LIV Golf is forever going to be fighting an uphill battle for acceptance in the traditional golf landscape. Despite CEO Scott O’Neil’s assurances that he’s having honest dialogue and making progress with the PGA Tour, OWGR, DP World Tour, and more, they’re simply never going to be fully accepted into the boys club. And that’s just fine.
In fact, it’s probably for the best.
They should continue adapting, evolving, and becoming the best version of LIV Golf that they can be. There are some ways in which conforming are okay, like making some changes to maximize world ranking points, but the best path forward is a path built on being unique, being different, being LIV Golf.
But if they are to continue trending upward, growing the fanbases of these teams, and developing as an organization, some clarity is needed on the contract front.
Now there is a necessary caveat here: the league is still very new and with the way things are changing in the golf landscape, and the potential ways in which they might change going forward, a lot of this stuff probably isn’t hashed out and I think that’s fine. It’s okay that they don’t have some rules or regulations completely set in stone at this point. Being adaptable at this stage is probably more important than anything else, but adaptability and clarity aren’t mutually exclusive.
Now with that being said…
Masaveu Returns to Fireballs GC
Just last week it was announced that Abraham Ancer would be moving from Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC to Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC. Ancer, winner of LIV Golf Hong Kong in 2024, finished in 12th place in the individual standings in both 2024 and 2025. He’d be taking the place of the relegated Mito Pereira and the opening on Fireballs GC would be filled by Luis Masaveu.
Masaveu is no doubt a very talented player. He turned pro and joined Fireballs GC, playing the first half of the 2025 season and finishing inside the points three times. He’d also play in Virginia and Andalucía as a reserve player. He’ll be a welcome addition to the roster and solidify what Sergio Garcia has wanted for some time now, a full Spanish roster with some of the best young talents in the game.
"When it comes down to my team, my goal has always been, if possible, to have four Spanish players on it. Three of them, obviously, trying to be young and up-and-comers. Obviously, I’m not the young one, but to have three other Spanish players that are up-and-comers with great potential — young guys who can not only play now but for the future — and to be able to achieve that coming into the 2026 season is something very exciting."
While his roster will still be one of the stronger rosters in the league with Puig, Ballester, and Masaveu playing alongside Garcia, there are still some questions to be answered here. Some questions that fans of the league and specifically fans of the team will want answers to.
Ancer joining Torque is easily explained. His contract with Fireballs GC was up and his three close friends are on Torque GC. Him finishing in the Lock Zone merely means that his team is required to offer him an extension, not that he is required to accept it. If he wanted, he would have been able to play on Fireballs GC in 2026, but he had another offer from Torque GC, an offer that he accepted.
The Masaveu side of things is less clear. Per sources, his contract in 2025 was only ever intended to be for half of the season. There was another player in the league on the same deal, but Masaveu’s was the only one that didn’t end up being for the full season. Masaveu ended up finishing in 52nd place in the individual standings, but was brought back for the 2026 season.
Did he know he wasn’t subject to relegation while he was playing in 2025?
How many events does a player have to play to become subject to relegation?
Does their status as a member of a team only matter at the end of the season?
Was he essentially a reserve player all season?
These are just some questions that come to mind with this situation. And this isn’t anything against Masaveu, I’m excited to watch him develop as a player and think being under Sergio is a great spot for him to be in, but there’s no question that some clarity around all of this is needed.
Contract Transparency Is Key
To put it bluntly, the fans need to have far more of an understanding of how these contracts are structured than they currently do. It doesn’t even need to be the numbers side of it, but if some players are playing for their spot in the league and others aren’t, the fans can’t be left in the dark on that. If player A finishes in the Open Zone with a multi-year contract, he’s guaranteed a spot, while player B might not be. This doesn’t really present much a problem unless the fans don’t know about it.
I know that this kind of thing isn’t officially made public in other sports leagues, but with golf having far more year-over-year turnover than other major sports, increased transparency is crucial. Additionally, in NBA, NHL, MLB or NFL, the ongoing need for contract details aren’t always necessary because the majority of fans understand how the league is structured. These leagues aren’t changing rapidly. That’s not necessarily the case on LIV Golf. It doesn’t matter if this information comes from media, agents, fan run news outlets (ahem), then they need to find a way to make it happen. Fans are eager to learn about the league, learn about the teams, and learn about the decision making within those teams. Contract details and the decisions surrounding contracts are an essential part of this. Being an armchair general manager is one of the great past-times in all of sports fandom, and we simply can't do it without this information.
There’s also the individual dynamic of LIV Golf that isn’t as prevalent in other sports leagues. Sure, it’s everywhere, but it’s even more important in golf. There’s not a ton of room for a role player or a locker room guy on LIV Golf, you have to perform and for that reason much of the onus falls back on to the individuals. There might be decisions that don’t make a ton of sense from a team perspective but are the best for the individuals. The fans need clarity on this kind of stuff, it’s absolutely necessary to continue getting fans to buy into this stuff, to grow not only as fans of these players, but fans of the teams.
The bottom line is that if LIV Golf wants the fans to continue to buy into the team aspect, they need to operate it with some transparency. Everyone understands that there are a ton of moving parts and this thing’s only a few years in, but being left in the dark is never going to be a great feeling. Even if they still consider themselves in a “beta” period and things aren’t completely set in stone, let us know that.
Bjorn Hellgren claims his first Asian Tour victory at the Saudi Open after five years of near-misses. Plus, Kazuki Higa makes history as Japan's first Asian Tour Order of Merit champion.