Making sense of the LIV money

“For the love of money” by the O’Jays (if you don’t know it, google it) is the soundtrack I imagine playing every morning as the LIV golfers dance around their kitchens, in their undies, sipping coffee from solid gold chalices.

Since its inception, money has been the focal point of LIV Golf’s existence, so we thought we’d take a look at some of the numbers floating around.

The first place to start would be the lucrative contracts that some players have signed to make the jump from the PGA Tour to the Saudi-backed series. Though nothing has been verified, the figures that have been reported are astronomical. The likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Bryson DeChambeau are thought to have pocketed over $100m to join Greg Norman’s new world order, while it has been suggested that Tiger Woods was offered close to a BILLION dollars to become the figurehead of the movement.

Of course, not every LIV golfer will pocket such dizzying figures, but most have admitted that the offer from LIV was life changing, which provides them a level of security that regular tour golf never has.

So, how much more is there for the players to win this season?

$20 MILLION INDIVIDUAL EVENT PURSE

Each of the eight LIV Golf events has a prize purse of $20m that is split between the 48-member field. After the inaugural event in London we got an in depth look at how each of the players were paid out for the 54-hole effort.

Charl Schwartzel, who claimed the first ever LIV Golf title, walked away with a cool $4m or, if you like, R65 117 800 - that's right, 65 million South African Rand - while the 48th place Andy Ogletree went home with a comforting $120 000 or R1 953 534.

$5 MILLION TEAM EVENT PURSE

As a reward for putting together the winning team, made up of Hennie du Plessis, Branden Grace, and Louis Oosthuizen, Schwartzel pocketed a share of the $3m that Stinger GC were awarded, $750 000 each.

Crushers GC ($1.5m) and Majesticks GC ($500 000) were awarded the balance of the $5m Team prize money for their finishes at the London event.

So all in all Charl Schwartzel walked away from the inaugural LIV Golf Series opener in London with a grand total of $4 75m or R77 327 387 - let's just spell that out again: 77 million Rand - for three days of walking after a little white ball.

$30 MILLION INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP PURSE

If $4m for winning a tournament is not enough, there is an additional $30m dollars on offer after the seventh event of the season. The three golfers who top the money list after the event in Jeddah will split the $30m pool, with third taking home $4m, second pocketing $8m and first walking away with a whopping $18m or R293 203 800 Once again, let's highlight that a South African could walk away with that prize of nearly THREE HUNDRED MILLION RAND!.

$50 MILLION TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP PURSE

But wait there is more…

The purse on offer for the season-ending Team Championship is a an eye-watering $50m, split between the 12 teams, with the winning team walking away with $12m ($3m for each team member) and the last team getting $1m ($250 000 for each team member).

With the embarrassment of riches up for grabs it is not difficult to understand why these golfers have turned their backs on the traditional tours in search of potentially securing the financial futures of their families for generations to come.

The next stop on the agenda for the LIV Golf series is a debut on American soil where the PGA Tour defectors will battle it out for mega buck in the tour’s own back yard.

Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club will be the venue for the second event of the series where the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, Matthew Wolff, and Brooks Koepka will make their debuts in pursuit of padding their pockets even more than their lucrative contracts already have.

The Stinger GC quartet have been reunited for a second event in a row and, having gotten a taste of success, they will be out to repeat the feat.

DeChambeau will be accompanied by two of the other Saffers in the field, with Shaun Norris and Justin Harding joining Peter Uihlein to make up Crushers GC.

Brooks will have his brother Chase as a teammate and they along with Adrian Otaegui and Richard Bland make up Smash GC.

Wolff was snapped up by Phil Mickelson to join the Hy Flyers GC together with Bernd Wiesberger and Itthipat Buranatanyarat, while Reed joins Dustin Johnson, Taylor Gooch and Pat Perez at 4 Aces GC.

BROADCAST DETAILS

Catch all the action from Portland, at the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, on SuperSport from 30 June to 2 July.

THURSDAY, 30 JUNE
SS Variety 1 | 10pm

FRIDAY, 1 JULY
SS Variety 1 | 10pm

SATURDAY, 2 JULY
SS Variety 1 | 10pm

* Stream all the action on DStv *