Will the fresh changes implemented by LIV Golf for the 2025 season prove a challenge for the players? The new season has already kicked off. After the first round of play at LIV Golf Riyadh, Adrian Meronk leads the board with an excellent 10-under par 62. Tom McKibbin, Lee Westwood, and Sebastian Munoz are closely chasing him down, with impressive performances of their own. But things are not the same as last year in LIV Golf.

It seems the PIF-backed league has introduced a major change to their format that might affect the leaderboard. The LIV Golf team announced the same on their social media account a few hours ago. Let’s see what it said.

LIV Golf makes a major change for 2025

The 54-hole format of LIV Golf is widely popular and criticized. Fans of traditional golf have not taken too kindly to the drastic change implemented by the Saudi-based promotion. But, some also feel LIV Golf has made the sport far more entertaining with this new format. And now, the league has introduced another major change, which will definitely add more drama to the LIV Golf event.

As announced by the league’s official X account, “FORMAT CHANGE 📝 For the first time, all four scores count in each round for every team. In 2024, only the final round counted all four scores, with just the top three scores counting for each of the first two rounds.” This means the players who don’t perform as well as their teammates may bring their squad’s score down. This may make the contest more exciting and the teams more alert.

In fact, LIV Golf also reflected on the impact, this change might have on its events. They shared, “The scoring adjustment for 2025 will increase the drama and volatility on the team leaderboard throughout the three tournament days, putting added pressure on every player to contribute a low score (or at least avoid the really high ones) for their teams.”

It seems that LIV Golf wants to up the tempo of the events by a notch. But that might be a cause of concern for some teams who rely on only one of their stars to carry them ahead.

Which teams might get affected the most after the format change? Let’s find out.

Bad news for Bubba Watson

The new format will ensure that every team member contributes to the win. However, the LIV Golf clubs that have reinstated relegated players from 2024 might be under the spotlight. As a fan questioned, “How do you feel now about bringing back Bubba?” 

They seem to suggest that players like Bubba Watson, who massively underperformed in 2024, might get scrutinized this year. His team had signed Watson back as the captain after suffering a relegation in 2024.

Interestingly, Watson’s team, the RangeGoats GC also signed Ben Campbell to their squad in 2025. Campbell himself had been relegated while playing for the Majesticks GC in 2024. Branden Grace was also relegated in 2024 because of poor play all through the season. He, too, has been retained by Stinger GC, who maintains an all-South African squad for 2025.

Do you think these players will bring their teams down in the 2025 LIV Golf season due to the format change? Share your views in the comments section.