The LIV Golf 2026 teams will again consist of 52 players across 13 teams, as well as an expanded field of five wildcard individuals competing in each event.
The LIFE Golf Season 2026 enters a new era with a 72-hole format used for the first timeall tournaments played from Thursday to Sunday and more players than ever before.
The tour will retain the 13-team structure introduced in 2024, but there have been significant changes to team rosters, two team rebrands and an expanded wildcard lineup heading into the new season.
The most notable story of the offseason has been a reshuffling of captains and team identities, with Talor Gooch now captaining Smash GC following the departure of Brooks Koepka back to the PGA Tour.
Meanwhile, Louis Oosthuizen’s all-South African squad has been renamed from the Stinger GC to the Southern Guards and the Iron Heads are now known as the Korean Golf Club and are captained by new signing Byeong Hun An.
In other changes, Victor Perez has joined Cleeks GC to replace Frederik Kjettrup, and Thomas Detry has signed for 4Aces GC in place of Harold Varner III following his move to Smash GC.
Laurie Canter has returned to LIV Golf to join Majesticks GC in place of the demoted Henrik Stenson, while Elvis Smylie joins the all-Australian Ripper GC in place of Matt Jones.
For his debut season, An is joined by new Korean signings Minkyu Kim and Younghan Song, who replace Jinichiro Kozuma and Yubin Jang while Kevin Na leaves LIV Golf.
Abraham Ancer has swapped the Fireballs for the all-South American Torque as a replacement for the now retired Mito Pereira. Fireballs have signed Luis Masaveu in his place.
The HyFlyers have also signed some promising young talent, naming Michael La Sasso as Andy Ogletree’s replacement.
In a dramatic late move, Patrick Reed announced he has left LIV Golf ahead of the 2026 season to return to the PGA Tour and play more DP World Tour events later this year.
The five wild cards for 2026 are Scott Vincent and Yosuke Asaji after qualifying for the International Series and Richard T. Lee, Bjorn Hellgren and Anthony Kim after making it through the LIV Golf Promotions event.
LIV golf players and teams
The team names, captains and lineups for 2026 are:
- 4 Aces: Dustin Johnson (captain), Thomas Pieters, Thomas Detry, to be determined
- Cleeks: Martin Kaymer (captain), Richard Bland, Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez
- Breakers: Bryson Dechambeau (captain), Paul Casey, Charles Holl III, Aniirban Lahiriri
- Fireballs: Jose Luis Ballester, David Puig, Luis Massaveu
- HyFlyers: Phil Mickelson (captain), Cameron Tringale, Michael La Sasso, Brendan Steele
- Korean Golf Club (formerly Iron Heads): Byeong Hun An (captain), Danny Lee, Minkyu Kim, Younghan Song
- Legion XIII: Jon Rahm (captain), Tyrrell Hatton, Caleb Surratt, Tom McKibbin
- Majesticks: Ian Poulter (captain), Lee Westwood, Sam Horsfield, Laurie Canter
- RangeGoats: Bubba Watson (captain), Matthew Wolff, Peter Uihlein, Ben Campbell
- ripper: Cameron Smith (captain), Marc Leishman, Elvis Smylie, Lucas Herbert
- crush: Talor Gooch (captain), Jason Kokrak, Graeme McDowell, Harold Varner III
- Southern Guards (formerly Stinger): Louis Oosthuizen (captain), Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace, Dean Burmester
- Couple: Joaquín Niemann (captain), Carlos Ortiz, Sebastián Muñoz, Abraham Ancer
LIV wave format
The 52 players are in 13 teams of four and play for individual and team victory in each event over the now 72-hole competition.
Each tournament will take place in four rounds for the first time in 2026, with each day starting shotgun with players playing in threeballs. There are now five additional “individual” players participating in each tournament.
There is an individual winner of each event and the 13 teams are ranked based on the best two scores of the four players in the first two rounds and three of the four in the last two rounds.
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