LIV Golf announces competition and format changes for 2026

LIV Golf today announced updates to its competition and format for the 2026 season, reinforcing the League’s commitment to elite competition, season-long performance and the continued growth of team golf as the sports’ most unique competition format.

The updates reflect feedback from players, teams, and stakeholders, while supporting LIV Golf’s long-term vision as a global league built around both individual excellence and team success.

“Our continued mission is to build a league that grows the game of golf competitively, commercially and culturally. The changes we’re introducing for 2026 are about rewarding consistency, strengthening team golf, and creating clearer pathways for players to earn their place and progress within the League,” said LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil. “Moving to 72 holes, expanding the field, increasing relegation, updated our points system and enhancing our investment in teams all reflect the same principle: if you perform week-in and week-out, individually and as part of a team, the performance matters. We believe this evolution makes LIV Golf more competitive, more transparent, and ultimately, more exciting for players, teams and fans around the world.”

Below are key updates to LIV Golf’s event competition and format for 2026:

UPDATED LOCK ZONE, OPEN ZONE AND DROP ZONE STRUCTURE

To better reward consistent high performance across the season, LIV Golf is introducing updated competitive thresholds to the season-long individual standings in 2026:

1. The Lock Zone expands to the Top 34 players in the standings (approximately 60% of the 57-player field, up from the Top 24 players from 2022-2025)
2. The Open Zone includes players finishing in positions 35-46 in the standings (approximately 20% of the 57-player field, reduced from 24 spots from 2022-25)
3. The Drop Zone (Relegation) expands to positions 47-57 in the standings (approximately 20% of the 57-player field, up from the bottom 6 players in 2024-2025)

These changes increase the turnover and meritocratic pathways into the League, enhance the competitive tension throughout the season, reflect the increased field size in 2026, and are designed to provide greater clarity around season-long performance benchmarks.

STRENGTHENING THE LEAGUE’S TEAM MODEL

As part of LIV Golf’s continued investment in team golf, the League is increasing total team-retained prize funding by $5 million per event, meaning: 

1. Weekly team prize payouts will double from $5 million to $10 million
2. All 13 teams will now earn prize money each week based on finishing position, rather than only the top three teams

In addition, the League is introducing a new $2.3 million per-event prize pool in 2026 to reward individual player performances within podium-finishing teams each week. In total, the League’s 14-event season will reward $470 million in individual and team purses for 2026 performance. The expanded funding reflects LIV Golf’s commitment to building sustainable, valuable team franchises and rewarding every player’s contribution to team success.
72-HOLE EVENTS, EXPANDED FIELDS, AND INCREASED PATHWAYS

The League previously announced that beginning in 2026, LIV Golf events will move to a 72-hole format. The expanded format aligns LIV Golf more closely with the broader professional golf calendar while preserving the League’s distinctive tournament atmosphere and fan experience.

In addition, LIV Golf confirmed an increase in its field size this season to 57 players, up from 54, creating additional pathways into LIV Golf through five Wild Card positions. These Wild Cards are awarded through a combination of performance on the International Series (top 2) and LIV Golf Promotions (top 3), further strengthening competitive access and global representation.
ENHANCED POINTS SYSTEM (INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM)

The 2026 season introduces a new points system that increases the total number of points distributed, awards points to all finishing places and puts increased emphasis on top performers. The revised structure is designed to better reflect consistent, high-level performance over the course of the season, while also recognizing the importance of individual contributions to team results each week. Below is the breakdown of the enhanced points system: