LIV Golf Invitational Series 2022 London: Tee Times, Prize Money and Predictions
June 8, 2022
LIV Golf makes its debut on Thursday at the Centurion Club in London.
Everything about the startup golf tour is different than the current events on the PGA Tour.
The purses are larger, the format has a team and individual element, and there is plenty of controversy behind it because the league is backed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
For months, the list of potential LIV Golf players was speculated about. Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson were the biggest catches for the league that has eight tournaments planned between June 9 and October 30.
Mickelson is the biggest name on the 48-name roster for the LIV Golf event in London, but Johnson is the best player in terms of who should win the event.
LIV Golf London Info
Dates: June 9-11
Start Time: 9 a.m. ET on June 9
Live Stream: LIVGolf.com
Tee Times: The shotgun start times can be found on LIVGolf.com.
Predictions
Dustin Johnson Wins Individual Competition
Dustin Johnson is by far the best individual golfer in the field when it comes to present form.
Most of the other notable names in the LIV Golf field are older players who are past the prime of their careers, like Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel.
A handful of other participants are second- and third-tier players from the PGA Tour or younger players looking for a part of the $25 million purse.
Let's be honest, though. The money is why all of these players defected from their previous tours and joined LIV Golf. It makes sense for some of the unknown golfers in the field, but Johnson and others could have stayed on the PGA Tour with large career earnings already in the bag.
The 37-year-old produced a tie for 12th at The Masters and then failed to make the cut in two tournaments and finished in a tie for 59th in another event.
The lackluster string of results on the PGA Tour may not be relevant to the first LIV Golf event because Johnson has a clear talent gap over two-thirds of the field.
If the best version of Johnson shows up at the Centurion Club, he can easily win the individual part of the event.
The 48 golfers are also broken into 12 teams. The top three teams in scoring split a $5 million purse. All of the golfers will play at once with a shotgun start beginning Thursday's round.
Johnson's team, the 4 Aces, features Shaun Norris, Oliver Bekker and Kevin Yuan. It is not exactly a star-studded team that captivates viewers, but there is one group that could control that competition.
Team Stinger Wins Team Scoring
Most of the teams put together for the LIV Golf event in London do make sense.
Team Stinger, which is one of the less strange team names compared to Niblicks, Cleeks and Punch, features a distinct connection between South African golfers.
Oosthuizen, Schwartzel, Branden Grace and Henni Du Plessis make up the team, and they could treat this weekend's event like a Presidents' Cup or a team event on any other tour.
The South African golfers have experience playing with each other in some capacity and there is some familiarity with each other's games that could help keep the team's score low over 54 holes.
Other teams could emerge as successful ones when play begins, but this foursome makes the most sense as a team winner on paper.
The other collections of players do not make a ton of sense. One or two familiar faces have been paired up, but some are patched together with players who were on different tours or amateur circuits.