By Ryan Bologna
The LIV Tour just wrapped up its event in Chicago, and there are some interesting things to note for the rest of the season. We saw a new winner and continued dominance in the team component. We’ll also break down the earnings list and tell you what there is to take away from it. Things can change in an instant on the LIV Tour, here’s everything you need to know about where things stand right now.
Cameron Smith took first place in the event at -13, three strokes ahead of Peter Uihlein and Dustin Johnson at -10. Of course, Smith is one of the biggest names to join the LIV Tour so far. He has only played two events this week, but the win shot Smith up the rankings. He is currently in third place overall. With two regular season events left, there is time left for Smith to climb even higher. Here is the current top five in the point standings:
- Dustin Johnson: 118 points
- Branden Grace: 79 points
- Cam Smith: 56 points
- Charl Schwartzel: 55 points
- Matthew Wolff: 50 points
It should come as no surprise that Johnson is head and shoulders ahead of the pack. He has performed very well this season, including a win at the Boston event. We’ll get deeper into the team component later, but Johnson is the captain of the team that has dominated this inaugural season. Catching Johnson is not a realistic goal for Smith, but finishing in second place ahead of Branden Grace is well within the realm of possibility.
The final event in Miami is a match-play tournament with the teams. The seeding is determined by how those teams perform throughout the season. It’s all but a lock that the 4 Aces GC team will be the top seed for that event, as they have won four out of the last five events this season. As mentioned earlier, Johnson is the captain of that team. Talor Gooch, Patrick Reed and Pat Perez rounded out the team for the Chicago event. One thing is for sure, Johnson has a good strategy when it comes to picking teammates.
The earnings are interesting to note because of the differences there are in comparison to the point standings. The top five earners are listed below:
- Dustin Johnson: $12,525,000 (9,525,000 individual)
- Branden Grace: $7,359,333 (6,234,333 individual)
- Charl Schwartzel: $6,372,500 (5,247,500 individual)
- Talor Gooch: $5,848,000 (2,848,000 individual)
- Patrick Reed: $5,733,500 (2,733,500 individual)
Smith isn’t in the top five, so while he has quickly climbed the point standings, it has proven to be harder to out-earn players who have participated the whole season. The team component definitely plays a part here. You see Talor Gooch and Patrick Reed are both in the top five here, and both of those guys were on the 4 Aces GC team for Chicago. So it’s clear you don’t have to be winning events to make a good amount of money. This factor could attract golfers still on the fence about the LIV Tour to join.
Whether you are a hardcore golf fan or just someone who is interested in getting into the game, there are plenty of reasons to watch the remaining three LIV Tour events.
Photo Credit: Hafiz Johari
