LIV Golf is set to land its biggest name of the offseason so far.
It’s been an underwhelming offseason recruitment-wise for LIV Golf, who were reported to be landing recent PGA Tour winners ahead of the 2026 season. Instead, it’s been Laurie Canter, who just secured his PGA Tour card, and Victor Perez.
LIV CEO Scott O’Neil justified these decisions, saying the tour needed to bolster its strength in depth. He argued that the top 25 players on the PGA Tour are comparable with LIV, but below that, the Saudi-backed league needed to catch up.
Landing a PGA Tour winner will undoubtedly aid them in that department. LIV has been linked with two players for the next season, including a four-time winner.
LIV Golf in ‘late-stage negotiations’ with two South Korean PGA Tour members
According to Flushing It, LIV Golf is set to land Si Woo Kim for the 2026 season. The four-time PGA Tour winner is in “late-stage negotiations” to join Ironheads GC, captained by Kevin Na.
The 30-year-old, who had three top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour in 2025, would be LIV’s biggest signing of the offseason so far. He finished T8 at the 2025 PGA Championship, and his last win came in 2023 at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
It’s a surprising decision by Kim, but one that’s more understandable now LIV has changed to a 72-hole format.
What will be the impact of joining LIV on Si Woo Kim’s career?
It is now more likely that the tour’s players will earn points in the Official World Golf Rankings, so players such as Kim can still qualify for the biggest events on the golfing calendar.
Reports say it isn’t clear what is currently holding up the deal between LIV and Kim, but the tour is confident an agreement will be reached before the start of the 2026 season.
Si Woo Kim expected to join LIV with another South Korean PGA Tour member
Kim is expected to join LIV alongside another “high-profile” South Korean PGA Tour member, leaving fans to speculate who that second signing might be. There are three likely candidates: Sungjae Im, Byeong Hun An and Tom Kim.
Im, twice a PGA Tour winner, had a T5 finish at The Masters this season, and a career-best T2 finish in 2020. He was Rookie of the Year for the 2018–19 season, and last won on the PGA Tour in 2021.
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In 2009, An became the youngest-ever winner of the US Amateur, but the 34-year-old is yet to win on the PGA Tour. He did win the BMW PGA Championship in 2015, however, which made him only the second player to win both the US Amateur and the British PGA Championship.
Meanwhile, Kim might be the highest-profile signing of the three. He last won on the PGA Tour in 2023, his third victory on the tour, and had two top 10 finishes at majors that year. He came T2 at the 2023 Open Championship behind Brian Harman.
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