How LIV Golf’s Roster of Players for 2026 Changed Beyond Just Relegation

Three players finished above the league’s “drop zone” in 2025 yet were dropped by their teams, including one who found out less than a month before the season opener.

Jinichiro Kozuma finished 32nd in LIV Golf points in 2025 despite missing the first five events due to injury, yet was recently released by his team. | Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters via Imagn Images

The LIV Golf League’s promotion and relegation system has been the subject of considerable conjecture since launching in 2022, in particular as it relates to earning accreditation with the Official World Golf Ranking.

But another aspect to the league’s format has caused a bit of angst, too. Players who are not relegated but finish outside of the “lock zone”—currently the top 24—are subject to being kicked out if their team decides it no longer wants them.

That happened to four players this past season, three of them who played on LIV Golf teams and were not retained for 2026. A fourth was a wildcard player who despite finishing 47th—the “drop zone” was 48th and lower—was not retained by the league.

Japan’s Jinichiro Kozuma was caught up in the drama and only learned officially last week that he was not coming back to the Iron Heads team that was captained by Kevin Na—who also was dropped.

The team has been rebranded to an all-Korean squad with Ben An as the new captain of Korean Golf Club.

In an email exchange with Sports Illustrated translated by his manager, Moto Sudo, Kozuma said he was not made aware of the change until he saw it on social media.

“There were definitely a few parts of the process that surprised me,” said Kozuma, who earned his way onto the league via the Promotions event that preceded the 2024 season. “For example, I only found out recently that Kevin Na would no longer be the captain, so that was unexpected for me as well.

“Also, since last year, I personally didn’t receive any direct communication from the Iron Heads organization. Because of that, there was a period where it was difficult to fully understand what the situation was. So overall, the way things unfolded was a bit unexpected, and I was simply trying to stay patient and figure out the best next steps.”

He added: “Toward the end of last year, I heard that there was a possibility the Iron Heads might transition into a Korean-based team. At the same time, I was also told that if that happened, there was a chance I wouldn’t be able to remain with the team. After that, however, there were a lot of rumors and the situation seemed to change from time to time. So for a while, I wasn’t completely sure what the final decision would be.

“The moment I clearly understood that I wouldn’t be playing for the Iron Heads moving forward was when I saw the official Instagram post announcing the Korean team [which came on Jan. 12]. That was when everything became clear for me.”

I’m looking forward to seeing if they’re a better player than I am

— jini kozuma (@jinkozuma) January 13, 2026

Kozuma, 31, a three-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour, missed the first five events of last season due to injury, but still performed well enough in the remaining eight individual events to finish 32nd in the player points standings. He finished ahead of players such as Graeme McDowell, Martin Kaymer, Peter Uihlein, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter. His best finish was a tie for second at the Dallas event. He had two other top 10s.

Matt Jones finished 40th but was dropped for another Aussie, Elvis Smylie, on the all-Australian Ripper team. Na, who captained the Iron Heads since the 2022 inception, has been replaced by long-time PGA Tour player An despite finishing 44th in the standings. Na was a non-equity captain and so far has not commented. A reserve player, Young-han Song, has rounded out the all-Korean team along with Minkyu Kim. Wild card player Max Lee, despite finishing 47th, was also bumped as LIV is adding three players via its Promotions event and two via the International Series.

In LIV Golf you can be relegated—or not retained

LIV Golf has leaned into its team concept from the beginning, and one of the tenants of the program was the ability to add and drop players—like any team would. The stipulation was that if you finished among the top 24 individuals you were safe.

But the problem, of course, is this is unlike anything else in golf. These players were not relegated—they were simply not retained. It would be like the 90th player on the PGA Tour FedEx Cup points list—otherwise fully exempt for the following year—being dropped because someone decided the spot should go to someone else.

“Rather than receiving a clear, official explanation like ‘this is the specific reason we are not renewing your contract,’ I felt that team restructuring and overall direction played a major role in the decision,” Kozuma said. “To better understand what the options might be for next season, I reached out directly to several general managers to see whether there could be an opportunity for me to join their teams.

“What I found was that teams seemed to be building their rosters not only based on results but also based on team identity and the type of player profile they were looking for. In that sense, I think it was simply difficult to find the right fit for me within the available team openings at that time.”

Kozuma said his plan this year is now to compete on the Japan Golf Tour as well as the Asian Tour. He sees Japan as a possible path to the DP World Tour and eventually the PGA Tour. And if he performs well on the Asian Tour, that is a potential path back to LIV Golf.

Despite the disappointing end, Kozuma said the two-year experience with LIV was good for him.

“My time playing on LIV Golf was a truly valuable experience for me,” he said. “Competing overseas allowed me to learn a lot, not only about how to prepare for tournaments, but also about how top players approach competition and carry themselves, even in their daily routines and lifestyle. Being able to observe that up close was something I’ll always appreciate.

“Actually playing in that environment also helped raise my level as a golfer. I genuinely feel that it made me better, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to have been part of LIV. This year, my goal is to keep improving, take my game to the next level, and work toward earning the chance to return to LIV again.”