LIV Golf is officially teeing off for the first time on Thursday as it looks to become a true competitor for the PGA Tour. The start-up tour’s London event will be the first of eight tournaments the Saudi-backed governing body is hosting, and it will hope to create positive momentum with this first event.
The new tour has managed to lure a couple of big-time golfers onto it in Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. The duo will collectively serve as the faces of LIV Golf for this tournament with Johnson, the 15th-ranked player in the world and highest-ranked player on the tour, serving as the favorite to win it all.
There are a handful of other recognizable names in the LIV Golf event. Louis Oosthuizen, Kevin Na, Taylor Gooch and Sergio Garcia have all found success on the PGA Tour and will look to set themselves up to take home a big chunk of the massive purse up for grabs in the LIV Golf debut event.
Additionally, other competitors from around the world — including top amateurs like Turk Pettit and 15-year-old Ratchanon Chantananuwat — will be taking aim at the top prize.
The Sporting News is tracking Round 1 of the LIV Golf London event. Follow along for the highlights from the action as well as the results for Mickelson and Johnson.
MORE: Phil Mickelson explains why he entered LIV Golf, broke from PGA Tour
LIV Golf London leaderboard 2022
The leaderboard will be updated throughout the day after LIV Golf London begins at 9 a.m. ET. You can also watch the action live on the LIV Golf YouTube channel.
Rank | Player | Score (hole) |
1 | — | — |
2 | — | — |
3 | — | — |
4 | — | — |
5 | — | — |
MORE: What the “LIV” in LIV Golf stands for, explained
LIV Golf London live updates, highlights from Thursday’s Round 1
(All times Eastern)
9:36 a.m. — Updated on Mickelson’s outfit, you can see the Augusta logo on the bottom right of this picture. Did he dull it a bit with marker? It’s hard to tell.
Here it is. Totally a market colored over it pic.twitter.com/te8WFEi7AQ
— bradford smith (@crocs_brad) June 9, 2022
9:34 a.m. — Mickelson had another good shot off the tee. He lands on the green at the Par 3 second hole and will have another birdie chance.
9:33 a.m. — Peter Uihlein just holed out a shot from the bunker. It was well played by the captain of Crushers GC.
9:29 a.m. — Speaking of Mickelson, he managed a par on the first hole. His birdie attempt came up short.
9:27 a.m. — Kevin Van Valkenburg has noticed that Phil Mickelson appears to be wearing a Masters vest with the Augusta National Golf Club logo on it. It is blacked out with marker.
Not sure if you can see it but yes, Mickelson is wearing a blacked out Augusta National Golf Club logo vest. It … looks like something maybe done with marker?
(Again, this is not a joke.)
— Kevin Van Valkenburg (@KVanValkenburg) June 9, 2022
9:25 a.m. — LIV Golf has its first birdie ever. Martin Kaymer sunk a mid-range putt on a Par 5 to take a one-stroke lead on the field.
9:23 a.m. — Phil Mickelson landed his second shot on the green after a massive tee shot. He will have a chance at birdie and if he misses it, he should have a very easy par putt.
9:22 a.m. — Talor Gooch just missed his birdie chance an inch to the left. He will finish with a par as well.
9:21 a.m. — Lee Westwood is the first player to log a score. He has posted a par on the 138-yard Par 3 after coming up just short of a birdie.
9:19 a.m. — Talor Gooch, the 35th-ranked golfer in the world and one of the best in LIV Golf, hit his shot closer to the pin on the second hole than Garcia. He will have a chance to get the first birdie in the history of the start-up tour.
9:17 a.m. — Mickelson has also teed off at the first hole. He hit a big shot down the fairway. Meanwhile, Sergio Garcia landed on the green on the second hole, a Par 3.
9:15 a.m. — We have officially teed off for the first LIV Golf event. Dustin Johnson is on the first hole to start things off, and he hit a beautiful tee shot down the middle of the fairway on one of the course’s toughest holes.
9:13 a.m. — The shotgun start is coming up shortly. All of the players will tee off at the same time and see the same course conditions throughout the day.
9:06 a.m. — The LIV broadcast is now live, and you can click here to watch it. LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman is currently on and discussing how happy he is that the new tour was “able to bring free agency to golf.”
8:45 a.m. — LIV Golf released a hype video before today’s tournament narrated by Dennis Quaid. You can check it out below:
It’s here.
Don’t blink.#LIVGolf pic.twitter.com/eqJwbfAgrw
— LIV Golf (@LIVGolfInv) June 9, 2022
How to watch LIV Golf London
- Date: Thursday, June 9-Saturday, June 11
- Live stream: LIVgolf.com, DAZN, YouTube, Facebook
LIV is promoting itself through accessibility. LIV Golf London can be watched through YouTube, Facebook, or the LIV Golf website around the world.
LIV Golf says the tournament “will also be aired live on a global roster of leading premium and free-to-air broadcasters providing coverage in 138 territories around the world.”
Here is the complete broadcast guide by country.
MORE: LIV Golf tour format, explained: Weekly drafts, lucrative payouts to players
LIV Golf TV schedule 2022
LIV Golf will not be broadcast on cable TV in the United States, so streaming is the only option.
Viewers in the U.K. can watch coverage on DAZN and Sky.
Date | Time (ET) | Coverage |
---|---|---|
Thursday, June 9 | 9 a.m. – end of play | YouTube, Facebook, DAZN, LIVgolf.com |
Friday, June 10 | 9 a.m. – end of play | YouTube, Facebook, DAZN, LIVgolf.com |
Saturday, June 11 | 9 a.m. – end of play | YouTube, Facebook, DAZN, LIVgolf.com |
LIV Golf London tee times and groups
LIV Golf events will use a shotgun start, in which every player in the field tees off at about the same time from different holes and completes the course in order from there.
Play is expected to begin at 9 a.m. ET each day.
LIV Golf London teams
Teams for LIV Golf events are drafted each week by tour-selected captains. Here’s the lineup for the London stop:
Team | Captain | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 |
Crushers | Peter Uihlein | Richard Bland | Phachara Khongwatmai | Travis Smyth |
Stinger GC | Louis Oosthuizen | Hennie Du Plessis | Charl Schwartzel | Branden Grace |
Iron Heads | Kevin Na | Sadom Kaewkanjana | Hideto Tanihara | Viraj Madappa |
Torque GC | Talor Gooch | Hudson Swafford | Adrian Otaegui | Andy Ogletree |
Fireballs | Sergio Garcia | David Puig | James Piot | Jediah Morgan |
Hy Flyers | Phil Mickelson | Justin Harding | Ratchanon Chantananuwat | Chase Koepka |
Majesticks GC | Ian Poulter | Lee Westwood | Sam Horsfield | Laurie Canter |
Smash GC | Sihwan Kim | Scott Vincent | Jinichiro Kozuma | Itthipat Burananatanyarat |
Cleeks GC | Martin Kaymer | Pablo Larrazabal | JC Ritchie | Ian Snyman |
Punch GC | Wade Ormsby | Matt Jones | Ryosuke Kinoshita | Blake Windred |
Niblicks GC | Graeme McDowell | Bernd Wiesberger | Turk Pettit | Oliver Fisher |
Aces GC | Dustin Johnson | Shaun Norris | Oliver Bekker | Kevin Yuan |