Richard Bland Willing To Sign Up For LIV Golf 2.0

Richard Bland at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Although Jon Rahm has confirmed he's out and many more players are still on the fence, one man who fully intends to sign up to LIV Golf 2.0 is Richard Bland.

And it's no surprise really, as Bland has been a huge beneficiary of playing on LIV Golf after joining up from the very start in the UK in 2022 - the year after he finally got his first DP World Tour win on what was his 478th start.

The 53-year-old hasn't won a LIV Golf title but has made around $20m from his five seasons and outside of that he made a scintilating impact on the seniors circuit in the USA when winning back-to-back Majors.

With a deadline set for players to sign up, Bland is one of the few to officially confirm that he's willing to play for LIV Golf 2.0 - if it goes ahead.

Bland won the 2024 Senior PGA Championship and followed up with the US Senior Open title, but was unable to try and add the Senior Open as he hadn't paid his DP World Tour fines at that point in time.

Opportunities are still limited for Bland, who can play on the Legends Tour in Europe but not the PGA Tour Champions in the United States - and he has no desire to have to play his way back to the DP World Tour through qualifying.

So with LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil facing a deadline to get players signed up, although Rahm has ruled himself out and other players want their contracts terminated to become free agents, Bland is ready and willing to sign up for 2.0.

“Well, apart from the Legends Tour, I have nowhere else to play,” Bland told Flushing It golf on X.

“I'm banned until next August on the PGA Tour Champions, and I don't have the desire to go back to the DP World Tour and start from the bottom again. I'm too old for that.

“I'm 54 next year and I'm done chasing after the game and trying to work my way up the ladder. I've done that for 25 years.

“The last few years on LIV have been absolutely brilliant and if LIV doesn't come off, I'll play the senior Majors.”

As the deadline for LIV Golf player commitments rapidly approaches, one player who is committed to the 2.0 version if it gets off the ground is 53 year old Richard Bland, who confirmed it to me earlier. He was refreshingly honest as to why: “Well, apart from the Legends Tour, I have nowhere else to play. I'm banned until next August on the PGA Tour Champions… And, you know, I don't have the desire to go back to the DP World Tour and start from the bottom again. I’m too old for that. “I’m 54 next year and I’m done chasing after the game and trying to work my way up the ladder. I’ve done that for 25 years. The last few years on LIV have been absolutely brilliant and if LIV doesn’t come off, I’ll play the senior majors.” After joining LIV Golf in 2022 at 49 years old, Richard went on to claim the US Senior Open and Senior PGA Championship in 2024 and more than quintuple his career earnings. Whatever happens to the league going forward, his decision to join had a massive impact on his career and his life. I’m not surprised he’s the first player to officially go on the record to say he’s committed to the new version of the league, if it happens.October 7, 2026

Sergio Garcia successfully had his LIV contract terminated so is a free agent as he looks to sort out his future as a free agent - which could yet involve sticking with the team tour.

The likes of Cameron Smith, Byeong-hun An, Marc Leishman, Cameron Tringale and Matthew Wolff are looking to go the same way, which leaves their options open regarding where they will play next.

The finance deal with BC Partners is dependent on O'Neil getting enough players signed up by 25 October - although the financers have retained the right to extend that deadline further.

O'Neil is required to get at least two-thirds of the voting creditors from at least 50% of the total claims signed up for the new league format to go ahead, so as Bland himself previously said it looks like it's all down to the players now.

"The funding is all there," he told BBC South Today. last month. "Once everything does get sorted out with LIV 1.0 it's then down to player support and who is going to sign up for the new league.

"Even though the funding is there, theoretically there's no guarantee that LIV 2.0 will continue if they don't have the player support."

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.