Understanding the LIV Golf Team Format

The launch of LIV Golf is a huge milestone in the history of professional golf. Already, the new tournaments have caused the PGA to make major changes to compete with LIV Golf team payouts, and players and fans alike have had to weigh in on what they think about the Saudi-funded series.

Previously, we introduced LIV Golf with a blog post about its history, players and structure. Since then, we've heard a lot of questions about the LIV Golf team format. That's why we put together this guide to LIV Golf team scoring.

A Brief Overview of LIV Golf's Team Format

At this time, there are 12 LIV Golf teams made up of four players. Each LIV Golf team has a captain and will compete in the LIV Golf regular season tournaments. 

As the teams move toward the final tournament, the eight highest-scoring teams will move on to the quarterfinals. During these events, the teams will have two singles matches and one two-on-two alternate shot match. The overall winner moves on to the next round. The semifinals use the same match rules and include the four winners from the quarterfinals.

At the end of this round, the two winning teams will face off head to head in twosomes, with team captains guaranteed to face off with matchups then made between the other players on the teams. When a team wins a tournament, the players evenly split the total LIV Golf team payout between them.

Who Are the LIV Golf Teams?

The current LIV Golf team names and members include:

4Aces GC:

Captain: Dustin Johnson, Pat Perez, Patrick Reed and Peter Uihlein

Cleeks GC:

Captain: Martin Kaymer, Richard Bland, Graeme McDowell and Bernd Wiesberger

Crushers GC:

Captain: Bryson DeChambeau, Paul Casey, Charles Howell III and Anirban Lahiri

Fireballs GC:

Captain: Sergio Garcia, Abraham Ancer, Eugenio Chacarra and Carlos Ortiz

HyFlyers GC:

Captain Phil Mickelson, James Piot, Brendan Steele and Cameron Tringale

Iron Heads GC:

Captain: Kevin Na, Sihwan Kim, Danny Lee and Scott Vincent

Majesticks GC:

Captain: Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood and Sam Horsfield

RangeGoats GC:

Captain: Bubba Watson, Talor Gooch, Thomas Pieters and Harold Varner III

Ripper GC:

Captain: Cameron Smith, Matt Jones, Marc Leishman and Jediah Morgan

Smash GC:

Captain: Brooks Koepka, Chase Koepka, Jason Kokrak and Matthew Wolff

Stinger GC:

Captain: Louis Oosthuizen, Dean Burmester, Branden Grace and Charl Schwartzel

Torque GC:

Captain: Joaquin Niemann, David Puig, Sebastian Munoz and Mito Pereira

In 2022 inaugural season, LIV Golf teams changed each week with captains drafting players to join them for each tournament.

For 2023, LIV Golf announced that the teams will remain the same throughout the entire season.

How Does the LIV Scoring System Work with a Golf Team Format?

The LIV Golf team format makes scoring seem complicated, but once you understand how it works, it's actually pretty easy to follow.

At the start of a tournament, small groups of players begin at each hole rather than everyone beginning at the first hole and proceeding to the 18th. With this shotgun start, groups advance to the next hole and those at hole 18 move to the first hole. This continues until all players have played every hole.

Each tournament consists of three rounds. During the first and second rounds, LIV Golf calculates team scores by adding up the best two-stroke play scores for each team. The other two players' scores are thrown out. During the third round, the top three players' scores are added together, and only the lowest score is eliminated. To determine the winner, LIV adds up the scores for all three rounds. The LIV Golf team with the lowest overall score becomes the winner and gets the highest payout.

Last year, all 12 teams had a chance to participate in the quarterfinals, and so far, LIV Golf has not announced that this will change. However, the tournament organizers did announce that there would be two additional teams participating in the quarterfinals this season. How having 14 teams instead of 12 will play out has yet to be announced.

Which Team Should I Cheer For?

For other professional sports, fans often cheer for the team that represents their hometown or the city where they currently live, but LIV Golf teams aren't linked to any particular city or geographic area at this point.

As a result, deciding which team to cheer for might be difficult. You could choose a favorite LIV Golf team based on the name and logo, who the captain is or how the various teams perform during the first tournaments of the season.

If you need help deciding, you can use the handy LIV Golf team picker on the tournament's official website.

Golf Is Changing

By introducing a team system for golf tournaments and awarding huge payouts, LIV Golf is changing the landscape of professional golf. As pro play evolves, amateur and recreational golf are also undergoing changes.

The next generation of golfers has new attitudes and values, so how they view and approach the game is different. More players are now taking a more casual approach to the sport, and many people are taking it up for fitness benefits.

Devereux is proud to be a part of the evolution of golf, and we think about the future of the sport whenever we design new golf apparel and accessories. Our line of golfing polos is changing how players look on the course with the inclusion of bold prints and graphics while also enhancing performance with technical features like moisture-wicking fabric and stretch material that increases range of motion.

Shop our collection of polos or golf t shirts now to discover new looks for the course.