With the PGA Tour’s season now over, the LIV Golf Invitational Series is back for its fourth tournament this weekend outside of Boston.
LIV Golf will play at The International this weekend about an hour west of Boston in perhaps the Saudi Arabian league’s biggest event yet. Although the controversy hasn’t died down, and there are now lawsuits involved and a plan from the PGA Tour to fight back, LIV Golf will debut a much stronger field in Massachusetts.
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Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the tournament this weekend.
How to watch
LIV Golf still doesn’t have a television deal in the United States. The tournament will be streamed for free on the league’s YouTube and Facebook pages, as well as LivGolf.com.
The tournament will run from Sept. 2-4, and will start at 1:15 pm ET each day.
Who are the team captains?
There are a few new team captains this week in Boston.
4 Aces – Dustin Johnson
Niblicks – Harold Varner III
Majestic – Lee Westwood
Iron Heads – Kevin Na
Stinger – Louis Oosthuizen
Cleeks – Martin Kaymer
Crushers – Bryson DeChambeau
Hy Flyers – Phil Mickelson
Fireballs – Sergio Garcia
Smash – Brooks Koepka
Torque – Joaquin Niemann
Punch – Cameron Smith
How much does the winning team make?
Each regular season LIV event has a purse of $25 million.
Of that, $5 million will be split between the top three teams, with the top team receiving $3 million. The remaining $20 million will be split individually, with the first-place winner earning $4 million and the last-place finisher receiving $120,000.
By comparison, The Players Championship offers a purse of $20 million, which is the most in any single event on the PGA Tour outside of the Tour Championship.
Who is new in the field this week?
LIV Golf got a new batch of members this week after the Tour Championship officially wrapped up the PGA Tour’s season on Sunday.
Reigning British Open champion and World No. 2 Cam Smith finally confirmed what had long been a rumored move on Tuesday morning, something that now gives LIV Golf its best player by far. Joaquin Niemann, Harold Varner III, Cameron Tringale, Marc Leishman and Anirban Lahiri also officially left for LIV Golf.
Both Cam Young and Hideki Matsuyama said after the Tour Championship that they will be sticking with the PGA Tour instead. The two had been rumored to be considering leaving for LIV Golf.
With the latest additions, LIV Golf now has 12 of the past 26 major championship winners.
What about the BMW PGA Championship?
Once LIV Golf’s tournament ends on Sunday, 18 players will make the trek from Boston to Europe for the BMW PGA Championship — one of the biggest tournaments on the DP World Tour’s schedule.
While LIV Golf members have been suspended by the PGA Tour, they are allowed to compete in this specific event at Wentworth Club in Surrey, England. The DP World Tour will still hit them with a fine.
It will mark one of the first times that the two groups of golfers will mix on the course since LIV Golf’s inception.
“I hate what it’s doing to the game of golf. I hate it. I really do,” Rory McIlroy said of LIV Golf after his win at the Tour Championship. “Like it’s going to be hard for me to stomach going to Wentworth in a couple of weeks’ time and seeing 18 of them there. That just doesn’t sit right with me.
“So yeah, I feel strongly. I believe what I’m saying are the right things, and I think when you believe that what you’re saying is the right things, you’re happy to stick your neck out on the line.”