LIV Is Expanding To 72-Hole Tournaments

LIV Golf is making a U-turn.

After years of marketing 54-hole tournaments as an alternative to the PGA Tour’s traditional 72-hole format, LIV (or should we call them LXXII?) is changing course and expanding all events to 72 holes.

The league is still continuing with shotgun starts and individual and team competition, but its tournaments will be one round longer and typically start on Thursday.

“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 Golf League CEO Scott O’Neil said in a statement.

LIV, which reads “54” in Roman numerals, is now looking a little more like the competition it wanted to breakaway from in the beginning.

The hunt for Official World Golf Ranking points

The move to 72 holes is the latest and most concrete effort at getting the league included in the Official World Golf Ranking. Currently the league’s players don’t receive any OWGR points for performance in LIV events.

The OWGR denied LIV’s application for points back in October 2023. The league reapplied for inclusion this past July.

The reason for the denial is that LIV’s system has gone against the OWGR’s criteria for inclusion.

The criteria includes 72-hole tournaments, consistent 36-hole cuts, open qualifying and the ability for players to lose status.

Without OWGR points, many of LIV’s middle-tier players have been unable or unwilling to qualify for majors.

“Everyone wants to see the best players in the world competing against each other, especially in the majors, and for the good of the game, we need a path forward,” Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau said.

In a statement Jon Rahm definitely didn’t write, here is what his PR team had to say:

“This is a win for the League, and the players,” he said. “LIV Golf is a player’s league. We are competitors to the core and we want every opportunity to compete at the highest level and to perfect our craft. Moving to 72 holes is the logical next step that strengthens the competition, tests us more fully, and if the growing galleries from last season are any indication, delivers more of what the fans want.” 

These are pretty words, but any rational person can read between the lines.

The Tour and LIV appear to be on separate tracks with little hope for an agreement or merger between the two leagues, so OWGR points aren’t coming from pro golf reuniting. And LIV hasn’t pulled in meaningful talent since Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton came on board nearly two years ago.

The OWGR issue hurts more and more as time goes on, so LIV was forced to get serious about meeting the criteria it had blatantly ignored.

So where does LIV go from here?

There are questions about whether the other OWGR criteria will be met, although going to 72 holes does move them a little closer.

LIV has become stricter with relegation and opening qualifying spots, but the turnover is still limited. Players have to finish 49th or worse to lose their spot. The LIV Promotions event in January offers two LIV spots and the International Series on the Asian Tour also awards two tickets to LIV membership. There is at least a pathway to get on LIV.

The 36-hole cut looks to be less of an issue now that the Tour is shifting more towards limited-field, no-cut events. There are nine no-cut Tour events in 2026.

I would say the biggest remaining hurdle is the closed shop nature of LIV. The handful of bottom feeders are replaced by a few journeyman, but keeping your spot on LIV is totally different than keeping your card on the Tour (or pretty much any other pro golf league). You could be a legitimately poor golfer on LIV and still retain your spot.

And there is this thorny issue of how most LIV players didn’t earn their spot. Virtually all of them were invited, and it wasn’t exactly a merit-based system. I mean, Anthony Kim got an invite. Does that mean he would have collected OWGR points, however minimal, based on a random invite?

In other words, it feels like there is still some work to be done here.

With that said, this move is a real Rorschach test for how you see LIV.

Is it a smart move that could help LIV recruit new talent and strengthen its product?

Or is it an act of desperation for a league that has never really gained traction?

Tell me which one you see.

Top Photo Caption: LIV is expanding to 72 holes. (GETTY IMAGES/Raj Mehta)