Which Players Could LIV Golf Be At Risk Of Losing?

LIV Golf secured a lifeline this week when the circuit announced it had an "agreement in place with a lead investor" to secure the tour's future for 2027 and beyond.

It is great news for LIV Golf after losing the Saudi PIF's funding, but there are still plenty of questions relating to what's next.

The main one on my mind right now surrounds the players, and in particular which ones might be looking elsewhere to try and get themselves back into the PGA Tour ecosystem.

The PGA Tour recently unveiled its Championship Series for 2028, which will be the top of a two-tier structure and feature the best players in the world fighting for big money and Official World Golf Ranking points.

LIV once looked like it could be a genuine rival to the PGA Tour, but that is no longer the case.

Without LIV's Asian Tour feeder system, following the circuit partnering with the PGA and DP World Tours, its OWGR points and Major pathways could be at risk.

And with just ten events planned for 2027, its players will have to supplement it with other tour starts - although the PGA Tour remains closed due to 12-month suspensions from when any player teed it up in a LIV event.

So the option for its top stars will be to play ten LIV events and around 8-12 other tournaments on the DP World and Asian Tours, or exclusively play on the DPWT and in Asia to try and earn their way up to the PGA Tour for 2028 and beyond.

Playing a full season on LIV in 2027 would mean their quest to make it to the PGA Tour would be delayed by another year, so there are likely many players currently facing very big decisions.

Golf Monthly understands the earning potential for LIV players will still be very high in 'LIV 2.0', but it's unlikely it would be able to match the PGA Tour Championship Series in 2028, and it certainly wouldn't be able to match it in terms of OWGR points and Major pathways either.

That's why I believe any LIV golfer with genuine ambition to get to the top of the game will be seriously considering their options. My hunch is we may even be surprised by some of the players who opt to leave.

Flushing It Golf stated "insiders expect a significant number" not to commit their future to the league - so which players could be thinking about moving on?

The first two players to mention are of course LIV's biggest stars Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm.

DeChambeau is hugely passionate about LIV Golf and is said to have been in investor meetings with the league pitching to secure its future. He is one of the biggest golf YouTubers, with over 2.8m subscribers, and is qualified for all four Majors in 2027, 2028 and 2029, as well as the US Open until 2034, so he may be more than happy to stay.

He would be the face of the league, own the biggest equity and be able to mix its ten events with YouTube, Majors and other tour events where he'd command big appearance fees.

He was also one of the the 11 players to sue the PGA Tour in 2022 before removing his name from the litigation the following year, so he may not wish to return due to principle and the reception he'd receive from a portion of the membership.

PGA Tour players have equity in the business so many of them would love to have Bryson back, but that will not be a view held by everyone.

Jon Rahm's situation, on the other hand, is completely different.

The Spaniard is said to be owed up to $150m from his original contract according to reports, and receiving a big chunk of equity in LIV 2.0 may not be enough to keep him.

He was not pitching to potential investors and he does not have a YouTube channel. Instead, his focus is purely on competition and legacy.

When asked at LIV Golf UK if he expects to be playing in the league next year, he wasn't able to give an answer.

"I'm not going to share anything that I can't share with you guys right now," he said at his press conference.

Then, a week later, Scott O'Neil was also unable to confirm if DeChambeau and Rahm would be staying put.

"Would certainly love them to come along for the ride and journey because they carry maybe more weight than anybody in the game and I have a lot of time for that," O'Neil said when specifically asked about the multiple Major-winning duo.

"I think we have enough support from enough players, and we have such an interesting format and global format, I think we'll do quite well in getting the right stars for this game."

Rahm was right up there with Scottie Scheffler as the best player in the sport before he left, and the move has ultimately not turned out to be a great one for his game.

He has earned a huge amount of money, but he appears to have lost his edge in the big tournaments despite dominating on LIV, having just completed his third consecutive season without a Major victory.

Rahm joined LIV as the Masters champion after winning two Majors in three years, and he had just won four times in 2023 to top the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup standings heading into the Playoffs.

He does have four top-10s in Majors since joining LIV, but that is underachieving for a golfer of Rahm's talent.

He lives in America and loved his time on the PGA Tour, where he won 11 times in seven seasons, and I would not be surprised to see him pursue a return in 2027 to get back competing against Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy in the biggest events.

If Rahm leaves the league, I also would not be surprised to see Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin and Caleb Surratt follow him.

His Legion XIII teammates are all capable of playing on the PGA Tour Championship Series in 2028 and could earn their cards via the DP World Tour next year. Hatton previously reached the World No.5 spot before joining LIV, while McKibbin earned his PGA Tour status before switching to the team tour.

Surratt is just 22 and he may feel like now is the time to try and work his way up the professional golf ladder and join his fellow former college stars in the big league.

Two of Rahm's countrymen, David Puig and Josele Ballester, are also players I could see moving on. Both could play important roles for Team Europe in the Ryder Cup over the coming years if they keep progressing, including next year at Adare Manor.

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"There's a lot of uncertainty. We're here this week at Bedminster so I'm just trying to focus on that. I played pretty good golf the last couple, three years so I got a lot of options in my case, which is great," Puig told Garrett Johnston from Beyond The Clubhouse on behalf of Golf Monthly.

Ballester says he plans to play DP World Tour Q-School this winter in the hopes of playing a mix of LIV Golf, DPWT and Asian Tour next season, so he appears to be happy continuing with LIV.

To realistically make the Ryder Cup team, and to play in the PGA Tour Championship or Challenger Series in 2028, they would need to play a full season on the DP World Tour next year, or win big tournaments and make big impacts in the Majors.

Another interesting figure is Joaquin Niemann. The Chilean is clearly one of the game's biggest talents, as seen at Riviera in 2022 when he opened up with back-to-back 63s to win his second PGA Tour title at the Genesis Invitational.

The former World No.1 amateur has loved his time on LIV Golf, earning tens and tens of millions and winning eight times. He may think now is the time to move on.

Had Niemann remained with the PGA Tour, I truly believe he would have won multiple times over the past few seasons and would be inside the world's top 10, or even five, now and be one of the biggest names in golf.

I can easily see him achieving that in the coming years if he did wish to pursue the PGA Tour again.

Niemann is captain of Torque GC, and if he left it might not be a huge surprise to see Carlos Ortiz, Abraham Ancer and Sebastian Munoz follow.

They're all world class players based in America with PGA Tour victories under their belts and the ability to challenge at Majors, as seen by Ortiz's T4 at the US Open in 2025.

Lucas Herbert seems very happy at LIV Golf, but as a PGA Tour winner who recently finished T6th at The Open, he may also be starting to question his future. He admitted his team has been in contact with the PGA Tour, but that may have just been incase LIV folded entirely.

"I haven't personally had any discussions, but I think my manager has," he said, with teammates Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman recently pledging their loyalty.

"If LIV were to go away and you've got nowhere to play, I think ultimately you need somewhere to play as a professional golfer. So we're just doing due diligence, having that conversation.

"As I said, I haven't had it personally, and my preference would be to still be playing out here if that was still an option."

He clearly loves LIV Golf and being part of the all-Australian Ripper GC, but it feels like the 30-year-old is ready to make the jump up to becoming an elite player with the ability to become the top Australian male golfer in the world.

Can he reach the world's top 10 and win Majors by playing on LIV Golf 2.0 and the DP World Tour? That could be the question he's currently weighing up.

And then there is likely a handful of other players who we may not be expecting, similar to when Eugenio Chacarra left to chase his dream of the PGA Tour.

LIV has not been a success for Matthew Wolff, who turned pro alongside Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland in 2019 and won in his third start on the PGA Tour. Last year's NCAA champion Michael La Sasso has also not enjoyed the best start to life on the circuit.

On the other hand, though, don't underestimate the players' love for LIV Golf.

The events are fun, will still be lucrative, take place at great courses (on the whole) and there certainly seems to be a real family feel about the circuit. Many of the players have a huge attachment to the league, some have stakes in their franchises, and are fully invested with faith in the leadership and vision.

"I’ve got full trust in this process. The product is great. I love every single event. I’ve had so much fun," Thomas Detry said.

"So I haven’t really thought about what’s for next year. I’m committed here for the foreseeable future, I love it.

"And I’ve got faith in everybody, I’ve got faith in the leadership as well. So I haven’t really thought too much about it."

Not everyone wants to play on the PGA Tour, either. Europeans especially don't always tend to enjoy basing themselves in America, constantly on the road visiting new courses and cities, and there can be a lonely feel to it - especially if you're missing cuts.

LIV's purses are going down, but they're still going to be higher than the DP World Tour's, and many will have made more money than they could have imagined already so the desire to play a full 27-event season grinding to make cuts week-in, week-out may no longer be there.

Plenty will be more than happy to play their ten LIV events and then compete sporadically on other circuits like the DP World Tour, HotelPlanner Tour, Asian Tour, Korean Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia.

I expect the majority of LIV's roster to remain on board, but we will almost certainly see a few big names jump ship.

If a player wants to become World No.1, win Majors and become one of the biggest stars in the game, it feels like now is the perfect opportunity for a change.

It's set to be a very interesting off-season for the LIV players and what they do next. I'd be interested to hear your views in the comments section below. Do you agree with me? Or do you think I'm underestimating LIV 2.0?