The LIV Golf League returns in 2025 under cover of the night at Riyadh Golf Club.
The 54-man roster will compete in the evening with the floodlights on in Saudi Arabia. New players and new officials have been recruited, and some players and some officials moved on.
It all changed when Scott O’Neill replaced Greg Norman as CEO and fresh faces like Tom McKibbin and Frederik Kjettrup joined the breakaway circuit’s ranks in the off-season.
But will it all change on the golf course? I imagine at most LIV events in 2025, two-time major champion Jon Rahm will be the betting favourite. This is the case in the Kingdom this week, and you’d have to say rightly so.
Rahm was LIV’s individual champion in 2024, edging Joaquin Niemann who had a great year. He won the Saudi International and played his way into three majors when his avenues looked cut off and hopeless.
As with every LIV event, the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed are in the field looking to make a hot start to the new season. It was Smith’s Rippers GC that won the Team Championship in 2024.
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LIV Golf Betting: Who will win in Riyadh?
Jon Rahm – 7/1
I am going to begin with Rahm because not only is he a class act, but at 6s and 7/1, this is still a good price. He finished in the top 10 at every LIV event in 2024, so it’s extremely likely he’ll give a good showing at this season’s curtain-raiser.
Rahm came tied for third at Mayakoba last year, so there wasn’t much rust to brush off after a break in the off-season, so I don’t think this will be an issue. He made the third most birdies and hit the most greens in regulation in the LIV Golf League in 2024, so his tee-to-green game is one of his biggest strengths.
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Despite less activity and playing in smaller fields, Rahm is still ranked fifth in Data Golf rankings, suggesting his form and quality of play haven’t dipped after his groundbreaking, big-money move to LIV. This isn’t an exciting pick, but one that will surely keep you interested until the end.
Night golf might separate a few players, perhaps causing frustration and unpredictability. But Rahm is a scoring machine and the dominant player in the LIV Golf League, and you should be with him in Riyadh.
David Puig – 33/1
I want to talk about another Spaniard, David Puig. This young star rarely has a bad week. After the 2024 LIV season finished, he tied for third at the Spanish Open, tied for fourth at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, and recently third at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship.
Surprisingly, he did only make one top 10 in the LIV Golf League in 2024, which was a tie for third in Houston. His best play came away from LIV. He won the Malaysian Open on the Asian Tour, came second in Macau and fifth in the Saudi Open. He played a lot of good golf in the last 12 months.
He is still young at 23. Only three LIV players made more birdies than Puig last season and he was tied for fifth in putting average. His stats suggest his driving accuracy and greens in regulation will need to improve in 2025 for him to be at the top of the podium one day.
But Puig is well-travelled and determined. He has climbed back into the top 90 players in the world and his recent display on the DP World Tour suggests he has found form at the start of the year and he has a headstart on some of his LIV colleagues who are entering the week cold.
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Dean Burmester – 35/1
Dean Burmester had a very good 2024 season. He won LIV Miami, came tied for third at Mayakoba, tied for third in Adelaide and tied for eighth in Hong Kong. He came ninth in the individual standings last season, one place below US Open champion DeChambeau.
Burmester hit 68% of fairways, ranked well in scrambling and he hits it a long way too. The South African averaged over 318 yards off the tee and this is very impressive. He played well elsewhere too, coming tied for 12th at the PGA Championship and tied for 19th at The Open. He also won the Vodacom Origins of Golf Final Oubaai on the Sunshine Tour.
So that’s form in major championships, which is always a big box ticked. Like Puig, he found form away from LIV Golf where he came tied for fifth at the International Series Qatar in the Asian Tour and tied for 12th at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the DP World Tour.
Burmester also made five top-10s in his debut LIV season in 2023, so he was always knocking on the door to win when he did in 2024 in Miami. At 35/1, I think Burmester represents huge value in Riyadh.
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What do you make of our LIV Golf Riyadh betting column? Which players would you add to our list of LIV Golf Riyadh Betting tips? Tell us on X!
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