The LIV Golf Offseason Chatter Has Begun

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In the offseason before the 2024 season LIV Golf added a few impactful players, a young junior, welcomed 3 additions from the LIV Golf Promotions event, and the winner of the International Series Order of Merit.

The LIV Golf format only guarantees roster spots to the top 24 finishers in the season long standings. Players who finish below 48th in the rankings are relegated out of the league. The players relegated consisted of Kalle Samooja, Scott Vincent, Branden Grace, Bubba Watson, and Kieran Vincent.

This opens up four, possibly five spots in the league for the 2025 season depending on the result of Bubba Watson’s appeal to remain in the league as a team captain. Players finishing between 24 and 49th are in what’s called the “Open Zone” and are able to be signed by their current team, traded, or signed by another team. Though there are select players in that zone with guaranteed contracts, exactly who they are isn’t clear at this time. To view the full standings visit https://www.livgolf.com/standings-2024.

Following the 2024 season, two members of Sergio Garcia’s team, Fireballs GC, finished in the Open Zone. Both young Spaniards, David Puig and Eugenio Chacarra are able to be signed to a roster for 2024 but aren’t offered any guarantees. This is where things get interesting.

It’s believed that LIV Golf has already been in discussions with US Amateur Champion Josele Ballester. Ballester has a personal friendship with Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia, and could join the league as a member of Fireballs GC.

Additionally, there have been talks of signing Luis Masaveu Roncal, the 16th ranked amateur per WAGR, who finished 3rd in the US Amateur Championship.

To add another layer to this, Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm has expressed interest in signing David Puig from Fireballs GC. Kieran Vincent, the only member of Rahm’s Legion XIII that wasn’t hand selected by Jon, was relegated out of the league this season. Kieran earned his place in the league through the promotions event in December of 2023 and didn’t record a finish inside the top 20 this year.

Both Sergio Garcia and Legion XIII are committed to mentoring young Spanish players in LIV Golf and it seems the two of them now have four prospects for the 2025 season, but only three spots to fill.

My inclination here is that Josele Ballester doesn’t sign for the 2024 season as his victory at the US Amateur grants him entry into three of next year’s major championships. Signing with LIV Golf would mean he leaves his amateur status behind and loses entry into The Masters, US Open, and The Open Championship.

To speculate for a moment here, the scenario I could see playing out amongst these two teams is this:

• David Puig is signed by Jon Rahm and becomes a member of Legion XIII

• Eugenio Chacarra is signed by Sergio Garcia and remains on Fireballs GC

• Luis Masaveu is signed by Sergio Garcia and joins LIV Golf as a member of Fireballs GC

• Josele Ballester retains his amateur status.

Though nothing in finalized and all of these conversations are believed to be preliminary, it seems like these moves benefit all parties. Ballester plays in 3 majors, Rahm gets to hand pick his fourth player, Garcia retains Chacarra and adds a young Spanish player to Fireballs.

Though, a report from Hugo Costa indicates that Eugenio Chacarra’s spot on LIV Golf could be in jeopardy for the 2025 season, which would open an additional spot on Fireballs GC. Given Sergio’s influence in the Spanish golf community, I would be shocked if he didn’t have a plan in place to fill that spot regardless of how things shake out.

Read his full breakdown here:

With just over four months until the 2025 season begins, with the first event being in Riyadh, there will be plenty of chatter about who ends up where.