LIV Golf Moving To A 72-Hole Format Has United The Game’s Biggest Stars Against The Decision

It was announced this week that LIV Golf would move from a 54-hole tournament format to the traditional 72-hole format which has been the norm for the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and smaller tours for decades. The move is seen as another chess move in LIV Golf’s ploy to gain OWGR points for its golfers, who are undoubtedly among the best the in world.

Aside from the obvious reason of LIV Golf Tour members wanting/needed OWGR points in order to compete in major championships without receiving invitations, exemptions, or entering through qualification, the move has caused many in the golf world to scratch their heads.

LIV Golf Move To 72-Hole Format Unites Golf World Against The Decision

Let us first for a moment acknowledge that the name ‘LIV Golf’ is in fact a roman numeral for ’54,’ both the number of holes and the original number of intended golfers on the tour. So, now what? Stick with the name that doesn’t have significance to the tour’s format? Rebrand and waste the past few years? They’ll 100% be sticking with the name.

So, who wanted this? The LIV Golf Tour did, of course. They have a duty to their members to get OWGR points. But the players certainly didn’t want it.

Tyrrell Hatton was asked about this today and he admitted the LIV Golf Tour members were asked about a 72-hole format last year in a player questionnaire, presumably to inform tour decisions on format. He said only 3 of 48 respondents said ‘yes’ when asked if they would like to move to a 72-hole format. That is 0.0625% for those keeping track at home!

Interesting from Tyrrell 👇

Said today that at the end of 2024, @LIVGolf players filled in a questionnaire. One question asked if players wanted to move to 72 holes.

Only 3 of 48 players said yes.

Yet, a year later, the league has confirmed it'll now play 72-hole events. pic.twitter.com/pW6PsZD8Iy

— Jamie Kennedy (@jamierkennedy) November 5, 2025

The move to a 72-hole format is happening regardless of the feedback from players. And it is obviously important to work in an environment where open and honest feedback is accepted.

So now that we’ve heard what Tyrrell Hatton within LIV has said about only 3 of 48 golfers saying ‘yes’ to the move, here is what PGA Tour star and O.G. LIV Golf critic Rory McIlroy had to say when asked.

Rory is in Abu Dhabi this week and was asked about LIV’s 72-hole decision. He told ESPN/AP and other reporters present “I think it’s a peculiar move because I think they could have got ranking points with three rounds. I don’t think three rounds vs. four rounds is what was holding them back.”

McIlroy went on to say “it certainly puts them more in line with traditional golf tournaments than what we’ve all done. It brings them back into not really being a destructor and sort of is falling more in line with what everyone else does. But if that’s what they felt they needed to do to get the ranking points, I guess that’s what they had to do.”

But surely the LIV Golf fans are all in on more golf, right? The chance to see another day of tournaments and grow the game of golf internationally even more has to be a great decision, right???

Here are the replies on X, formerly known as Twitter, to LIV Golf’s announcement yesterday. Presented without commentary:

And some more:

Of course, there are plenty of people in the golf world excited about the 72-hole format. I am. It gives me another day of sports to watch while working.

Rory’s comments didn’t stop at 72 holes though. He questioned whether OWGR points are even going to be as valuable for LIV Golf as they believe at this point.

McIlroy said “because their strength of fields are going to be so weak because a lot of the guys have fallen already in the rankings because they have not had ranking points for so long, I don’t know if the ranking points are really going to benefit them. Yeah, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.”

OWGR points for any given event are determined based on the strength of the field. Tyrrell Hatton is currently the highest-ranked LIV Golf tour member by OWGR points at 21st in the world, followed by Bryson at 23rd. LIV would rely heavily on players accruing points during major championships to then strengthen the fields of their LIV Invitationals. And this is all hypothetical still, they haven’t even been approved for OWGR points yet (as far as I know).