 19 countries across Asia.<\/p>\n

Ryder Cup \"1709292493\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Jamie Squire<\/p>\n

LIV will probably treble its contingent across both teams at the Ryder Cup from Rome in 2023 to next month\u2019s showpiece at Bethpage. Although that will be from one (Brooks Koepka in Rome) to three: Hatton and DeChambeau will be among the automatic qualifiers while Rahm, who played in 2023 but was not yet part of LIV Golf, will surely be one of European skipper Luke Donald\u2019s picks. Having representation at one of the five biggest events in golf is important for LIV, and even more important will be at least one of their guys winning two or more points and playing a starring role.<\/p>\n

Making strides in the events business<\/p>\n

LIV has started to resonate at the event level after adding some innovative ideas and tweaking existing tournaments. The 2025 season began at LIV Golf Riyadh in February, played at night under lights, and it ended this morning (Australian time) after three consecutive US tournaments with good atmospheres: Chicago, Indianapolis and Michigan. Although the flagship event continues to be LIV Golf Adelaide<\/a>, where 102,000 fans attended over three days in South Australia in February, the 54-hole circuit is adding some tournaments that are intriguing and well-attended.<\/p>\n

For example, take LIV Golf UK, which staged a second edition at JCB Golf & Country Club in the English Midlands. The tournament has struck a sweet spot in several areas, including the location in the Midlands which, apart from the Birmingham-area welcoming the DP World Tour\u2019s British Masters<\/a>, doesn\u2019t see much top-level golf. At JCB, LIV UK has balanced competition, event activations and musical performances and this has yielded more than 40,000 fans for two straight years. Both were held the week after the Open Championship. There was also a reported 40,000 fans at LIV Golf Chicago three weeks ago and nearly 60,000 for its debut in Indiana (a league attendance record among its US events). Combined with the party atmosphere of LIV Golf Hong Kong and the league\u2019s debut in Korea in May, LIV has developed between four and seven events any tour would welcome.<\/p>\n