LIV Golf LIVE: Leaderboard and Day 1 scores as Carlos Ortiz leads the way after the opening round in Portland
Follow all the action from the second event of the Saudi-funded breakaway series
Golf’s newest and most controversial tour, the LIV Golf Series, hosts its second event in Portland, Oregon this week with the action kicking off tonight. The Saudi-backed venture has added more high-profile names to its roster, with America’s Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and Patrick Reed among the latest players to defect from the PGA Tour, joining the likes of Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.
The American PGA Tour and European DP World Tour have issued suspensions and fines respectively in a bid to halt the breakaway but players Carlos Ortiz and Matthew Wolff have committed themselves to LIV Golf in the last week alone. Meanwhile Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, amongst others, have spoken publicly in favour of golf’s two main tours yet the field in Portland is set to be significantly stronger than at LIV Golf’s inaugural event in England last month.
South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel bagged the first winner’s cheque for £3.85m after triumphing at the Centurion Club and another eye-watering £20m prize pot will be on offer in Oregon with the lure of the Saudi-backed rebel series’ riches proving hard to resist for players. The full field of 48 players has been confirmed and the format will continue to be a 54-hole shotgun start played across three days with Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland hosting this week’s event.
Relive all the action from Day 1 of the second event of the controversial tour below:
The shotgun start
By far the most distinct part of LIV Golf is the shotgun start for each round where different fourballs tee off on different holes. It’s crazy difficult to keep up with for the fans and the television and I’m not sure they’ll keep it if the tour starts to become legitimised later down the line.
‘They didn’t listen to the players’: Patrick Reed and Pat Perez blame PGA Tour for LIV Golf switch
Patrick Reed and Pat Perez believe the PGA Tour only has itself to blame for losing players to LIV Golf, ahead of the series’ second tournament at Oregon’s Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club this week.
Sitting alongside four-times major winner Brooks Koepka, Perez and 2018 Masters winner Reed ripped into the PGA Tour and its commissioner, Jay Monahan, and said the blame for their departure lay at the feet of the golf organizing body.
“Monahan just shut it out from the start. Didn’t want to listen, didn’t want to take a meeting,” said Perez, a 46-year-old, three-time PGA Tour winner.
“They didn’t listen to the players. Somehow, the tour, they keep talking about ‘Oh yeah, we work for you, we work for the players.’ But it’s the opposite. Seems like we work for them. We don’t have a say in anything.”
Patrick Reed and Pat Perez blame PGA Tour for LIV Golf switch
The pair will tee it up at the second event of the controversial series this week in Oregon
Lee Westwood insists LIV Golf players shouldn’t face Ryder Cup ban
A defiant Lee Westwood does not believe his Ryder Cup chances should be threatened by his decision to sign up to the LIV Golf Invitational Series.
Last week the DP World Tour fined each of the 17 players who played in the Saudi-backed venture’s first event in Hertfordshire earlier this month £100,000 and banned them from next week’s Scottish Open.
It was accompanied by the threat of additional sanctions for further participation and while a Ryder Cup ban has not been publicly mentioned as a punishment it remains an option open to the DP World Tour.
But Westwood, who along with the other rebels will tee it up in the second of the eight-event series at Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon on Thursday, believes that should not be the case.
Lee Westwood insists LIV Golf players shouldn’t face Ryder Cup ban
The DP World Tour have fined and banned each of the 17 players who played in the first event earlier this month
Brooks Koepka responds to Rory McIlroy’s ‘duplicitous’ accusation after LIV Golf move
Brooks Koepka insists Rory McIlroy can “think whatever he wants” after being accusing of being “duplicitous” for the manner in which he joined LIV Golf.
Koepka, a four-time major winner, will make his debut in the Saudi-backed tour this week, with the second 54-hole, 48-man tournament kicking off in Portland on Thursday with a prize fund of $25 million (£20.4m).
The 32-year-old complained at the US Open earlier this month that questions on the Saudi-backed tour were throwing a “black cloud” over the major.
While Dustin Johnson stressed his full commitment to the PGA Tour in March before becoming the first superstar name to join Phil Mickelson ahead of the inaugural event at Centurion Club.
Brooks Koepka responds to Rory McIlroy’s ‘duplicitous’ claim after LIV Golf move
The four-time major winner has responded to criticism ahead of his debut in the Saudi-backed tour in Portland
What’s the controversy?
The Saudi-funded tour is on a collision course with the two main golfing Tours - the DP World Tour and PGA Tour - who suspended and fined players appearing in these rebel events, with a legal battle between the Tours and LIV Golf likely.
LIV chief executive Greg Norman has been criticised for heading up the breakaway circut, with its Saudi investors accused of “sportswashing” the country’s poor human rights record.
However, the Australian told Sky Sports: “We [LIV Golf] are independent. I do not answer to Saudi Arabia. I can categorically tell you, that’s not the case. I do not answer to MBS.”
LIV Golf live stream: How to watch Day 1
LIV Golf isn’t currently tied to a UK broadcaster, but coverage is being shown via a live stream on their official website, YouTube and Facebook pages, with the action expected to begin at around 9.15pm BST.
What are the teams and who are the captains?
As well as featuring individual winners, each LIV Golf event will have a team component. The 48-player field is split up into 12 teams of four.
Over the course of the three game days a combined score from the lowest team members is totalled to give an overall leader.
The Stingers GC won the team event in London and will be looking to triumph again in the US this week. Here are the captains and which team they’re in charge of:
- Louis Oosthuizen - Stinger GC
- Bryson DeChambeau - Crushers GC
- Lee Westwood - Majesticks GC
- Hideto Tinihara - Torque GC
- Dustin Johnson - 4 Aces GC
- Martin Kaymer - Cleeks GC
- Wade Ormsby - Punch GC
- Graeme McDowell - Niblicks GC
- Brooks Koepka - Smash GC
- Phil Mickelson - Hyflyers GC
- Sergio Garcia - Fireballs GC
- Kevin Na - Iron Heads GC
Full player list for Portland event
Who is in the field?
- Abraham Ancer – Mexico
- Richard Bland – England
- Itthipat Buranatanyarat – Thailand
- Laurie Canter – England
- Eugenio Chacarra – Spain
- Bryson DeChambeau – USA
- Hennie Du Plessis – South Africa
- Sergio Garcia – Spain
- Talor Gooch – USA
- Branden Grace – South Africa
- Justin Harding – South Africa
- Sam Horsfield – England
- Yuki Inamori – Japan
- Dustin Johnson – USA
- Matt Jones – Australia
- Sadom Kaewkanjana – Thailand
- Martin Kaymer – Germany
- Phacara Khongwatmai – Japan
- Sihwan Kim – USA
- Ryosyke Kinoshita – Japan
- Brooks Koepka – USA
- Chase Koepka – USA
- Jinichiro Kozuma – Japan
- Graeme McDowell – Northern Ireland
- Phil Mickelson – USA
- Jediah Morgan – Australia
- Kevin Na – USA
- Shaun Norris – South Africa
- Louis Ooosthuizen – South Africa
- Wade Ormsby – Australia
- Carlos Ortiz – Mexico
- Adrian Otaegui – Spain
- Pat Perez – USA
- Turk Pettit – USA
- James Piot – USA
- Ian Poulter – England
- Patrick Reed – USA
- Charl Schwartzel – South Africa
- Travis Smyth – Australia
- Ian Snyman – South Africa
- Hudson Swafford – USA
- Hideto Tanihara – Japan
- Peter Uihlein – USA
- Scott Vincent – Zimbabwe
- Matt Wolff – USA
- Lee Westwood – England
- Bernd Wiesberger – Austria
- Blade Windred – Australia
How much is the prize money?
Each regular season event will have a prize fund of $25m - every player in the field receives a cut, with a guaranteed $4m for first and $120,000 for last place. Of the $25m, $5m will be split between the top three teams.
The top three players in the overall individual championship will receive a split of $30m, with the overall champion taking $18m, the runner-up receiving $8m and third place getting $4m.
The season-ending team championship has a prize fund of $50m, with the winning team splitting $16m and the team who finishes last receiving $1m. Each player receives a 25 per cent cut.
For comparison, the winner of the PGA Championship, one of golf’s four majors, receives $3m out of a total prize fund of $15m.
What are the rules?
LIV Golf Series events will be played over three days and 54 holes, rather than the traditional four-day events with 72 holes. There won’t be a cut, either, so the 48 players who start the week will play all three rounds.
There will also be individual and team competitions within the same event. The individual competition will be won by the player who shoots the lowest score over 54 holes, as normal.
The team competition, however, will be made up of 12 teams of four players, with team captains selecting the teams using a ‘snake draft’ ahead of the opening event at Centurion Club. Teams will also have their own unique names and logos.
In terms of scoring, the best two individual scores will count towards the team’s overall total across the opening two rounds, with the best three scores combining on the third and final round. The team with the lowest overall score at the end of the third round will be the winner.
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