Phil Mickelson And Ian Poulter Certain Of More High Profile LIV Signings

Phil Mickelson and Ian Poulter are certain that more high-profile players will make the jump to LIV Golf despite ongoing talks of a merger between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund (PIF).

When the framework agreement emerged in June, a certain clause prohibited LIV Golf - funded by the PIF - from "soliciting" the signatures of PGA Tour stars.

That clause was dropped a month later, however, and as ongoing negotiations fail to make significant headway, LIV's key stars are now adamant that more players will look to make the jump ahead of the new season.

Speaking at LIV's Team Championship finale, six-time Major champion Mickelson even suggested he had already been taking calls with players who were interested.

“Do I think that?” he replied when questions about future LIV arrivals. “No. I know that’s going to happen.

“When players look at LIV, they are wanting to be a part of it. Everybody here is happy and enjoying what we are doing and enjoying the team aspect of it and the camaraderie and all the benefits that come with playing this tour.

“The reality is, I’ve been fielding calls, as we all have, from players who are free agents to PGA Tour players who want to come over. The question is, you know, how many spots are available? There are a lot more players that want to come than there are spots."

The LIV off-season is set to see plenty of movement within various teams with the introduction of player trades.

The relegation system also means that the bottom four players in the end-of-season standings - Jediah Morgan, James Piot, Chase Koepka and Sihwan Kim - will not automatically retain their spot on the circuit for next season.

A LIV-specific qualifying event will allow players from all over the world to earn their way onto the third season but there is also the possibility of signings from other tours. 

Thomas Pieters, Mito Pereira and Sebastian Munoz were just some of the names snapped up for the second season, with Ian Poulter another team captain who revealed he had received calls from interested players ahead of 2024.

“I am not going to give any names, but we’ve been contacted about players wanting to join,” Poulter told The Telegraph.

“And that’s no surprise. Think about it, they’ll probably get fined, but if a player takes that chance, pays say $50,000 or whatever, then he makes it into the top three then he will earn minimum $1.75 million in 14 events in 2024. That’s minimum. Even if they shoot level 80s every week.

“It’s $20 million purses and then the prizes from the team events on top and you’re playing against the likes of Brooks [Koepka], DJ [Dustin Johnson], Cam [Smith], Talor [Gooch] every week? If you’re on the DP World Tour then you’d be mad not to back yourself and have a go. It’s a different level.”