LIV Golf’s worrying lack of direction has become abundantly clear after their announcement this week

Add as preferred source on Google

Victor Perez has become the first player to make a move and sign with LIV Golf for 2026, with the Frenchman joining Cleeks as a replacement for Frederik Kjettrup this week.

LIV Golf is under the microscope this winter. The league has a point to prove after telling their players that relegation would be enforced this year.

It is always intriguing to see which players may be tempted to make the jump from either the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour.

Previously, those at Ponte Vedra had been given reason to panic, with LIV making plays for some of the biggest names in the game.

And many of those big names did indeed decide to make the jump.

LIV Golf made an exciting choice before the 2025 season

But as the PGA Tour has steadied its ship more recently, LIV was forced to change course. It was notable that the league focused on signing younger players with high ceilings ahead of 2025.

The headline acquisition was Tom McKibbin, who turned down a PGA Tour card to join Jon Rahm‘s Legion XIII team.

It looked to be smart from LIV. As well as McKibbin, starlets such as Yubin Jang, Luis Masaveu and Frederik Kjettrup were signed.

Admittedly, McKibbin was the only success story from the cohort. Jang and Kjettrup were relegated, while Masaveu lost his place to Josele Ballester midway through the season. Masaveu looks set to return for 2026.

But LIV deserved real credit for setting their sights on bright prospects. Ultimately, that was likely to be what saved the league when their superstar players move on.

Unfortunately, the struggles endured by some of their signings this past season has seemingly tempted the league to move away from that strategy.

The deal for Victor Perez highlights LIV Golf’s lack of direction

Perez registered one top 10 in 25 PGA Tour starts in 2025. He finished outside the top 100 in the FedEx Cup.

He also has 11 missed cuts in 17 major championship appearances.

The 33-year-old is a solid signing for a Cleeks team that failed to register a podium in 2025. However, it is hard to know how LIV really benefit from signing him.

He is far from a marquee signing, nor is he an extremely bright young player with a lot of potential. There is a very real chance that the game has already seen the best of Perez, with his most recent DP World Tour victory coming in January 2023.

Obviously, LIV cannot move the dial with every single one of their signings.

But if LIV cannot lure any superstars from the PGA Tour, surely their focus should be on signing players who may have the talent to reach that level in the future.

A rocky 2025 season for a number of their younger players appears to have left the powers that be too scared to continue down a pathway which could have been much more exciting.