What is LIV Golf’s sudden death playoff format? Explained

LIV Golf, the breakaway golf tour, began in 2022 with an individual and a team event. The Saudi-backed circuit is played on 54 holes, thus, the name is in Roman form, LIV.

Fifty-four players participate in a tournament. As per LIV Golf's website, 13 teams compete with each other, with a team consisting of four players each. The tournament also has two wildcards who can earn a ticket to LIV's team depending on their performance.

Recently, a sudden death playoff was played in the team event in the LIV Golf Adelaide. Ripper GC emerged victorious and trumped Stinger GC at the Grange Golf Club.

Let's take a look at what the Saudi-backed circuit's sudden death playoff means in both individual and team events.

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What is LIV Golf's sudden death playoff format?

Individual format

In the scenario of tied scores after 54 holes in LIV Golf, a playoff is played to decide the winner. The LIV playoff has a sudden death format like in the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. The tied players then play the 18th hole again until a winner emerges. The player with the lowest score wins.

Team format

Should there be any ties following 54 holes in a team event, team captains handpick two players each. The picked players shouldn't be engaged in individual playoffs. The pair picked competes with the other team in a sudden death format to get the best aggregate score.

The winning pair is determined by their lowest collective aggregate score. If the scores are tied again, teams progress to the next holes until a definitive pair emerges victorious.

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Ripper GC wins first-team playoff at LIV Golf

The first sudden-death team playoff was played in Adelaide on the breakaway tour. Ripper GC got the better of Stinger GC in a dramatic playoff.

The Ripper GC team comprises Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert, and Matt Jones, while the Stinger GC has Louis Oosthuizen, Dean Burmester, Branden Grace, and Charl Schwartzel on their roaster.

Smith and Leishman paired up for the Australian team for playoffs, while Oosthuizen and Burmester paired up for the South African team in Adelaide.

The Australian pair achieved pars with crucial putts, but the South African pair hit their shots beyond the green. Only one of them managed to escape the back bunker, resulting in bogeys for both and ultimately handing victory to Smith's team.