The 54-hole format was such an integral part of LIV Golf’s identity that they literally named the league after it. But that is all about to change – and some of the big names are not happy, as Ben Parsons and Alex Perry found out…
Late last year, during an otherwise uneventful press conference, Tyrrell Hatton gave reporters an unexpected peek behind the curtains at LIV Golf.
The Englishman was at the Abu Dhabi Championship, responding to the surprise news that LIV had ditched its differential 54-hole format for the traditional 72 hole model for the 2026 season onwards.
Hatton was pleased with the expansion to four rounds, but, intriguingly, he disclosed that as early as 12 months ago there had been plenty of resistance from players over the forthcoming switch.
“At the end of my first season, there was a questionnaire that was filled out,” Hatton, who moved to the league at the start of 2024, said. “One of the questions was about moving to 72 holes, and of everyone who filled it out, I think there was only three guys, initially, who had said [yes] about moving.”
But it was also recognised that the shift to 72 holes was part of a wider set of changes – including an increase in relegation spots and meritocratic pathways – that LIV have made during this offseason in an effort to finally claim Official World Golf Ranking points.
“The most successful leagues around the world – IPL, EPL, NBA, MLB, NFL – continue to innovate and evolve their product, and as an emerging league, we are no different,” LIV chief executive Scott O’Neil stressed.
A year, of course, is a long time in this capricious landscape and opinions can evolve, especially when world ranking points, which offer routes to major championships, are potentially on the line.
A divided camp
So have players come round to the idea of LIV backtracking on one of its founding principles – or is the move still as unpopular as it appeared when they filled out the initial survey?
During a recent LIV Golf event in West Palm Beach to preview the new season, TG asked various players their views on the big change. Opinion, we discovered, is most certainly divided.
There was a decent share of ambivalence, with some shrugging their shoulders at a move to the format they have long been accustomed with. “I’ve played 72 holes my whole life, so it doesn’t bother me at all,” Sergio Garcia says. “The more holes you play, the cream usually rises to the top.”
Lee Westwood argues the move is “certainly more of a positive than a negative”.
“It ticks a lot of boxes, world rankings, things like that,” the 52-year-old Englishman says. “I’ve always felt a long time between turning up on a Monday at tournaments and teeing off on Friday as well, having played 72-hole tournaments for 30-odd years.”
Others, though, are more passionate about the subject.
Jon Rahm, LIV’s biggest-money signing who has lobbied for 72 holes for two years, hailed the change as “absolutely massive” for the league.
“When I joined, it was very, very early on and it was a rough product,” the Spaniard explains. “If you go tournament per tournament, compared to the big tours where they have 40 plus events a year, we’ve had three seasons of 14 and one of eight. Basically a season and a half in compared to the PGA Tour, and the DP World Tour. So take it like that, they’re making a lot of strides.”
Meanwhile, self-confessed slow-burners like Graeme McDowell are seizing an opportunity to climb leaderboards.
“The strategy of the 54 holes doesn’t really suit who I am,” McDowell admits. “I’m a little bit more consistency, grinding, the mentality of the 72-hole marathon style. One round less sounds like it should be nothing, but it’s an unbelievable shift in the mentality of 54 versus 72.
“It’s 14 more days competitive golf this year, which adds two more weeks, but the pros outweigh the cons for me. It’s a more traditional, more accepted format within the game. It’s like the PGA Tour’s morphing into us and we’re morphing into the PGA Tour. They’ve got all these elevated events with limited fields and guaranteed money, and we’re starting to play 72 holes now. The alignment of the world is good for everybody.”
Dean Burmester concurs. “It’s a good idea in terms of prep for the majors, and going forward into bigger events,” the South African, a two-time winner on LIV, says. “It’s exciting from a tournament perspective, because you don’t have to be as quick out the blocks. Three rounds felt like a sprint.”
Yet some others are far from convinced.
Bryson DeChambeau is undoubtedly LIV’s biggest star and, right now, perhaps the league’s most important voice. DeChambeau has told TG that he will remain at LIV for another season, despite being offered an olive branch to follow Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed back to the PGA Tour. Beyond 2026, the two-time US Open champion has been hesitant to commit his future to the league.
When LIV’s press release landed on November 5 confirming the news, DeChambeau said: “By moving to 72 holes, LIV Golf is taking a proactive step to align with the historic format recognized globally.”
In an interview with TG, DeChambeau was asked his thoughts on the changes LIV have made during this offseason.
“It’s definitely changed away from what we had initially been told it was going to be,” he says. “So there is some movement that we’ve all been, I would say, interested in, and going, ‘why that movement?’ Because we were told it was going to be this. So that’s definitely made us have some different thoughts about it.
“I’ve got a contract for this year, and we’ll go through it there and see what happens after that. Look, it’s 72 holes, it’s changed, but we’re still excited to play professionally and play for what we’re doing and go across the world. I think it’s going to be great for our [Crushers GC] team. Is it what we ultimately signed up for? No. So I think we’re supposed to be different, so I’m a little indifferent to it right now.
“Hopefully it weighs positively on me over the course of time, but you never know. I’m not sure. We didn’t sign up to play for 72.”
Paul Casey, sitting just across from his teammate DeChambeau, then weighs in with his verdict with the move from the abbreviated format.
“Same as Bryson,” he confirms. “What’s the USP if we move away from it? I’m right there with everyone. It wouldn’t have been the thing I would have changed. I would have maybe gone tee times rather than shotgun [start] or something else would have changed.”
Southern Guards captain Louis Oosthuizen is with his Crushers rivals. “I’m a big fan of the 54 holes,” the South African sighs. “To me it was a bit more unique, and I felt a lot more fresh in the tournaments and ready to play. We do a lot of traveling, which will make it a little bit more difficult [to play 72-hole events].”
And so, for now, a rebrand to ‘LXXII Golf’ is on hold.
It was impossible to keep everyone happy, but this move to mirror the established tours has certainly provided another provocative subplot as the nascent league begins its fifth season in Riyadh this week.
TG’s Alex Perry contributed to this report.
