10 LIV Golf players who could get bounced under new-look system 

Graeme McDowell, a U.S. Open winner and four-time Ryder Cupper, is out of a job. As are Pat Perez, Bernd Wiesberger, Carlos Ortiz and 6 others who performed their golf with LIV Golf this 12 months. 

Could they return to LIV, the Saudi-backed sequence that simply accomplished its second season? Perhaps. Could they play elsewhere on the earth? Maybe. Could they name it a profession? It’s an possibility. Could they play on the PGA Tour? It’s unlikely, however not inconceivable.  

Each participant is in golf limbo, as LIV works by way of an offseason setup that was totally introduced earlier this month. Four of the 10 — Jediah Morgan, James Piot, Chase Koepka, Sihwan Kim — had been dropped outright after ending under forty fourth within the season-long standings within the 48-player league. Five — Perez, Wiesberger, McDowell, Matt Jones and David Puig — are “free agents” after they completed between twenty fifth and forty fourth within the standings and had expiring contracts. Ortiz, in the meantime, was, in a manner, a ‘restricted free agent’ — he additionally had an expiring deal, however as a result of he completed twenty fourth or higher within the standings (fifteenth), Ortiz selected to not signal a brand new contract with the staff he performed with final 12 months within the team-based tour, the Fireballs.  

Notably, all however a type of players could theoretically return to LIV subsequent 12 months. Or none of them. 

One of the 10 open spots is already locked up —  Andy Ogletree, by way of ending atop the International Series’ season-long rankings, will play with LIV subsequent 12 months. Ortiz, Perez, Wiesberger, McDowell, Jones and Puig, in the meantime, could merely signal with one of many sequence’ 12 groups. Or not. The groups could even be recruiting players from different excursions; PGA Tour and DP World Tour professionals have jumped over in the course of the previous two years, although none since final February, forward of the LIV season.  

To that finish, Phil Mickelson, a LIV staff captain, stated he was being flooded with requests.

“I’ve been fielding calls, as we all have, from players that are free agents to PGA Tour players to DP World Tour players that want to come over,” he stated final month. 

All 10 players even have an opportunity to ‘win’ their manner again to LIV. Early subsequent month, the sequence is internet hosting a “Promotions” match, the place the highest three finishers will earn spots to LIV, although it stays unknown who has entered the occasion. 

All 10 could additionally attempt to play elsewhere on the earth, probably on the LIV-supported Asian Tour, and even retire. As for the Tour possibility? There are two key issues to notice right here. Tour members who have performed LIV occasions are topic to one-year suspensions, so there can be a wait. Possibly. There’s additionally the matter of the proposed funding settlement between the Tour and the backer of LIV, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment fund — and there’s striking language in the deal concerning LIV’s future. It reads:

“PGA Tour / DP World Tour and LIV to Co-Exist. Subject to execution of the Definitive Agreements, (a) NewCo will undertake a full and objective empirical data-driven evaluation of LIV and its prospects and potential and will make a good faith assessment of the benefits of team golf in general.”

So perhaps each LIV participant might be in search of new work. The Tour and LIV have been going forwards and backwards over players and status for 2 seasons now, and it wouldn’t be a shock if LIV was folded and their players ultimately migrated again to the Tour, ought to the deal go, although it’s trying more and more unlikely, at the very least for the close to future. There has been little introduced information on the progress of the negotiations — which has a Dec. 31 deadline — and LIV players and officers have been speaking confidently of taking part in its third season. 

Quite a lot of players have notably even re-upped their contracts. Among the players with expiring offers ranked No. 1-24 — like Ortiz — Peter Uihlein, Anirban Lahiri, Richard Bland and Scott Vincent agreed to return to the groups they performed with final 12 months. 

Ten different players, although, wait. Maybe they’re again with LIV. Maybe it’s someplace else, although that’s murky. Maybe they hold up the golf golf equipment. 

“Obviously my contract runs out at the end of the year. It’s the unknown,” McDowell told Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig in September. “We’re shifting into a novel factor that’s by no means occurred. A switch market, a free-agency window. Will LIV carry any players from the skin? I don’t know. It could be zero; it could be 10.

“Being logical about it, I have to look at the list of guys and know I have to be vulnerable. I feel like I’ve been a good spokesman for the league and a good ambassador for the tour and hopefully there is a captain who wants me on his team.”

Below is a listing of the 10 LIV Golf players who could get bounced under LIV’s new-look system:

Carlos Ortiz
Pat Perez
David Puig
Matt Jones
Bernd Wiesberger
Graeme McDowell
Jediah Morgan
James Piot
Chase Koepka
Sihwan Kim 

Below is a listing of the LIV Golf groups and the players on every:

4Aces: Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Peter Uihlein, one spot open (Pat Perez not under contract) 

Cleeks: Martin Kaymer, Richard Bland, two spots open (Bernd Wiesberger and Graeme McDowell not under contract) 

Crushers: Bryson DeChambeau, Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri (no spots open) 

Fireballs: Sergio Garcia, Abraham Ancer, Eugenio Chacarra, one spot open (Carlos Ortiz opted free of charge company) 

HyFlyers: Phil Mickelson, Cameron Tringale, Brendan Steele, one spot open (James Piot into drop zone) 

IronHeads: Kevin Na, Danny Lee, Scott Vincent, one spot open (Sihwan Kim into drop zone) 

Majesticks: Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Sam Horsfield (no spots open) 

Range Goats: Bubba Watson, Talor Gooch, Harold Varner III, Thomas Pieters (no spots open) 

Ripper: Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, two spots open (Matt Jones not under contract, and Jediah Morgan into drop zone) 

Smash: Brooks Koepka, Jason Kokrak, Matthew Wolff, one spot open (Chase Koepka into drop zone) 

Stinger: Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace, Charl Schwartzel, Dean Burmester (no spots open) 

Torque: Joaquin Niemann, Mito Pereira, Sebastian Munoz, one spot open (David Puig not under contract) 

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Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his position, he’s accountable for modifying, writing and creating tales throughout the golf house. And when he’s not writing about methods to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native might be taking part in the sport, hitting the ball left, proper and quick, and consuming a chilly beer to clean away his rating. You can attain out to him about any of those matters — his tales, his sport or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.