LIV Golf Reveals Format Changes For Season-Ending Team Championship

The fourth LIV Golf season is rapidly reaching its conclusion, with just two more regular events to come before the Team Championship at The Cardinal at Saint John’s Resort in Plymouth, Michigan.

That will be played between August 22^nd and 24^th, where teams will be hoping to emulate Cameron Smith’s Ripper GC, who won the Team Championship a year ago.

However, there will be some significant changes to the format of the 2025 tournament.

As in previous years, the event marks the culmination of the season-long battle to be named the top LIV Golf team.

In each of the 13 regular events that precede it, the placing of teams determines points awarded towards the overall standings, with only the top eight teams at each tournament eligible for points.

For the first time this year, the two lowest-seeded teams after the final regular tournament, LIV Golf Indianapolis, will compete in a play-in match on Wednesday, August 20^th, two days before the event proper begins.

There, the two teams, currently Majesticks GC and Iron Heads GC, will take part in a single-elimination match play round. The losing team will be eliminated and play no further part in the Team Championship.

In 2024, the top three seeded teams weren’t required to play in the quarterfinals, instead receiving a bye into the semifinals. However, it’s all change this year, with the 12 remaining teams all competing in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Unlike a year ago, when beaten quarterfinalists sat out Saturday’s semifinals, all 12 teams will again compete on Saturday, albeit with Friday’s winning six teams going into a Championship Bracket and the losing teams into a Rankings Bracket.

The three winning teams from the Championship Bracket then get to play for the Team Championship in Sunday’s finals stage, when the action shifts to strokeplay.

Even though only three teams can win the Team Championship trophy at that stage, all 48 players from the 12 teams will be on the course to determine their final position in the Team Championship standings.

The losing teams from the Championship Bracket will compete for places 4 to 6, with the winning Rankings Bracket teams battling for positions 7 to 9 and the losing Rankings Bracket teams jostling for positions between 10th and 12th.

Another change will see the higher-seeded team captain for each match play contest getting to see his opponent’s line-up before making his line-up selections.

The changes to the format are intended to ensure that LIV Golf’s biggest names participate throughout the weekend.

Ripper GC captain Smith said: “I think you'll see a few teams get knocked out that you maybe wouldn't expect,” while Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau added: “More pressure. Each day matters more.”

LIV Golf Executive Vice President And Head Of Events Ross Hallett explained: “These updates mean fans will get more golf from our top teams and put added pressure on players to perform from start to finish as we look to crown our global team champion.”

Team Championship Format 2025 - At A Glance

Wednesday, August 20: Play-In Match

• Teams seeded 12th and 13th face off in a single-elimination match play round consisting of two singles matches and one alternate-shot(foursomes) match between the two teams, with a total of three points available.
• The first team to claim two points is the winner.
• The losing team is eliminated from the Team Championship.

Friday, August 22: Quarterfinals (Match Play)

• The remaining 12 teams compete
• Matchups selected by the captains of the highest-ranked teams
• Each team contest has two singles matches and one alternate-shot (foursomes) match, with three points available
• The first team to secure two points in each contest is the winner

Saturday, August 23 – Semifinals (Match Play)

• The six winning quarterfinalists advance to the Championship Bracket
• The six losing teams quarterfinalists play in the Rankings Bracket
• Matchups are selected by the captains of the highest-ranked teams
• Both brackets follow the match play format from Friday
• The three winning teams from the Championship Bracket advance to play for the Team Championship title

Sunday, August 24 – Finals (Strokeplay)

• All 48 players compete in a strokeplay format, with each team’s score comprised of all four player scores on the team
• All teams will earn final positions based on their finishes within the respective tiers:
• 1st-3rd: Championship Bracket finalists
• 4th-6th: Losing teams from the Championship Bracket semifinals
• 7th-9th: Winning teams from the Rankings Bracket
• 10th-12th Losing teams from the Rankings Bracket
• The Championship Bracket finalists team with the lowest score is the LIV Golf Team Champion