LIV Golf Team Tease Surprise New Signing

There are over four months until the LIV Golf season begins in Riyadh, but one of the 13 teams is already set to reveal a new signing.

Stinger GC teased the news on its social media accounts, writing: “New signing. Who could it be?! Comment below! To be announced tomorrow.” The message was also accompanied by a South African flag, along with an image showing a silhouette of a golfer.

Intriguingly, the team has had a settled line-up in recent years and has had an all-South African roster since LIV Golf’s inception in 2022.

Back then, captain Louis Oosthuizen began the season playing alongside Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace and Hennie du Plessis, before Shaun Norris replaced the latter for four events.

Du Plessis returned for the inaugural season’s Team Championship, but even with those changes, the team was the most settled of any during the inaugural season.

It became even more stable from the start of the 2023 season, when Dean Burmester joined the line-up alongside 2010 Open champion Oosthuizen, Schwartzel and Grace, and they have remained the four making up the team ever since.

That’s despite the very real possibility that Grace could have moved on after the 2024 season.

Not helped by a wrist injury that year, Grace finished in the relegation zone, but rather than seek a replacement, Oosthuizen welcomed him back.

At the time, he explained the decision to Golf Monthly, saying: "Not for one second did we think of anyone else," before adding: “We knew it for a while, but we had to keep it quiet.

“It didn’t really make sense to bring anyone else into the team. We wanted Branden back.

"He had an unbelievable first two seasons and last year was fighting a few things, like injury and losing a bit of confidence, which can quickly happen to anyone. But we know the player he is and we wanted no one else really on the team. We were fighting to get him back here."

Grace repaid Oosthuizen’s faith in him by finishing one ahead of him in the Individual Championship. His placing of 29^th was also helped by a run of three top-five finishes in his last four events of the season.

If Oosthuizen’s desire to hold onto Grace, as well as the player’s subsequent return to form, doesn’t suggest he is likely to make way for the new signing, the positions in the season-long standings of the other two members of the team also don’t hint at who could be heading for the exit.

Former Masters champion Schwartzel finished two spots inside the Lock Zone in 23^rd to secure his future after a season that included his joint best LIV Golf finish, runner-up behind Marc Leishman in Miami.

As for Burmester, he is one of the brightest South African talents in the game, as evidenced by his placing of fifth in the standings following a season where he claimed his second LIV Golf title in Chicago.

While the current line-up doesn’t hint at who could be leaving Stinger GC, all will be revealed on Thursday.