LIV Golf Watch: The Week Ahead (September 8-14)

LIVGolf.com’s newest feature, LIV Golf Watch: The Week Ahead, tracks the participation of LIV Golf players in tournaments around the world during the offseason, as well as provide a roundup of notes regarding the league’s players and teams. This week, nine LIV Golf players are in action on the DP World Tour for the BMW PGA Championship.

RELATED: Scoring, tee times for BMW PGA Championship

BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

The $9 million flagship event on the DP World Tour boasts an absolutely loaded field, with 11 of 12 European Ryder Cup players and 13 major champions in action alongside a strong contingent of LIV Golf stars.

Jon Rahm. Rahm is one of 11 European Ryder Cup players teeing it up at Wentworth. The Legion XIII is a co-favorite alongside Rory McIlroy, who won last week’s Amgen Irish Open. Rahm has made three starts at Wentworth and has never finished worse than 4th. He finished runner-up in both 2019 and 2022.

Tyrrell Hatton. Hatton returns to Wentworth as a past champion, having lifted the BMW PGA Championship trophy in 2020. The Legion XIII star got off to a promising start at last week’s Amgen Irish Open, but a dismal 5-over 77 on Sunday dropped him into 42nd-place finish after being in 16th place entering the final round. In addition to his win at Wentworth, Hatton has a runner-up finish in 2023.

Joaquin Niemann. The Torque GC Captain will be making his debut at Wentworth and his first start since the LIV Golf Michigan Team Championship. Niemann is coming off a remarkable season where he won five times and narrowly missed out on winning the LIV Golf Individual Championship.

Brooks Koepka. Koepka played the BMW PGA Championship in both 2014 (MC) and 2015 (T72) but will be making his first start at Wentworth since becoming a major champion. The Smash GC Captain struggled mightily last week at the Amgen Irish Open, shooting rounds of 71-80 to miss the cut at 7-over par.

Patrick Reed. Reed has a phenomenal record at the BMW PGA Championship where he’s finished T4 (2019), T3 (2020), T5 (2022) in his three trips to Wentworth. The LIV Golf Dallas winner didn’t have his best week at the Amgen Irish Open, but grinded to make the cut and finished 50th.

Dean Burmester. The big-hitting South African has missed the cut at the BMW Championship in three of his past four starts but finished T9 in 2017 and T12 in 2018. The Stinger GC star finished the 2025 LIV Golf season strong, winning LIV Golf Chicago and ending the season 5th in the indiviudal stadnings.

Tom McKibbin. McKibbin starred in the LIV Golf Michigan Team Championship, helping Legion XIII come out on top. The Northern Irishman’s positive momentum continued at last week’s Amgen Irish Open, where he finished T20. Last year, McKibbin finished T10 at the BMW PGA Championship and will be making his third career start at Wentworth.

Thomas Pieters. Pieters had a strong season for 4Aces GC, finishing inside of the Lock Zone (19th) with top-10 finishes in his final two individual starts of the season. He has made nine appearances at Wentworth, with his best result a tie for ninth in 2021.

Adrian Meronk. Meronk has made three starts at the BMW PGA Championship with his best result coming in the form of a T28 in 2023. The Cleeks Golf Club star missed the cut at last week’s Amgen Irish Open, shooting 4-over through two rounds.

PLAYER NEWS

• Bryson DeChambeau appeared at Cypress Point for the Walker Cup on Saturday afternoon during the singles matches, and his presence immediately caught the eye of Captain Nathan Smith. “That was pretty special. My first thought was that I hadn’t seen him in years, and he’s gotten a lot bigger,” Smith said.

- DeChambeau is expected to be in Napa this week where 10 of his United States Ryder Cup teammates will be teeing it up at the Procore Championship on the PGA Tour. Although the Crushers GC Captain can’t play in the event, he will be attending team events throughout the week.

- DeChambeau’s latest social media challenge, where he attempted to wedge a ping pong ball into a small cup on a second story balcony, reached a dramatic conclusion on Sept. 5th, his 12th day attempting the challenge.

- Dean Burmester, Marc Leishman and Richard Bland are the latest LIV Golf stars confirmed for the International Series Philippines presented by BingoPlus.

- At last week’s Amgen Irish Open, Brooks Koepka reflected on missing out on this year’s Ryder Cup after featuring on the past four U.S. teams (2016, 2018, 2021, 2023). “I played my way off it, so I can’t be disappointed. I did it myself. It's not anything I'm not aware of. I'm not shying away from it. It's just bad timing,” Koepka said at the K Club.

- Cameron Smith is the latest Australian superstar to confirm his place at Royal Queensland Golf Club from Nov. 27-30 this year, looking to win a fourth BMW Australian PGA Championship title.

- Ian Poulter will not be a part of the 2025 Ryder Cup but he did join his son, Luke, for last week’s Walker Cup at Cypress Point. "He's coming out this week, so I think it will be pretty cool for him to give us some insight and help us on our way," the University of Florida standout said. "He never played a Walker Cup, but he obviously has Ryder Cup knowledge, which is pretty similar to this. It’s amazing to see (what he has achieved in Ryder Cups) – it kind of gives me inspiration to try and follow in his footsteps." Despite Poulter’s guidance, The United States captured the 2025 Walker Cup with a commanding 17–9 victory.

- Tyrrell Hatton shared his schedule for the remainder of the year while teeing it up at last week’s Amgen Irish Open. The Legion XIII star will play in the DP World Tour’s Playoff Rolex Series events, which include both the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links and the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates. He’ll finish the year at Riyadh Golf Club for the PIF Saudi International on the Asian Tour’s International Series.

“So I play the (Alfred) Dunhill and then I have a nice bit of time off, which I’m excited about. Then it’ll be Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Saudi Arabia in November,” he said at the K Club, “So yeah, a busy end to the year, but December will be a good month.”

- Carlos Alcaraz, who on Sunday won the U.S. Open and reclaimed the world’s No. 1 spot in professional tennis, shared that he would be playing golf with Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia while he was in New York attending Alcaraz’ matches. After a match early in the week, Alcaraz shared: "Every day off, I just try to play some golf. Tomorrow, I have a really difficult round."

When asked how many strokes Garcia would need to give him, Alcaraz replied: "We will discuss tomorrow but he has to give me between 10 and 15 shots, I think. It's going to be great. I'm not that good."

Alcaraz celebrated one of his U.S. Open match wins with a golf swing celebration, which drew a warm reaction from Garcia.