LIV Golf announced on Tuesday, November 4, that they will switch from 54- to 72-hole events next season.
LIV’s decision to extend their tournaments by another round is the biggest talking point in professional golf at the moment.
The move is a particularly interesting one because Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau previously supported the 54-hole format.
However, it appears that all the LIV stars are on board with the recent decision because it could result in the awarding of world ranking points.
Tyrrell Hatton is the latest LIV golfer to give his verdict on the news, while Rory McIlroy also shared his opinion from an outsider’s perspective.
Tyrrell Hatton welcomes LIV Golf’s decision to play 72 holes
Hatton admitted before the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship this week that he is pleased with LIV Golf’s decision.
He revealed that the majority of players were opposed to the idea at the end of 2024, but that has now changed completely.
“I think it’s a good thing that LIV have moved to four rounds,” Hatton said. “I know that at the end of my first season, there was a questionnaire that was filled out, and one of the questions was about moving to 72 holes.
“I think of everyone who filled it out, I think there were only three guys initially who had said about moving there.
“I guess that’s changed quite a bit in the last year, and certainly from my standpoint, I’m quite happy that we’ve moved to 72 holes.”
LIV Golf organizers clearly think playing 72 holes was a necessary step towards gaining world ranking points, which successful players like Hatton will ultimately benefit from.
Rory McIlroy questions LIV Golf’s switch to 72-hole events
Rory McIlroy was not so supportive of LIV’s move to 72-hole tournaments, as he never thought that was their real issue.
The Northern Irishman suggested that they could have earned world ranking points with 54-hole tournaments, so there was no need to change.
He also pointed out that the LIV golfers have already suffered big hits to their rankings, which will now be difficult to overturn.
“I think it’s a peculiar move because I think they could have got ranking points with three rounds,” McIlroy explained. “I don’t think three rounds versus four rounds is what was holding them back.
“It certainly puts them more in line with traditional golf tournaments that we’ve all done. It brings them back into not really being a destructor and sort of falling more in line with what everyone else does. But if that’s what they felt they needed to do to get the ranking points, I guess that’s what they had to do.
“I think what’s hard is you’ve got the LIV guys, and say potentially they get world ranking [points], because their strength of fields are going to be so weak because a lot of the guys have fallen already in the rankings because they have not had ranking points for so long, I don’t know if the ranking points are really going to benefit them. Yeah, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.”
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