LIV launches ’24 transfer window, free agency, rosters

LONDON and WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – As LIV Golf continues to create new pathways for elite players from across the world to compete at golf’s highest levels, the league has launched the sport’s first-ever transfer window with player movement, free agency and new team rosters in progress as momentum builds for LIV Golf’s second full season teeing off in 2024.

INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS: LOCK ZONE, OPEN ZONE, DROP ZONE

LIV Golf’s unique team and individual format features two season-long leaderboards, with points earned at each tournament. The player with the most points at the conclusion of the final stroke-play event, the Individual Championship, is the season’s Individual Champion and final team standings determine seeding for the season-ending Team Championship. In 2023, RangeGoats GC’s Talor Gooch won the Individual title while Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC claimed the Team Championship.

The individual standings are broken down into three categories, with final positions determining a player’s status in the league:

• Lock Zone: Players finishing in the Top 24 secure an opportunity with the league next season

• Open Zone: Players finishing 25-44 whose contracts are expiring become free agents

• Drop Zone: Players finishing 45 and below are relegated out of the league and automatically qualify for LIV Golf Promotions for the chance to earn their spot back next season

There are several phases to offseason player movement as teams prepare for next season:

PHASE ONE: TOP 24 CONTRACT EXTENSIONS OFFERED

Players who finished in the Top 24 Lock Zone of the Individual Standings at the conclusion of the regular season are guaranteed an opportunity to play in the 2024 LIV Golf League. In Phase One, currently underway, players in the Top 24 whose contracts expire at the end of 2023 are offered a minimum one-year contract extension by their existing team. The five players who are extension eligible are Peter Uihlein (12th, 4Aces GC), Anirban Lahiri (13th, Crushers GC), Carlos Ortiz (15th, Fireballs GC), Richard Bland (20th, Cleeks GC) and Scott Vincent (22nd, Iron Heads GC).

If a player in this group decides not to accept the offer from his current team, he will become a free agent and may be signed by another team with an open roster spot.

PHASE TWO: FREE AGENCY

Phase Two marks the start of free agency. In addition to any Top 24 players who opt to become free agents, players who finished 25th to 44th (Open Zone) whose contracts also expire at the end of 2023 are free agents. These players may be re-signed by their previous team or can negotiate a contract with another team that has an open roster spot. Players who finished in the Open Zone and are no longer under contract are Pat Perez (28th, 4Aces GC), David Puig (31st, Torque GC), Matt Jones (37th, Ripper GC), Bernd Wiesberger (41st, Cleeks GC), and Graeme McDowell (42nd, Cleeks GC).

Teams are not obligated to re-sign their free agents from the Open Zone and can instead create an open roster…