LIV Golf Riyadh 2025 Preview, Picks & Analysis

A new LIV Golf season kicks off this week in Riyadh, the first of a 14-tournament schedule that will take the circus to all parts of the globe. 

And in a typically LIV twist, it will be played under floodlights.

With a new CEO and a new TV deal with Fox in place, there is some optimism that the split in professional golf might be nearing an end but for the meantime the Saudi-backed circuit continues to plough its own furrow.

And while many of its stars have been in winter hibernation, Tyrrell Hatton has been a busy man. He has rejoined the DP World Tour on appeal, won the Dunhill Links Championship and Dubai Desert Classic, enjoyed top-10 finishes at the DP World Tour Championship and Abu Dhabi Championship, hit the top of the Ryder Cup rankings and re-established himself in the top 10 in the world rankings. He also played a leading role for GB&I in their hammering of Continental Europe in the Team Cup.

Hatton divides opinion but he is a ferocious competitor and is now surely a shoo-in for Europe’s Ryder Cup team - and is precisely the sort of character and golfer that Luke Donald will need if Europe are to have any chance of retaining the trophy in New York.

He was born in High Wycombe on October 14, 1991.

He qualified for the 2010 Open as an amateur and turned pro soon after. Initially, Hatton mainly played on the EuroPro Tour and Jamega Pro Tour.

He played on the Challenge Tour in 2012 and 2013. His best finishes were a pair of runner-up finishes at the Kazakhstan Open and Forshan Open in 2013. He finished 10th in the rankings to qualify for the 2014 DP World Tour.

In his rookie season on the DP World Tour, Hatton finished tied second at the 2014 Joburg Open. Later in the year, he finished in a tie for fourth place at the Scottish Open.  

On October 9, 2016, Hatton won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on 23 under par, four shots clear of Richard Sterne and Ross Fisher. Hatton carded a final round six-under 66, having equalled the St Andrews Old Course record with a 62 in the third round. The win took him inside the top 35 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

In 2017 he made a successful defence of his Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and also won the Italian Open the next week.

In September 2018, Hatton qualified for the European Ryder Cup team that thrashed the USA at Le Golf National.

In November 2019, he won the Turkish Airlines Open, winning a six-man playoff to pick up a first prize of $2m.

In March 2020, Hatton won the Arnold Palmer Invitational by one stroke over Marc Leishman and in October he added the BMW PGA Championship and climbed into the top 10 in the world rankings. He also won the Abu Dhabi Championship in 2021.

In January 2024, after much speculation, he announced that he had signed a deal to join LIV Golf. And in June he won LIV’s Nashville tournament for his first success in three-and-a-half years.

He has appealed against his DP World Tour suspension and fines and is allowed to play and keep his membership in the meantime and in October he won the Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews for the second time. It was his seventh DP World Tour title. 

Remarkably, his success at the Dubai Desert Classic was his fifth win in a Rolex Series event.

It was his 200th start on the DP World Tour. Apart from his eight wins, he has eight runner-up finishes, six thirds and 36 top 10s. 

Most of his fellow LIV players are going to be ring rusty, with the likes of Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau having mostly taken months off, Hatton is razor sharp and is going to take some beating. 

Former Masters champion Patrick Reed, having been suspended by the PGA Tour, has also been keeping himself busy on the DP World Tour and looked pretty sharp at the Dubai Desert Classic.

2025 LIV Golf Schedule

Feb 7-9 Riyadh

Feb 14-16 Adelaide

Mar 7-9 Hong Kong

Mar 14-16 Singapore

Apr 4-6 Miami

Apr 25-27 Mexico City

May 2-4 Korea

Jun 6-8 Washington

Jun 27-29 Dallas

Jul 11-13 Andalucia

Jul 25-27 JCB GC, UK

Aug 8-10 Chicago

Aug 15-17 Indianapolis

Aug 22-24 Team Championship Finals, Michigan

The Course:

Riyadh Golf Club was opened in 2005 and features a 689-yard par five that even Bryson DeChambeau may struggle to reach in two blows. There is a huge amount of water and sand. It is a par 72 that measures 7,434 yards.

Form Guide:

It is impossible to see beyond Tyrrell Hatton, if only because he is the only man in the field with any known current form.

Prize Money:

The winner will pocket a cool $4m but no world ranking points.

To Win:

Tyrrell Hatton. A man in form

Each Way:

Patrick Reed. Has shown some decent form on DP World Tour

Each Way:

Bryson DeChambeau. Will have been working on his game

Five to Follow:

Tyrrell Hatton. Tournament ready

Patrick Reed. Hard to ignore him

Bryson DeChambeau. Will have his eyes set on the Ryder Cup

Jon Rahm. Looking for a fast start 

Brooks Koepka. Impressive in everything he does