Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka’s exit from LIV shows the league is at a critical juncture. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that more such names might leave the camp. Against this backdrop, the Saudi-backed league has now announced a sweeping change regarding its individual points system.

The total number of points distributed across each tournament will see a significant increase. In the previous season, the individual winner earned 40 points but now will get 200. Following suit, a second-place finisher will take 113 points, and the third-place finisher 75, up from 30 and 24, respectively. These increased points will extend through the entire field. According to LIV, this revised structure is meant to show a better performance over the course of the season.

“Our continued mission is to build a league that grows the game of golf competitively, commercially, and culturally,” said CEO Scott O’Neil. “The changes we’re introducing for 2026 are about rewarding consistency and strengthening team golf.”

Whatever the reason may be, this move appears directly tied to what happened with Joaquin Niemann last year. Despite winning five events, Niemann ended the season in second place behind Jon Rahm, who was winless. This outcome showed how there is a major gap between winning tournaments and winning the overall title.

If this new point system had been in place last year, Niemann would have topped the standings with 1100 points, including points from other finishes. Jon Rahm, for his part, would have been in second place, followed by Bryson DeChambeau.

LIV has also reworked how the team points will be awarded. There, the total points to the top-finishing teams will be slightly reduced to ensure that every team leaves the event with something. For instance, the bottom five teams will now receive between 2 and 4.5 points every week. In the previous season, they received zero. The top three teams, on the other hand, will get 30, 15, and 9, reduced from 32. 24, and 16, respectively.

At last, LIV is also adjusting its relegation system. This area has particularly drawn a lot of criticism since the league’s inception. For 2026, the “Lock Zone” has been expanded from the top 24 to the top 34 players. “Lock Zone” guarantees the golfers a spot for the next season. Further, those ranked 35 through 46 will fall into the newly created “Open Zone,” meaning they will remain eligible to return the next season, but without any guaranteed status. At last, the leftover bottom 11 golfers will be relegated from the league altogether.

With these changes, the LIV Golf might aim to address the long-standing internal criticisms. But whether they can hold their marquee players remains doubtful. The OWGR, headed by Trevor Immelman, was scheduled to meet on Wednesday morning. The Associated Press reported that a decision could come as soon as this week. Hence, these changes by LIV appear to strengthen it in case of any ruling.

Perhaps that’s why the league also makes significant changes in its financial incentives.

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An expanded prize money in LIV Golf?

The very reason several of the PGA Tour’s marquee players got poached by LIV was its lucrative financial offer. Over the years, though, they realised that money couldn’t sustain them professionally for long, something Harris English echoed recently.

What’s required is an incentive to stay professionally competitive to better their game. With the changes scheduled for 2026, those concerns might be addressed, but it would take a long while for any of it to be reflected. That could be why the league once again turned to its old tactic to hold the players, meanwhile.

Financially, the league will see an expansion, too. Weekly team prize money will be doubled from $5 million to $10 million. For the first time, all 13 teams will earn something at every event based on their position score. Earlier, only the top 3 would take the checks home. As per LIV, it is part of the league’s “continued investment in team golf.”

Along with that, LIV is also introducing a new $2.3 million weekly prize pool. This will be awarded to individual players whose teams finish on the podium. What should be noted is that the pool is separate from existing purses. Overall, across its 14-event schedule, LIV says total individual and team purses will reach $470 million this season.