First Look: Maaden LIV Golf Virginia

LIV Golf makes its first visit in the 2026 season to the U.S. as the league reaches the halfway point of the competition calendar. 

BASIC INFO 

When 
May 7-10, 2026 

Where
Trump National Golf Club Washington D.C. 
Sterling, Virginia, USA

Competition 
Four rounds/72 holes of stroke play

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

Shotgun Start 
Local time (ET) 

Thursday, Rd. 1 - 1:15 p.m. 

Friday, Rd. 2 - 12:05 p.m. 

Saturday, Rd. 3 - 1:15 p.m. 

Sunday, Rd. 4  - 12:05 p.m.

KEY STORYLINES 

LIV Golf reaches the halfway point of the 2026 season, returning to Virginia for the third time in league history, and for the second time at Trump National Golf Club Washington D.C., which hosted LIV Golf DC in 2023 

LIV Golf continues to build on its worldwide popularity with its first U.S. visit of 2026, making it the seventh different country to host a league tournament this season 

Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm, the reigning two-time LIV Golf Individual Champion, comes off his second win of the season, a six-stroke victory in Mexico City; it’s the fourth individual title of his LIV Golf career 

Rahm’s Legion XIII also won the team title in Mexico City for its first win of the season and ninth regular season win in their history, tying Crushers GC for most of any team 

Rahm and Crushers Captain Bryson DeChambeau have each won twice in the last four LIV Golf tournaments, with Rahm’s consistency – two wins, three solo seconds and a solo fifth – putting him more than 300 points ahead of DeChambeau in the 2026 Individual Championship race 

Young Fireballs GC stars David Puig and Josele Ballester joined Rahm on the all-Spanish podium in Mexico City and are among the many players chasing LIV Golf’s U.S. Open exemption that will be determined after this week 

OKGC makes its first start following the team’s rebranding from its previous Smash GC name, with first-year captain Talor Gooch leading the efforts to establish his home state of Oklahoma as the team’s home market – the first time a LIV Golf franchise is directly aligned with a U.S. market 

Gooch’s current OKGC teammate Harold Varner III won the 2023 LIV Golf DC individual title when both players represented RangeGoats GC that season 

Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann has raised trophies in each of the previous two LIV Golf visits to Virginia, winning the individual title at 2025 LIV Golf Virginia held at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club and Torque winning the team title in 2023

U.S. OPEN EXEMPTION AT STAKE 

LIV Golf’s exemptions into next month’s U.S. Open will be determined after this week’s Maaden LIV Golf Virginia, with a significant part of the 57-player field still having a mathematical chance to earn a spot in the third major of the season. 

LIV Golf has two paths to gaining entry into the 2026 U.S. Open, with both exemptions becoming official on May 18:

• The top player who is not otherwise exempt and in the top 3 of the final 2025 LIV Golf Individual standings

• The top player who is not otherwise exempt and in the top 3 of the 2026 LIV Golf Individual standings

Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann already has earned the first exemption by finishing 2nd in the final 2025 Individual standings, with 2025 LIV Golf champion Jon Rahm already exempt thanks to his 2021 U.S. Open victory. 

Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau – also exempt as a two-time U.S. Open champion – enter LIV Golf Virginia as the top two in the 2026 Individual standings. Each of those players have two league wins this season and cannot be knocked out of the top three. 

However, the next 11 players in the standings currently do not have an exemption into the U.S. Open and thus could earn one by moving into the top 3 after this week. 

First-year LIV Golf player Thomas Detry is in pole position entering Virginia, ranking No. 3 in points behind Rahm and DeChambeau. The Belgian star has two podiums among his four top-10 finishes this season. 

Detry is among six players who can guarantee the exemption with a victory in Virginia. The others include Elvis Smylie (4th in points), Anthony Kim (5th), David Puig (6th), Richard T. Lee (7th) and Thomas Pieters (8th). 

The Australian Smylie won in his LIV Golf debut in Riyadh in February, with Kim winning in dramatic fashion the following week in Adelaide after moving from Wild Card player to 4Aces GC team member. Kim, who joined LIV Golf in 2024 after more than 12 years in retirement, has not played in a major since 2011. 

More than half the field remains mathematically eligible to finish in the top 3 with a win, albeit dependent on how the final leaderboard unfolds.

ABOUT THE COURSE 

TRUMP NATIONAL GOLF CLUB WASHINGTON D.C. 

Sterling, Virginia, USA

Par 72 
Yardage 7,679 
Meters 7,021

Trump National Golf Club Washington D.C. is hosting a LIV Golf tournament for the second time, having been the venue for 2023 LIV Golf DC 

The private golf club is set across more than 800 acres along the Potomac River in Northern Virginia, with two 18-hole courses designed by famed architects Tom Fazio and Arthur Hills 

Upon its debut in 2016, the Championship course was ranked by Golf Digest as one of the top three new golf courses 

Besides hosting the LIV Golf tournament in 2023 (won by Harold Varner III), the club also hosted the Senior PGA Championship in 2017 won by Bernhard Langer 

The routing for this week’s LIV Golf Virginia is different than in 2023, with the new No. 1 hole previously the No. 2 hole three years ago, with all other holes also shifting, including the 18th hole (previously the 1st hole) 

The stretch of holes from the par-5 7th to the par-3 10th are along the Potomac, and nearly half of the green complexes are in close proximity to the river’s edge 

The shortest par 4 is the drivable 310-yard 8th (formerly the 9th), which allowed nearly as many eagles (3) and birdies (64) as pars (69) 

HOME GAME FOR LEISHMAN

Although he’s a native Australian, Ripper GC veteran Marc Leishman’s primary residence is in Virginia, meaning this week’s tournament is his second “home” event of the season. 

“It’s so nice to be able to drive to an event, which I haven’t been able to do too much in my career,” Leishman said. “It’s a great golf course in a great setting on the Potomac River.” 

Leishman tied for 35th in 2023 when LIV Golf DC was held at the Trump National course. He enters this week ranked 24th in points after finishing. 

FOX SPORTS BROADCAST (all times ET) 

Rd. 1 (Thursday, May 7) – 1 p.m.-6 p.m. on FOX One 

Rd. 2 (Friday, May 8) – 12 p.m.-2 p.m. on FOX One; 2 p.m.-5 p.m. on FOX 

Rd. 3 (Saturday, May 9) – 1 p.m.-6 p.m. on FBN 

Rd. 4 (Sunday, May 10) – 12 p.m.-5 p.m. on FOX 

WEATHER FORECAST 

Round 1 – High of 65 degrees; Low of 46 degrees. Rain. 78% chance of precipitation. Winds 10-20 mph West.

Round 2 – High of 64 degrees; Low of 47 degrees. Mostly sunny. 13% chance of precipitation. Winds 10-15 mph West-Northwest. 

Round 3 – High of 70 degrees; Low of 50 degrees. Partly cloudy. 15% chance of precipitation. Winds 5-10 mph West-Southwest.

Round 4 – High of 74 degrees; Low of 55 degrees. Mostly cloudy. 24% chance of precipitation. Winds 5-10 mph West-Southwest.