More Details Emerge for LIV Golf's 2024 Relegation Program
Taking a page from professional soccer, LIV Golf will relegate four players at the end of the 2023 season and, with what amounts to free agency, could see a significant percentage of this season's 48 players gone in 2024.
This week, LIV Golf will announce adjustments to its relegation program that will make any player in the top 24 on its season-long points list and the 14 team captains exempt into the 2024 season.
The 14 team captains include captains from each of the 11 teams and three from the Majesticks, which has three team captains in Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood.
The other 11 team captains are Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Kevin Na, Joaquin Niemann, Louis Oosthuizen, Cameron Smith and Bubba Watson.
Any players from 25th to 44th on the points list will be in what LIV calls an “open zone," effectively becoming free agents, where they can either move between teams or leave LIV Golf if not contracted to a team for the 2024 season.
All players from 45th and below on the points list will be relegated and will have to earn their way back on to the LIV Tour through a 72-hole stroke play relegation tournament to be held in late November after the final 2023 LIV event.
LIV Golf executives believe that with the four players relegated, an additional four to eight players from the open zone will not be re-signed and will not play LIV golf in 2024, effectively creating a 20 to 25% turnover in fields next year.
“So, in the same way that we've got jeopardy at the bottom end, where the bottom four get relegated, we wanted to make sure that there was the opportunity to control your own destiny at the top end,” said a LIV Golf executive familiar with the program. “So, no matter how you got here, how you qualified or who you are, if you finished in the top 24 you're definitely coming back next year.”
Halfway through the 14-event season, players outside of the top 24 include Paul Casey, Matt Jones, Sam Horsfield, Marc Leishman, Thomas Pieters, Abraham Ancer and Bernd Wiesberger.
The catch is this: how many of those players who may not be exempt for 2024 already have contracts with their teams to play?
Englishman Sam Horsfield is contracted with the Majesticks for three years and unless he falls below the relegation level of 45th or below, would still play for the Majesticks next season if he finishes between 23rd and 44th on the points list.
Players are either contracted to LIV Golf or to the individual teams and the terms of those contracts have not been made public, which makes it unclear how many players will actually be free agents at the end of the year.
The top three finishers from the promotion tournament and the winner of the Order of Merit in the International Series will receive cards to play in LIV Golf events in 2024.
After the promotion event has concluded, LIV will hold a draft for those four players as well as any other spots that need to be filled for the 2024 season.
The promotion tournament will be open to the following players:
- Those relegated from LIV Golf in 2023
- The four bottom finishers in the 2023 LIV Golf League individual rankings
- Second through 32nd finishers in the 2023 International Series Rankings
- Winners of fully sanctioned events on the DP World Tour or PGA Tour in the previous season
- Players ranked within the top 200 of the Official World Golf Rankings at close of entries
- Those ranked within the top 20 of the World Amateur Golf Rankings at close of entries
- Members of the last edition of the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup
Winners of the four major championships since 2018
- Winners of the most recent editions of the following championships:
- U.S. Amateur
- British Amateur
- NCAA Division I individual stroke-play
- Latin America Amateur
- Asia-Pacific Amateur
- European Amateur
- Eisenhower Individual