First Look: LIV Golf Chicago at Bolingbrook Golf Club

BOLINGBROOK, Ill. – LIV Golf returns to Bolingbrook Golf Club for the second consecutive year for this week’s LIV Golf Chicago, the 12th tournament of the 14-event 2025 season.

BASIC INFO

When: Aug. 8-10, 2025

Where: Bolingbrook Golf Club, Bolingbrook, Illinois

Competition: Three rounds/54 holes of stroke play

Field: 54 players – 13 teams of four players each, and two wild cards

Defending champions: Jon Rahm (individual), Crushers GC (team)

Shotgun Start local time
Rd. 1, 11:05 a.m.
Rd. 2, 12:05 p.m.
Rd. 3, 9:05 a.m.

More information: Tickets | Tournament | Broadcast info

KEY STORYLINES

LIV Golf returns to Bolingbrook for the second consecutive season and to Chicago for the fourth consecutive year

Chicago is the only city to have hosted a LIV Golf tournament in each of the league’s first four seasons

Two regular-season tournaments are left in the 2025 LIV Golf season, with the Individual Championship race; Lock Zone, Open Zone and Drop Zone status; and seedings for the Team Championship at stake

Joaquin Niemann has a commanding lead in the Individual Championship race after winning his fifth tournament of the season at LIV Golf UK by JCB and can clinch the title in Chicago

Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII also has a commanding lead for the top seed in the Team standings after their fourth win of the season in England

Legion XIII has won eight of its first 25 tournaments – and reached the podium five other times – since joining LIV Golf as the league’s first expansion team

Rahm outdueled Niemann a year ago at Bolingbrook to win the season-long Individual Championship

RangeGoats GC Captain Bubba Watson (2nd in UK) and Legion XIII’s Caleb Surratt (3rd in UK) come off the best individual results of their LIV Golf careers

Surratt, age 21, is the youngest player in the league, and four other players age 23 or younger also finished with points in England – Josele Ballester (T7), Tom McKibbin (T11), David Puig (T18) and Yubin Jang (T21)

NIEMANN CLOSES IN ON TITLE

Joaquin Niemann’s five-win season has given him a commanding lead in the season-long Individual Championship race, and the Torque GC captain has an opportunity to clinch the title at LIV Golf Chicago.

Niemann has 206.80 points with two regular-season tournaments left. The only players with a mathematical chance to catch him are Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm (169.16 points) and Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau (136.24 points).

According to the latest probability percentages from LIV Golf's data analysts, Niemann has an 84.12% chance of winning the Individual Championship this season while Rahm has a 15.70% chance. The longshot DeChambeau has a 0.18% chance.

With 40 points for an individual tournament win, Rahm – the defending LIV Golf Individual Champion – has a chance to take over the top spot after Chicago if he posts his first win this season while Niemann finishes solo 18th or worse.

Meanwhile DeChambeau’s only hope to remain in the race is to win in Chicago while Niemann finishes solo 11th or worse.

As for Niemann, if he wins in Chicago, he will clinch the Individual Championship prior to the regular-season finale next week in Indianapolis. It would be a turnaround from the regular-season finale last year at Bolingbrook, in which Rahm won the season-long race by winning the tournament over Niemann.

There are several other scenarios in which Niemann could clinch the title at Bolingbrook, as he merely needs to acquire 2.37 more points than Rahm and not have DeChambeau win. For example, if Rahm finishes solo 11th this week and Niemann finishes solo 9th, then Niemann will clinch the title.

Niemann has averaged just 1.13 points in the six tournaments that he has not won. The wide variance of his win-or-miss results has allowed the more consistent Rahm to remain in the race despite just two podiums and no wins this season. Rahm averages 15.37 points per winless start this season.

ABOUT THE COURSE

BOLINGBROOK GOLF CLUB
Bolingbrook, Illinois

Par: 71
Yardage: 7,224
Meters: 6,606

• Designed by Arthur Hills and Steve Forrest, the course opened in 2002 and was ranked by GolfPass as the No. 1 public course in Illinois (2024)
• The ample space and terrain make Bolingbrook a great spectator course
• Elevated tees, rolling fairways and seven lakes are scattered throughout the layout
• The 12th hole was a par 4 last year at 494 yards but will now play as a par 5 this year after a new tee was added to lengthen the hole to 621 yards, making it the longest hole on the course
• The party hole is the par-3, 151-yard island green 6th, with rough behind the green for shots that may be slightly long
• The most difficult hole last year as the 237-yard par-3 fourth, playing to a stroke average of 3.36 and yielding just four birdies over the three rounds
• Tees, fairways and greens are Bent/Poa, with Kentucky Bluegrass in the first cut and rough
• The projected individual winning score according to LIV Golf data analysts will be 10 under

KEYS TO SUCCESS

BOGEY AVOIDANCE: More important than making lots of birdies this week.

150 YARDS AND IN: Wedge and short iron shots inside 150 yards are key, with players facing 55% of their approach shots from that distance.

GREENS IN REGULATION: Always a key factor but especially at Bolingbrook; last year’s leaderboard mirrored the season-long GIR leaders.

WEATHER OUTLOOK

Forecast from weather.com

STATISTICS

Team

SCORING

Individual

STROKES GAINED LEADERS

Minimum 15 rounds

SEASON SCORING LEADERS