Robert TheodorsonLIV Golf kicks off the 2026 season in Riyadh, KSA with golf under the stars for the second consecutive year.
Last season, Adrian Meronk won the first LIV Riyadh tournament in stunning fashion, amassing a 17-under par score including shooting a 62 form his opening round.
Taking the first individual trophy of the season, Meronk narrowly beat out eventual season-long individual champion Jon Rahm (T2; 15-under par) and LIV Indianapolis winner Sebastian Munoz (T2; 15-under par) for his first and only LIV Golf victory.
For team play, Rahm’s Legion XIII made a mockery of the course, easily winning the team title with a score of 50-under par, 11 shots better than 2nd place finishers in Cam Smith’s Ripper and Bubba Watson’s RangeGoats.
Top 5 Projected Performers
(1) Jon Rahm
The 2024 and 2025 Individual Champion figures to be in the mix for all twelve tournaments.
Winless in 2025, Rahm is overdue for a win and has previously shown mastery over the Riyadh Golf Club. Eager to prove he’s still among the very best in the world, look for Rahm to score an early victory on the LIV circuit and keep that momentum going into major championship season.
(2) Sebastian Munoz
Winner of LIV’s most recent tournament in Indianapolis, Munoz has the advantage of being in top form and having almost won Riyadh in 2025. Munoz flies under the radar due to the stacked Torque team he plays, but the Colombian is ready to make a name for himself in 2026.
(3) Bryson DeChambeau
Like Jon Rahm, DeChambeau hasn’t played a lot of golf since the Ryder Cup at Bethpage, but goes into the 2026 as our number two overall-ranked LIV Golfer. DeChambeau’s T6; 13-under par finish last season in Riyadh shows that the two-time U.S. Open winner can perform even if a bit rusty from an inactive offseason.
(4) Adrian Meronk
Meronk’s 2025 season after Riyadh was forgettable, but it did include two Top 10 finishes in his last three matches (UK & Indianapolis). Not the force that he once was on the DP World Tour, it’s hard to get a sense of where Meronk’s career is going at the moment, but the reigning LIV Riyadh champ gets our nod at number four.
(5) Josele Ballester
Ballester wasn’t a member of the Fireballs last season when the all-Spanish team played LIV Riyadh, but he was a recent winner here at The International Series’ PIF Saudi International back in November.
The former U.S. Amateur champion beat our fellow LIV Golfers Caleb Surratt, Richard Bland, Dean Burmester, and Lucas Herbert with an incredible 22-under par after four days of action.
Top Projected Team
Legion XIII
It’s not close.
Legion XIII goes into the 2026 season as our number one-ranked squad and having seen their collective score in Riyadh last season there’s little reason to believe anyone can dethrone the reigning champs.
The roster of Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Caleb Surratt, and Tom McKibbin is easily the best in the league, and all of these guys know how to run up the score in Riyadh. Rahm, Hatton, and McKibbin made our list of Top 10 LIV Golfers going into the 2026 season, expect a win from each one this year.
Around the League: Before Riyadh
- HyFlyers captain Phil Mickelson announced that he will miss the entirety of LIV Riyadh and Adelaide. Reserve golfer Ollie Schniederjans will take Mickelson’s place.
- Patrick Reed’s exit from LIV has left an empty roster spot on Dustin Johnson’s 4 Aces team. As of right now, neither LIV nor the 4 Aces have announced a replacement.
- Previously relegated golfers Anthony Kim and Scott Vincent return to the league as permanent Wild Card fixtures. Each played their way back onto the league through various promotional events
