One of the aspects of LIV Golf that has not made a lot of sense to fans over the years concerns the contracts players have signed once they have jumped to the league.
It is not entirely clear whether it is LIV Golf or the teams themselves signing players, with Jon Rahm building a superb stable. Meanwhile, Stinger were able to ignore the ‘relegation’ rules to keep Branden Grace on their team for 2025.
But clearly, LIV have to have some say in who joins the league given that Lee Chieh-po earned his spot through the Promotions event ahead of the new season.
LIV was in a unique situation in 2024 following the news that Eugenio Chacarra would not be staying with the Fireballs. It was inevitable that it was going to happen at some stage, but it was still quite something when the Spaniard hit out at LIV following his departure.
LIV Golf issued with warning regarding its future
Chacarra spoke about being promised world ranking points when he signed with LIV, while he bemoaned the fact that his development has stagnated while with the league.
And it seems that LIV is a little worried about other players having a similar stance should they leave when their contracts expire.
Speaking on Dan On Golf, writer Alan Shipnuck noted that this is a crucial time for LIV with a number of initial signings coming towards the end of their deals – and there is a fear that they may find themselves in a precarious position, particularly if Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau decide to walk away.
“There’s some feverish negotiations going on because most of the big contracts are four years, a few are five. But those are all going to come due soon. A guy like Bubba Watson, you can lose him, no-one cares. Phil can transition into being a captain, hang up the sticks, be a part of the telecast, that would be a great role for Phil. So you can lose some of those guys, no-one’s going to miss the Graeme McDowells. But Brooks and especially Bryson are the key. Bryson’s the biggest star, but Brooks gives them so much credibility. Unfortunately, Dustin, his play at the majors has been so bad ever since he joined LIV, no-one’s going to really notice if he disappears. But it’s about Bryson and it’s about Brooks,” he said.
“Yasir and the Public Investment Fund, they don’t want to keep pumping hundreds of millions of dollars. They signed nobody [in the off-season]. They didn’t get an A-list player, they didn’t get a B-list player. So that gives Bryson and Brooks huge leverage. And if LIV loses those two guys, it’s over.
“So it will be really interesting to see, this is a moment of inflexion for Yasir. The fact that, I’m sure, when the framework agreement was announced all 20 months ago, you thought that was all going to be done and dusted, you never imagined it was going to be negotiating with these guys where the future of LIV was at stake. It just continues to be messy and fascinating, and I honestly think this has been part of Monahan, Tiger, Cantlay and Spieth who are kind of running things for the tour, they’ve been slow playing it on purpose. They’ve game-planned this, and they know the longer this drags out, it tilts back towards the tour, the advantage in these negotiations because these contracts actually run out.
“Guys are antsy, guys are unhappy on LIV. And so, for all the talk about slow play on the PGA Tour, they’ve been happy to do that in these negotiations, and that’s given them some leverage in this.
“You saw Eugenio Chacarra when his contract expired, he started speaking truth to power and he let it rip. And LIV’s worst nightmare is for all these guys’ contract to run out, they’re no longer bound by the confidentiality clause, they can say whatever they want about everything. It’s going to get messy, it’s going to get noisy and so they’ve got to keep these guys in the fold.”
LIV Golf still fighting for credibility as Riyadh ratings are ridiculed
In truth, it is hard to see either Koepka or DeChambeau walking away, unless they really are superb actors and are doing an amazing job of pretending to be happy on LIV.
But it does provide another reminder of the fact that LIV is facing an uphill battle trying to secure more credibility within the game. LIV Golf Riyadh attracted extremely poor viewing figures in the United States. And the course was far from impressive, with Pat Perez hinting that the greens were not good enough in Saudi Arabia.
Given how many players they have signed over the years, it was always inevitable that some would express some remorse about their decision to leave the PGA Tour. And it would be no surprise if Chacarra’s comments reflected the views of some of the other players – though you also have to wonder whether Chacarra would have re-signed without fanfare had Fireballs offered him another deal.
It may be that everything really is harmonious on LIV and all of their biggest players are delighted with the decisions they made. But clearly, some have their doubts that everything is going quite as smoothly as LIV would want you to believe.
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