Following months of rumor and controversy, the PGA Tour has at last met its bona fide challenger. 

The LIV Golf Series — an audacious Saudi-backed start-up tour — is hoping to take the world of golf by storm. With two-time major champion Greg Norman at the helm, LIV Golf has pried away an array of prominent figures from the PGA Tour, with the promise of lucrative payouts in return. Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson are among the notable golfers to flee to the new circuit. 

And as the exodus from the PGA Tour escalates, the picture of professional golf is growing murkier by the minute. 

Here is all you need to know about the LIV Golf tour ahead of its inaugural event on Thursday, June 9: 

What is the Saudi-backed golf league, LIV Golf? 

LIV Golf is a start-up tour hoping to establish itself as a breakaway circuit and competitor to the PGA Tour. It is funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), hence earning the “Saudi Golf League” moniker.

Amongst the appeals of LIV Golf, golfers are paid on a per-event basis and do not have to commit to a complete event schedule. Other differentiators from the PGA Tour include fewer tournaments, no cuts and play consisting of three rounds for a total of 54 holes. 

Event fields are also confined to 48 golfers, who are then divided into twelve four-man teams for a blend of individual and team competition. Play will begin in a shotgun format, with players teeing off at the same time at different holes. 

Saudi LIV Golf controversy explained

The PIF has pledged $400 million alone to fund the league’s inaugural 2022 season, $255 of which will be allocated for prize money. 

These lucrative figures, though, have raised red flags when placed in conversation with Saudi Arabia’s recent history. 

The Saudi Arabia government has frequently been accused of human-rights violations, as well as war crimes. Most notably, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was found to have approved the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 

LIV Golf, then, has been criticized by some as “sportswashing,” an attempt by the government to divert attention from its wrongdoings and cast itself as a “normal” nation through the projection of sports. Norman, for one, has downplayed the significance of Khashoggi’s murder when defending his involvement with the tour.

When is the Saudi Golf LIV Invitational?

The circuit’s inaugural season kicks off Thursday, June 9 for a three-day event in London at the Centurion Club. Across its four-month season, LIV Golf will host eight events — seven individual events and one team championship, where players will coalesce to vie for the LIV Golf team trophy. 

A full schedule of events is included below: 

London, England: June 9-11

Portland, Oregon: June 30 – July 2

Bedminster, New Jersey: July 29-31

Boston, Massachusetts: Sept. 2-4

Chicago, Illinois: Sept. 16-18

Bangkok, Thailand: Oct. 7-9

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Oct. 14-16

Miami, Florida: Oct. 27-30

How to watch the LIV Golf Invitational 

The London event begins Thursday, June 9 at 9 a.m. EST. Play can be streamed at LIVGolf.com, YouTube and Facebook; the circuit has not yet reached a broadcast television deal in the United States. 

Who is competing in the Saudi Golf League, and who’s not?

LIV Golf has lured an impressive collection of golfers from the PGA circuit, headlined by Johnson, the highest-ranked player to join the tour at No. 15, and Mickelson. 

Other top-50 players include Louis Oosthuizen (No. 21), Bryson DeChambeau (No. 26), Kevin Na (No. 34), Talor Gooch (No. 35) and Patrick Reed (No. 36). 

For now, Johnson remains the most-touted defector, with a large portion of the sport’s upper-echelon remaining in the PGA Tour. 

World No. 8 Rory McIlroy hasn’t changed his mind on the LIV tour since its inception. The Irishman reiterated his thoughts this week.

“I think my stance on it has been pretty clear from the start,” he said ahead of the RBC Canadian Open. “It’s not something that I want to participate in. I certainly understand the guys that have went. I understand what their goals and their ambitions are in their life. I’m certainly not knocking anyone for going. It’s their life, it’s their decision, they can live it the way they want to.”

Saudi Golf League Prize Money

Not only has LIV Golf shelled out ludicrous amounts of money to lure golfers to the tour — Mickelson, for instance, was given $200 million — but the circuit is upping the ante on prize money, too. 

Each event has a $20 million prize pool, along with a smaller $5 million purse reserved for team competition. Individual payouts range from an estimated $4 million for the first place finisher to $120,000 for the last place finisher. October’s ultimate Team Championship, meanwhile, carries a $50 million prize pool.