The Players Who Have Made Way For LIV Golf's New Signings

LIV Golf welcomes some high-profile additions for this week's event in Boston, but who is making way for them?

Hennie Du Plessis takes a tee shot during the second LIV Golf Invitational Series event
(Image credit: Getty Images)

There has been plenty of focus on the six new LIV Golf signings who will be teeing it up in Boston this week, but with fields in the Saudi-backed Series limited to 48, that inevitably means some players will miss out this week.

The possibility of omission from the field has been an occupational hazard for some of the LIV Golf players since it began in June. Indeed, for the likes of Oliver Bekker, Pablo Larrazabal and Andy Ogletree, participation in the first event at London’s Centurion Club were their only appearances to date. 

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Of course, the addition of six new arrivals means the field this week will have a significantly different look to the previous tournament, which was held in Bedminster, New Jersey in July.

Eight players who took part in that event miss out this week, in part to make room for Cameron Smith, Cameron Tringale, Harold Varner III, Joaquin Niemann, Marc Leishman and Anirban Lahiri. Additionally, Sihwan Kim returns to the field for this week’s tournament having sat out the third event. Meanwhile, Adrian Otaegui also returns. The Spaniard finished tied for 6th in the first tournament and 21st in the second before missing out in the third event.

South African Hennie Du Plessis had been an ever-present up to now, and finished runner-up in the opening event – a performance that banked him over $2m. However, he could only manage a tie for 29th and a tie for 44th in the following two events. Compatriot Justin Harding has been more consistent, finishing tied for 10th, eighth and tied for 19th in his three events so far. Nevertheless, those results also aren’t enough to secure the South African a place this week.

Yuki Inamori played in the last two events, finishing tied for 11th and tied for 44th, respectively, but there’s no place for the Japanese player this week. He’s not the only player from Japan to miss out either. Ryosuke Kinoshita has been an ever-present up to now, but after a tie for 13th in the first event, diminishing returns of a tie for 23rd and tie for 36th mean he also takes a step back this week. Jinichiro Kozuma is also sidelined this week despite appearing in the first three events, with a sixth place finish in Oregon his most impressive performance to date. To complete a clean sweep of Japanese players excluded from the Boston tournament, there’s no Hideto Tanihara despite him playing in each of the first three events.

Elsewhere, Spanish amateur David Puig, who played in the first and third events, is absent this week, while Travis Smyth misses out even though his performances have improved as he's gone on, with a tie for 33rd, a tie for 29th and a finish in 22nd in the most recent event.

Below is the full list of players making way this week.

  • Yuki Inamori
  • Hennie Du Plessis
  • Justin Harding
  • Yuki Inamori
  • Jinichiro Kozuma
  • David Puig
  • Travis Smyth
  • Hideto Tanihara
Mike Hall
Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 


He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 


Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 


Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.