Take that, PGA Tour!

Upstart professional golf competitor LIV Golf announced this week that it is raising tournament payouts beginning in 2026.

An extra $5 million of prize money will be added to every LIV Golf tournament next season.

All of the incremental money will be used to sweeten the payouts for the top three finishing teams at each event.

LIV Golf is taking a big leap in marketing its unique team golf concept in contrast to the individual-based golf events of the PGA Tour.

A brief refresher course about LIV Golf…

This competitor to the PGA Tour started playing its own golf events during the summer of 2022. LIV Golf is funded by the Saudi Public Investment Fund – which has more than than $1 trillion in assets.

The new golf league offered some incredible signing bonuses to a number of the PGA Tour’s biggest stars beginning in 2022.  World #1 golfer (at the time) Jon Rahm snared a reported $300 million, while Phil Mickelson came aboard for a cool $200 million.

Those pocketing $100 million or more in signing bonuses included Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, and Australia’s Cameron Smith.

Almost every PGA star moving to LIV Golf was paid millions to make the switch.

LIV (which is the Roman Numeral for the number 54) features 54 golfers playing 54 holes over three days.  PGA Tour events are for 72 holes over four days.

The Saudi-backed golf league has been forking out a whopping $25 million per tournament.  Most PGA Tour events have a weekly purse of “only” $6-10 million.

LIV Golf pays $20 million to players with the lowest individual scores.

The winner pockets $4 million per event. The last place finisher receives a minimum of $50,000.

The remaining $5 million of prize money is paid as a bonus to the three lowest scoring four-man teams for the week.

LIV features 13 teams of four players apiece. 

The 13 team captains (those who received the top signing bonuses) then negotiated to sign the top remaining LIV golfers to play for each captain’s team for the entire season.

The daily cumulative score of each LIV Golf team is used to determine the three top teams after completion of the final round.

LIV Golf pays the four golfers on the winning team $3 million (split four ways).  The runner-up team shares $1.5 million, and the third place golf quartet will divvy-up $500,000.

LIV Golf is going to add an extra $5 million of prize money each week to the three lowest scoring teams in 2026

This is a very significant move by LIV Golf.

The golf league is trying to capitalize on its unique four-man team competition within each tournament in hopes of gaining more fans.

The traditional PGA Tour is driven by top individual golfers competing against each other for tournament prize money.  Seventy top money-earners at the end of the regular season (which happens to be this week’s Greensboro Open) earn a spot into a three week FedEx Cup playoff series to end the golf season.

LIV Golf will have just one weekend season finale.  It will occur on the same weekend as the PGA Tour’s final FedEx Cup event.

LIV Golf will play a three-day team elimination tournament in Plymouth Township, Michigan from August 22-24.

The top seeded LIV Golf teams (based on wins, places, and shows this season) actually get to choose their opponent for the opening round. 

Those opposing teams will be watching carefully and try to exact some revenge in the first round matches.

LIV Golf’s team competition features two of each team’s golfers playing in singles competition (one-on-one).  The remaining two golfers will play an alternate shot format where one golfer hits from the tee and the teammate plays that ball from the fairway or green for the second shot, etc.

The LIV Golf team matches continue with semifinal rounds on Saturday and the finals on Sunday, August 24.

Former British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen loves the LIV Golf season-ending team tournament and the increase in payouts for team winners next season.

“I’m for it being more team than individual”, said the captain of team Stinger.

“That’s how we’re going to stand out. I do feel that the future of LIV is more team than individual.”

This also signals that the faux merger between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour is all but dead

It was two years ago this summer when the PGA Tour Commissioner surprised everyone by announcing a merger with LIV Golf to be negotiated and concluded during the second half of 2023.

That never happened.

January, 2024 saw the PGA Tour partner-up with a private equity firm called Strategic Sports Group to add financial strength and increase tournament purses.  Their new financial partner quickly kicked-in $1.5 billion in capital while promising another $1.5 billion soon to help make the PGA Tour players a partner in the new venture.

The idea (which seems to be working) has been to stem the tide of golfers opting to sign big bonuses with LIV Golf.

The PGA Tour/LIV Golf merger remains in limbo as we move into August, 2025.

Neither side has budged in 24 months.   Neither side will confirm that the deal has been called off, either.

The only progress has been that three of golf’s four major tournaments have made arrangements to allow a certain number of LIV’s top golfers into their fields. The other major (PGA Championship) won’t be allowing LIV golfers for obvious competitive reasons.

LIV Golf migrated to FOX Sports in 2025.  This has been a huge disappointment

The upstart golf league and the CW Network parted ways after two years following the 2024 golf season. LIV Golf later announced that it had found a new home in 2025 with FOX Sports.

That seemed like positive news.

LIV Golf’s televised events require golf fans to consult with their local listings – even within the same golf day.  You might be watching via the internet, FS2, FS1 or your local FOX television affiliate.

I covered this issue quite well earlier in the golf season.  This year’s LIV Golf television availability has been maddening for the average home viewer to watch.

Check out how LIV Golf’s Season-ending Team Tournament later this month will bounce around:

Friday, August 22 – 11AM CDT – Only available on the FOX Sports App

Friday, August 22 – 1PM – You must switch over to your local FOX TV affiliate

Saturday, August 23 – 9AM CDT – Via FS2 (which isn’t on most cable outlets)

Saturday, August 23 – 11AM – You must switch over to your local FOX TV affiliate

Sunday, August 24 – 12Noon CDT – Via FS1 (which IS on most cable outlets)

Sunday, August 24 – 3:30PM – You must switch over to your local FOX TV affiliate

LIV Golf still remains uneconomic.  Perhaps worldwide golf fans will keep it alive with increased support in 2026

Several billion dollars (which is about ½ % of the Saudi Public Investment Fund) have been lost on LIV Golf.  The league cannot generate enough income from ticket sales and television advertising to cover weekly expenses.

LIV Golf is a money pit.

The current tournament payout of $25 million ($20 mm for individual winners and $5 mm for the top three teams) rises to $30 million (with $10 mm for team winners) in 2026.

A bigger concern for LIV Golf’s spendthrift owners will be those expiring player contracts governing their top stars after next year’s 2026 season.

Phil Mickelson hasn’t won a tournament during his four years on the LIV Golf circuit.

Dustin Johnson is currently mired in a two-year slump.

Only Bryson DeChambeau (who won the 2024 U.S. Open title after joining LIV Golf) looks to be a big enough fan favorite to, perhaps, justify the $125 million signing bonus he was paid three years ago.

LIV Golf has been successful in taking golf to a variety of golf-starved international sites.  Australia seems to have enthusiastically embraced its LIV Golf annual event.

Some US venues have not drawn enough fans to justify becoming a regular LIV Golf stop.

Tulsa (May, 2023), Houston and Nashville (both in June, 2024) have held just one LIV event.  Tournament organizers should remember that most Southern US cities get quite hot by late spring every year.

LIV Golf has survived because of its nearly endless financial resources and a small but very loyal fan base which likes the product (assuming they can find it on television from week-to-week).

The increasing emphasis on team golf will help to distinguish LIV from the rival PGA Tour.

It is questionable whether that change will generate a significant uptick in fan interest in LIV Golf.

LIV Golf definitely has enough money to keep fighting for market share in 2026.

Keep your eye on LIV Golf’s top players one year from now.

Let’s assume that a merger between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour does not occur in the next 12 months.

Watch carefully to see which of LIV Golf’s top players (if any) may be considering a return to the PGA Tour after next season.

Don’t be surprised if one or more fading PGA stars might take the overly generous LIV Golf bonus bucks and join the opposition golf tour in 2026, either.

Both men’s professional golf entities are waiting…and waiting…for the other side to blink first.

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