This article is part of our DFS Golf series.
LIV Golf Chicago
Purse: $20M individual, $5 million team
Winner's share: $4M individual, $3M team
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Course: Riyadh Golf Club
Yardage: 7,464
Par: 72
For more information, check out RotoWire's LIV Golf Optimizer.
Tournament Preview
Other than the Promotions event in mid-December, it's been nearly five months since we saw action in the LIV Golf League. The 2024 season concluded with Legion XIII captain and league debutant Jon Rahm clinching the LIV Golf Individual Championship after outlasting Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann in Chicago.
Rahm's defection to LIV sent shockwaves through the golfing world, but the two-time major champion demonstrated his elite play all year long. While Niemann led in the individual season standings for most of the year thanks to his victories at LIV Golf Mayakoba and Jeddah, Rahm was on his heels and was the only player in the league to finish in the top-10 in every single LIV Golf tournament he finished (he was forced to withdraw from the Houston tournament due to a left foot infection, which also forced him to withdraw from the U.S. Open Championship). Rahm's victories in the United Kingdom and Chicago were enough for him to usurp Niemann for the season title, though the 30-year-old Spaniard would have surely been open to trading that accomplishment for another major or an Olympic medal that was seemingly in his grasp.
The 2024 season brought plenty of highlights for the LIV Golf League. Aside from Rahm and Niemann, Smash GC captain Brooks Koepka was the only other player to win multiple LIV Golf trophies (Singapore and Greenbrier), and he has a league-best five individual trophies. Fireballs GC captain Sergio Garcia was finally able to capture his first individual LIV Golf trophy, defeating Crusher GC's Aniriban Lahiri in a one-hole playoff on home soil in Andalucia. The all-Australian Ripper GC, led by captain Cameron Smith, outlasted 4Aces GC and Iron Heads GC to capture the LIV Golf Team Championship in Dallas. And while he wasn't able to capture a LIV Golf trophy, Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau's exceptional short game at Pinehurst propelled him to his second U.S. Open Championship, defeating Rory McIlroy by one stroke.
Looking ahead to 2025, most of the LIV Golf field will remain the same as it was in 2024. Following the Promotions event in December, six players will make their LIV Golf debuts as full-time players in Riyadh: Tom McKibbin (Legion XIII), Yubin Jang (Iron Heads GC), Luis Masaveu (Fireballs GC), Frederik Kjettrup (Cleeks GC), Ben Campbell (RangeGoats GC) and Max Lee (Wild Card). The league will also travel to five new locations including Riyadh this weekend; Mexico City (April 25-27), Korea (May 2-4), Indianapolis (Aug. 15-17, the final tournament of the year) and Michigan (Aug. 22-24, where the Team Championship will take place). Washington DC will also host a LIV Golf tournament after taking a one-year hiatus.
Champions Profile
Riyadh Golf Club in Saudi Arabia is the location for the first tournament of the 2025 LIV Golf season. It's the same course that hosted the Promotions Event from Dec. 12-14, which saw Lee outlast 92 others players -- including ex-LIV golfers Kalle Samooja and the Vincent twins, Scott and Kieran -- to earn a spot in the 2025 LIV Golf league.
Long-ball hitters like DeChambeau and RangeGoats' GC's Matthew Wolff should be able to take advantage of the long par-5 holes, three of which measure at 597 yards or longer (the 10th hole measures at a whopping 681 yards). The par-3 seventh hole is surrounded by water and will require pin-point accuracy, favoring the likes of Rahm, Niemann, and Crushers GC's Paul Casey.
DraftKings Value Picks
Based on a Standard $50k Salary Cap
Tier 1 Values
Jon Rahm (Captain, Legion XIII) - $11,500 (Winning odds at The DraftKings Sportsbook: +650)
Surprisingly enough, the defending LIV Golf Individual Champion isn't the odds-on favorite entering Riyadh, with the honor instead going to Legion XIII teammate Tyrrell Hatton. Still, it's hard to not pick Rahm here, who was the most consistent player in the league last year. He finished in the top-five in nearly every statistical category during the 2024 LIV Golf season and will start his title defense on the right foot.
Bryson DeChambeau (Captain, Crushers GC) - $11,200 (+750).
DeChambeau wasn't able to live up to his own lofty expectations during the 2024 LIV Golf season. He managed to finish eighth in the individual season standings, though he wasn't able to capture an individual trophy and couldn't propel Crushers GC to a Team Championship trophy despite entering Dallas as the No. 1 seed. Most people will remember DeChambeau's triumph over McIlroy, though the Crushers GC captain will surely come into the 2025 LIV Golf season with a chip on his shoulder.
Joaquin Niemann (Captain, Torque GC) - $10,200 (+800)
Niemann started the 2024 LIV Golf season strong with victories in two of the first three tournaments of the year. He sat atop of the individual season standings for most of the year, but he wasn't able to fend off Rahm and had to settle for second. It was a strong year for the 26-year-old Chilean, who led the league in total birdies and finished top-3 in GIR and driving distance.
Tier 2 Values
Cameron Smith (Captain, Ripper GC) - $9,500 (+1600)
Smith had his fair share of chances of capturing his second LIV Golf trophy last season, finishing T2 on three separate occasions (Hong Kong, Singapore and United Kingdom). He can take solace in the fact that his Ripper GC squad was able to capture the team trophy on home soil in Adelaide, and they finished the LIV Golf season as the Team Champions in Dallas. Smith has gone a full calendar year without a tournament victory, but he has a chance to change all of that in Riyadh.
Louis Oosthuizen (Captain, Stinger GC) - $9,000 (+2800)
Like his Australian counterpart Smith, Oosthuizen had his fair share of chances of capturing his first LIV Golf trophy, finishing second in both Jeddah and Adelaide while finishing in the top-10 in five other tournaments. The South African finished the 2024 season in the top-5 in driving accuracy, scrambling, GIR and putting average, which makes up for his lack of oomph off the tee.
Sergio Garcia (Captain, Fireballs GC) - $8,700 (+2500)
2024 looked to be a year of torment for Garcia, who lost in playoffs to Niemann and Stinger GC's Dean Burmester at LIV Golf Mayakoba and Miami, respectively. However, Garcia was able to shake the monkey off his back on home soil in Andalucia, albeit thanks in large part to Lahiri missing a tap-in putt that forced a playoff in which Garcia came out victorious, and the Spaniard finished third in the 2024 individual season standings, which earned him a cool $4 million bonus. Garcia led the 2024 LIV Golf league in scrambling and finished top-5 in driving accuracy, GIR and putting average.
Tier 3 Values
Paul Casey (Crushers GC) - $8,100 (+2800)
Casey spent most of the 2024 LIV Golf season in the top-15 of the individual season standings, with his T2 in Hong Kong when he and Smith lost to Fireballs GC's Abraham Ancer in a playoff being the Englishman's best outing of the year. Though he was middle of the pack in putting and driving distance, Casey finished in the top-5 in GIR and driving accuracy and top-10 in birdies made and scrambling last season.
Dustin Johnson (Captain, 4Aces GC) - $7,800 (+5000)
It was a peculiar 2024 LIV Golf season for Johnson, who got off to a strong start with a fifth-place finish at LIV Golf Mayakoba and followed that up with a victory in Las Vegas in the week leading up to Super Bowl LVIII. However, Johnson failed to finish in the top-15 in nine of the last 11 LIV Golf tournaments, though the 4Aces were able to finish the season on a somewhat high note by making the final round of the Team Championship despite entering the tournament as the 10th seed.
Richard Bland (Cleeks GC) - $7,500 (+4000)
The second-oldest golfer in the LIV Golf league, Bland's 2024 season was highlighted by victories at both the Senior PGA Championship and the U.S. Senior Open. He finished in the top-15 over the final five LIV Golf tournaments (including T4 in Greenbrier) and ended 19th in the individual season standings. Bland ranked 47th in driving distance in 2024, but his accuracy off the tee and short game will always give the 52-year-old Englishman a fighting chance.
Tier 4 Values
Adrian Meronk (Cleeks GC) - $7,100 (+10000)
Meronk joined Rahm and Hatton as the top LIV Golf acquisitions for the 2024 season. Meronk was able to finish in the top-10 three times (including solo second in Houston), but it was an otherwise inconsistent year for the Polish golfer. Still, Meronk could be worth a dart throw given his low salary and potential upside.
Ollie Schniederjans (HyFlyers GC) - $7,000 (+10000)
Schniederjans will serve as a substitute for HyFlyers GC due to captain Phil Mickelson withdrawing from Riyadh with to a shoulder injury. Schniederjans was unable to earn a permanent spot in the LIV Golf League through the Promotions Event, but he played well enough to earn a full-time spot on The International Series and subsequently won in his debut in India last week.
Max Lee (Wild Card) - $6,400 (+15000)
Lee joins Anthony Kim as the two Wild Cards for the 2025 LIV Golf season. In doing so, Lee became the first Taiwanese-born player to participate in the league. He has recent familiarity with the course, coupled with the fact that he wasn't signed by a team during the offseason, could give Lee the chip on his shoulder that he needs to shock the rest of the 54-man field.
Take a spin through the Sportsbook Promo Codes before wagering on LIV Golf Riyadh
