LIV Golf has already announced some pretty major changes for its 2026 season, which began last week with night golf coming from Riyadh. Most notable among them is that little 72 holes thing. Also, there are now Official World Golf Ranking points up for grabs … and everyone’s happy(?) about it. Well, maybe not.
More quietly, however, the Saudi-backed circuit has also made some moves with its prize money payouts, from a slashed individual player season-long bonus to extra team payouts at each event. Here’s what you need to know if you’re an interested fan or a confused LIV pro in the market for a new house.
The $18M season-ending bonus has been cut … drastically
Justin Casterline
LIV Golf notably paid the golfer who earned the most points throughout the season a $18 million year-end bonus (sort of like the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup bonus fund) Yet that massive end-of-year payout, taken home by Jon Rahm the last two years, has been cut down to just $6 million. According to the LIV Golf media guide, the season-long bonus money will be $6 million to the first-place finisher, with $3 million for second and $1 million for third. More money will be given for various team results, as opposed to this one-off year-end premium.
Increased team purses
Mark Brake
Speaking of putting the team first, LIV also revealed in the media guide that it is increasing team purses at every event, doubling the overall prize money payout from $5 million to $10 million, due to the overall weekly pot increasing from $25 million to $30 million.
The payouts for the top two teams will remain the same, with a slight tweak for No. 3. It’ll be $3 million for first, $1.5 million for second and now $500,000, instead of $900,000 for third. But instead of just the top three teams taking home some dough, now all 13 squads leave happy … or at least happier. The fourth-place unit will receive $700k, fifth place will get $650k, and so on, all the way down to 13th place, which gets a tidy $200k sum.
A new per-event prize
Justin Casterline
A new 2026 payout, a purse of $2.3 million, also will be handed out to the top three teams in each tournament, most notably $1 million to the top-finishing squad. Each team’s respective captain can allocate the money to players in any way he sees fit. That’s a lot of power; it could be corrupting. There’s a reason these guys are captains, and we’re not.
“The expanded funding reflects LIV Golf’s commitment to building sustainable, valuable team franchises and rewarding every player’s contribution to team success,” LIV announced as part of its format updates. “These updates represent the next phase of LIV Golf’s evolution, combining the League’s signature fan-first experience with enhanced competitive credibility, expanded opportunity and excitement, and continued investment in the long-term value of teams and players, alike.”
If you’re doing the math—and gosh help you, if you are—that’s a total of $470 million to be handed out by LIV Golf for individual and team performances. With the new season up and running, there’s a lot of pride and money (a lot of money!) up for grabs. Best of luck to everyone’s accountants.
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