All eyes will be on Centurion Club in Hertfordshire this Thursday when the inaugural headline-making LIV Golf Invitational Series gets started.
The Hertfordshire club will be the venue for the first of eight tournaments scheduled to take place as part of the new Saudi-backed series that may well change the shape of golf going forward.
With a prize purse of $25million for this week's opening event, the series has attracted some of the world's best players, but who will prevail come Saturday's final round and have the honour of winning the first LIV Golf event?
What: LIV Golf Invitational
Where: Centurion Club, Hertfordshire
When: 9th-11th June, 2022
How to watch: LIVGolf.com, YouTube and Facebook
Odds: Dustin Johnson 9/2, Talor Gooch 9/1, Louis Oosthuizen 10/1
New exciting format
Unlike on the established PGA and DP World Tours, the LIV Golf Invitational Series will be contested over a 54-hole stroke play format rather than the traditional 72, while there is no cut, which means every player will compete across all three rounds.
There is also a team element to the series, with each team having an LIV appointed captain, who will select their three open team positions via a snake draft format.
The best two strokeplay scores from each team for the opening two rounds will count towards their team's overall score, while the best three scores from the final round will also be included, with the team with the lowest overall score after 54 holes being declared the overall winner.
Johnson heads a mixed field
While many of world's best players have steered clear of the LIV Golf Invitational Series, one man who has signed up and will be part of the field at Centurion Club this week is world number 15 Dustin Johnson.
The two-time Major winner has resigned his membership of the PGA Tour to compete and he is 9/2 to triumph at this week's inaugural event on the outskirts of London, although it is worth noting Johnson has not won on the PGA or DP World Tours since February 2021.
Johnson is not the only big name that will be teeing up this week, with Ryder Cup greats Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood all set to feature - the first of that trio, who has made the cut on 11 of his last 12 starts, is perhaps the most likely to challenge at odds of 12/1.
Major champions Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen, as well as former British Masters victor Richard Bland and current US Amateur winner James Piot are also set to compete.
Piot only turned professional in May and has missed the cut on all five of his starts on the PGA Tour this year, a run of form that is reflected by his 350/1 odds.
Mickelson to make his return
At 23, Piot is right at the start of his professional career, but at the other end of the spectrum, six-time Major winner Phil Mickelson will also be teeing up this week.
This will be Mickelson's first appearance on any tour since taking a four-month break from the game, an absence which saw him miss the opportunity to defend his US PGA Championship title at Southern Hills Country Club last month.
Mickelson was last seen finishing in a tie for 18th at the Saudi International back in February, while he had missed the cut at his two events prior to that on the PGA Tour.
It is unclear how much time the 51-year-old has spent on the golf course during his absence, but having defied the odds to become the oldest ever Major winner at the US PGA Championship in 2021, it would be foolish to write 'Lefty' off this week, especially at odds of 28/1.
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