It’s been a busy offseason for LIV Golf. The league lost some big-named players, gained some others who aren’t as well-known, was awarded world rankings points, yet still complained about it. It’s also now playing 72 holes, despite that fact that the name LIV is the roman numeral for 54.
Other than that.
The league started in Saudi Arabia and for the second consecutive year it played at night. The field is now up to 57 players, consisting of four players on each of 13 teams and five wild card additions.
Less than a month after signing with LIV Golf, Australian 23-year-old Elvis Smylie shot a closing eight-under-par 64 on Saturday to win the season-opening event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and take home the $4 million top prize from the $30 million purse. Smylie recorded a 24-under total that was one shot better than two-time major winner Jon Rahm, who put the pressure on by shooting 63.
On the strength of Smylie’s performance, his team of four Australians that also includes Cam Smith, Marc Leishman and Lucas Herbert captured the team title by three strokes over the Torque GC team led by Joaquin Niemann. Ripper splits $3 million for its victory. Quite a payday for Smylie.
Aside from Smylie, nine other players made their LIV Golf debuts as full-time members this week: Thomas Detry, Victor Perez, Michael La Sasso, Ben An, Minkyu Kim, Younghan Song, Yosuke Asaji, Bjorn Hellgren and Richard Lee. The Iron Heads are now called Korean Golf Club and Stinger GC is now called the Southern Guards. Ollie Schniederjans started in place of Phil Mickelson and Ben Schmidt started for Lee Westwood.
Here’s the rundown of what each player and team earned this week in Saudi Arabia.
Here’s the prize money breakdown for each golfer at the 2026 LIV Golf Riyadh
INDIVIDUAL
WIN: Elvis Smylie, -24, $4 million
2. Jon Rahm, -23, $2.25 million
3. Peter Uihlein, -21, $1.5 million
T-4. Abraham Ancer, -20, $833,000
T-4. Thomas Pieters, -20, $833,000
T-4. David Puig, -20, $833,333
7. Thomas Detry, -19, $600,000
8. Sebastian Munoz, -18, $525,000
T-9. Lucas Herbert, -17, $415,000
T-9. Branden Grace, -17, $415,000
T-9. Ben An, -17, $415,000
12. Talor Gooch, -16, $360,000
T-13. Carlos Ortiz, -15, $311,250
T-13. Richard T. Lee, -15, $311,250
T-13. Scott Vincent, -15, $311,250
T-13. Cam Smith, -15, $311,250
T-17. Tom McKibbin, -14, $250,000
T-17. Paul Casey, -14, $250,000
T-17. Bryson DeChambeau, -14, $250,000
T-17. Dustin Johnson, -14, $250,000
T-17. Yosuke Asaji, -14, $250,000
T-22. Bjorn Hellgren, -13, $203,000
T-22. Marc Leishman, -13, $203,000
T-22. Jason Kokrak, -13, $203,000
T-22. Anthony Kim, -13, $203,000
T-22. Joaquin Niemann, -13, $203,000
T-27. Josele Ballester, -12, $180,000
T-27. Graeme McDowell, -12, $180,000
T-27. Adrian Meronk, -12, $180,000
T-30. Younghan Song, -11, $156,071
T-30. Charl Schwartzel, -11, $156,071
T-30. Anirban Lahiri, -11, $156,071
T-30. Sergio Garcia, -11, $156,071
T-30. Louis Oosthuizen, -11, $156,071
T-30. Harold Varner III, -11, $156,071
T-30. Ben Campbell, -11, $156,071
T-37. Laurie Canter, -10, $141,250
T-37. Luis Masaveu, 110, $141,250
T-39. Charles Howell III, -9, $136,250
T-39. Caleb Surratt, -9, $136,250
T-41. Cameron Tringale, -8, $128,750
T-41. Minkyu Kim, -8, $128,750
T-41. Michael La Sasso, -8, $128,750
T-41. Ben Schmidt, -8, $128,750
T-41. Ian Poulter, -8, $128,750
T-41. Danny Lee, -8, $128,750
47. Tyrrell Hatton, -7, $50,000
T-48. Bubba Watson, -6, $50,000
T-48. Miguel Tabuena, -6, $50,000
T-48. Sam Horsfield, -6, $50,000
T-51. Matthew Wolff, -5, $50,000
T-51. Martin Kaymer, -5, $50,000
T-51. Dean Burmester, -5, $50,000
54. Victor Perez, -4, $50,000
55. Richard Bland, -3, $50,000
56. Ollie Schneiderjans, -2, $50,000
57. Brendan Steele, 4+, $50,000
TEAM
WIN: Ripper GC (Smith, Leishman, Herbert, Smylie), -69, $3 million
2. Torque GC, -66, $1.5 million
3. 4Aces GC, -59, $900,000
T-4. Fireballs GC, -53, $675,000
T-4. Legion XIII, -53, $675,000
6. Smash GC, -52, $600,000
7. Crushers GC, -48, $550,000
T-8. Southern Guards GC, -44, $475,000
T-8. Korean GC, -44, $475,000
10. RangeGoats GC, -43, $400,000
11. Majestics GC, -32, $300,000
12. Cleeks GC, -24, $250,000
13. HyFlyers GC, -14, $200,000
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