Essential Guide: Get ready for LIV Golf’s 2026 season opener in Riyadh

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – LIV Golf kicks off its fifth season – and fourth full 14-tournament schedule – under the lights this week at ROSHN Group LIV Golf Riyadh. It marks the debut of LIV Golf’s new 72-hole regular-season format. 

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BASIC INFO

When: February 4-7

Where: Riyadh Golf Club | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Competition: Four rounds | 72 holes of stroke play

Field: 57 players - 13 teams of four players each, and five wild cards

Shotgun Start

Wednesday, Rd. 1 - 6:05 p.m. (7:05 a.m. ET)
Thursday, Rd. 2 - 6:15 p.m. (7:05 a.m. ET)
Friday, Rd. 3 - 6:15 p.m. (7:05 a.m. ET)
Saturday, Rd. 4 - 6:15 p.m. (7:05 a.m. ET)

Defending Champions: Individual - Adrian Meronk; Team - Legion XIII 

KEY STORYLINES

For the second consecutive season, LIV Golf will play its season-opening tournament at night, with each round scheduled for under the lights at Riyadh Golf Club

This week’s tournament will be the first in LIV Golf League history to utilize a 72-hole, four-round stroke-play format, and the field size of 57 players will be the largest in league history; both changes are among several significant format adjustments for the 2026 season

Adrian Meronk is the defending individual champ, providing his Cleeks Golf Club team with its first-ever individual winner

Legion XIII is the defending team champion, winning the first of four regular-season tournaments in 2025 before claiming the 2025 Team Championship in the season finale

Legion XIII will seek to win its third consecutive season opener since joining LIV Golf as the league’s first expansion team

Jon Rahm, the Legion XIII captain, begins his quest for a third consecutive season-long Individual Championship

Rahm and Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann renew their rivalry from the previous two seasons, with Niemann finishing runner-up to Rahm in the season-long standings in both years

Michael La Sasso, the reigning NCAA Division I Individual Champion, makes his professional debut after signing with HyFlyers GC

New Cleeks player Victor Perez becomes the first French player in league history, while LIV Golf Promotions winner Richard Lee becomes the first Canadian player in league history as he competes as a wild card; they are among the 10 first-year full-time players in the league

Saudi Arabia is hosting a LIV Golf tournament for the fifth consecutive year, one of just three countries that can make that claim, along with England and the United States

WHAT'S NEW FOR 2026 LIV GOLF

PLAYER DEBUTS 

10 players will make their LIV Golf debuts as full-time league members

• Thomas Detry, Belgium (4Aces GC)

• Victor Perez, France (Cleeks Golf Club)

• Michael La Sasso, USA (HyFlyers GC)

• Byeong Hun An, Korea (Korean Golf Club)

• Minkyu Kim, Korea (Korean Golf Club)

• Younghan Song, Korea (Korean Golf Club

• Elvis Smylie, Australia (Ripper GC)

• Yosuke Asaji, Japan (Wild Card)

• Björn Hellgren, Sweden (Wild Card)

• Richard Lee, Canada (Wild Card)

Of the 10, eight will be playing a LIV Golf League tournament for the first time. Korean Golf Club’s Kim and Song each made one start as reserve players in 2025

TEAM IDENTITIES

Korean Golf Club changed its name from Iron Heads GC and has new branding, along with a roster overhaul that includes three Korean players.

Southern Guards GC changed its name from Stinger GC and has new branding to reflect the team’s South African roots.

Majesticks Golf Club changed its logo and color palette and now consists entirely of English-born players.

NEW CAPTAINS

Talor Gooch, the 2023 LIV Golf Individual Champion, was elevated to Smash GC captain

Byeong Hun An, the former U.S. Amateur champion and two-time DP World Tour winner, is the new captain of the rebranded Korean Golf Club

WELCOME BACK

Scott Vincent, a full-time LIV Golf player from 2022-24, is back as a wild card player after winning the International Series title

Luis Masaveu, who started the first eight tournaments for Fireballs GC last year, is back in the lineup as a member of the all-Spanish team

Laurie Canter, who made 20 LIV Golf starts between 2022-24, signed as a full-time member of Majesticks GC, the club in which he began his LIV Golf career

Anthony Kim, a full-time wild card player the past two seasons, earned his way back in the league by claiming one of three available spots at LIV Golf Promotions 

FORMAT

Among the key format changes for 2026:

• 72 holes and four rounds for each regular-season tournament

• 57 players, with an increase to 5 wild card players

• Expanding Lock Zone (top 34) and Drop Zone (bottom 11) to increase turnover and meritocratic pathways into the league

• Enhanced points system to award points for all finishing places and increase emphasis on top performers, with individual tournament winners now receiving 20% of available points 

• Team model adjustments, with weekly team prize purse doubled to $10 million and prize money available for all finishing positions

NEW VENUES

LIV Golf’s first visit to the continent of Africa will be March 19-22 at The Club at Steyn City in South Africa

New Orleans will host its first LIV Golf tournament on June 25-28 at Bayou Oakes at City Park 

RIYADH LINEUP UPDATES

Reserve Ollie Schniederjans will start for Phil Mickelson, who will miss the first two tournaments due to family health matters, in the HyFlyers GC lineup

Reserve Ben Schmidt will start for Lee Westwood (injured wrist) in the Majesticks Golf Club lineup

Reserve Miguel Tabuena will start for 4Aces GC this week

BY THE NUMBERS

A look at this season’s full-time LIV Golf roster

5 - Players who have turned pro since LIV Golf made its debut in 2022 (Ballester, La Sasso, Masaveu, Puig, Surratt)

6 – NCAA Division 1 Individual Champions (Mickelson, Howell, Pieters, DeChambeau, Wolff, La Sasso)

6 – One-country teams (Fireballs/Spain; HyFlyers/USA; Korean/South Korea (all four players born there); Majesticks/England; Ripper/Australia; Southern Guards/South Africa

9 - Players who have competed in each of LIV Golf’s first 50 tournaments (Bland, Garcia, Gooch, Johnson, Oosthuizen, Poulter, Schwartzel, Uihlein, Westwood)

11 - Major champions 

20 – Countries represented

20 - Olympians

21 - Players who have won at least one LIV Golf individual tournament title

21 - Combined number of majors won

27 – Players with either Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup experience

57 - Career wins for Phil Mickelson, most of any LIV Golf player

599 - Combined number of professional tournaments won by this year’s full-time roster

AGES

20-29 - 11 players
30-39 - 29 players
40-49 - 13 players
50+ - 4 players

Youngest Player: Michael La Sasso, 21
Youngest Captain: Joaquin Niemann, 27
Oldest Player: Phil Mickelson, 55
Oldest Non-Captain: Richard Bland, 53

Captains who are the youngest players on their teams

Joaquin Niemann (Torque), 27
Bryson DeChambeau (Crushers), 32
Talor Gooch (Smash), 34

Captains who are the oldest players on their teams

Phil Mickelson (HyFlyers), 55
Lee Westwood* (Majesticks), 52 *Co-captain
Bubba Watson (RangeGoats), 47
Sergio Garcia (Fireballs), 46
Louis Oosthuizen (Southern Guards), 43
Dustin Johnson (4Aces), 41