These Are the Team Names, Captains and Rosters For LIV Golf's Inaugural Event
When the LIV Golf Invitational Series was formed earlier this year, it promised a different kind of golf format, including a four-man team competition along with individual play over 54 holes.
On Tuesday, those teams were named and drafted for the inaugural event beginning Thursday at Centurion Club outside London.
MORE: How to watch the LIV Golf Debut Event
Team names have golf connotations, with "GC" for golf club at the end of the name. Captains drafted their own teams with 54 seconds allotted per pick, in a nod to the LIV Golf name. The team purse this week is $5 million for the top three teams, with $3 million to be split among the winning team.
These are the teams with their captains (in bold):
4 ACES GC
Dustin Johnson
Shaun Norris
Oliver Bekker
Kevin Yuan
HY FLYERS GC
Phil Mickelson
Justin Harding
TK Chantananuwat (a)
Chase Koepka
PUNCH GC
Wade Ormsby
Matt Jones
Ryosuke Kinoshita
Blake Windred
CLEEKS GC
Martin Kaymer
Pablo Larrazabal
JC Ritchie
Ian Snyman
IRON HEADS GC
Kevin Na
Sadom Kaewkanjana
Hideto Tanihara
Viraj Madappa
SMASH GC
Sihwan Kim
Scott Vincent
Jinichiro Kozuma
Itthipat Buranatanyarat
CRUSHERS GC
Peter Uihlein
Richard Bland
Phachara Khongwatmai
Travis Smyth
MAJESTICKS GC
Ian Poulter
Lee Westwood
Sam Horsfield
Laurie Canter
STINGER GC
Louis Oosthuizen
Hennie du Plessis
Charl Schwartzel
Branden Grace
FIREBALLS GC
Sergio Garcia
David Puig (a)
James Piot (a)
Jediah Morgan
NIBLICKS GC
Graeme McDowell
Bernd Wiesberger
Turk Pettit
Oliver Fisher
TORQUE GC
Talor Gooch
Hudson Swafford
Adrian Otaegui
Andy Ogletree
At the end of the draft, captains Kevin Na and Peter Uihlein made a trade, with Na's team getting Hideto Tanihara and Uihlein's team getting Richard Bland.
The LIV Golf Invitational Series is part of LIV Golf Investments, which says its mission is to “make strategic investments in golf to enhance the global golf ecosystem and unlock the sport’s untapped worldwide potential." The Public Investment Fund, an autonomous wealth fund administered by the government of Saudi Arabia, is the main shareholder.
LIV Golf's next event after London will be at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, in Portland, Oregon, June 30-July 2.