A number of players on LIV Golf are reportedly at risk of being axed by the Saudi-funded series at the end of the 2023 season.
LIV has a roster of 48 players on its books and is divided up into 12 teams. With each event the players in each team acquire points that see them rank in the overall standings, as well as contribute to their team.
At the moment, Talor Gooch is the leading with 96 points after two wins in the opening seven events. Branden Grace is second while PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka is in third place.
According to Sports Illustrated, LIV are set to make major changes by introducing promotion and relegation to their series. This would see four players relegated who finish bottom of the standings at the end of the 2023 season.
The players who get relegated leave the league as free agents. But there is a lot more to it than that. According to the report, the players who finish between 25th and 44th place in the standings will enter what will be called an ‘open zone’. This will mean either being forced to join a new team or be cut from the series for 2024.
To add more intrigue to the proposals, the 14 team ‘captains’ will be exempt from the cut should they finish in the ‘open zone’ places. The team captains are Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Kevin Na, Joaquin Niemann, Louis Oosthuizen, Cameron Smith and Bubba Watson.
As it stands, though, there are a number of high-profile players who would be at risk of being cut from the series for 2024. Ryder Cup stars Graeme McDowell and Paul Casey are currently in that bracket, as is 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel.
A number of the 14 captains can be thankful that they are exempt as they are currently in the 25-44 ‘open zone’ spots in the league. Stenson, DeChambeau, Watson, Kaymer, Poulter and Mickelson are all in that group, but cannot be cut due to the captain’s rule.
As things stand after seven events, the 14 players who would be at risk of being axed under new proposals are: Eugenio Chaccara, Paul Casey, Matt Jones, Andy Ogeltree, Charl Schwartzel, Sam Horsfield, David Puig, Marc Leishman, Graeme McDowell, Thomas Pieters, Richard Bland, Laurie Canter, Abraham Ancer, Jediah Morgan.
The four players who would be relegated if the season ended right now are: Bernd Wiesberger, Chase Koepka, James Piot, Sihwan Kim.
There are still six events left for players to fight their way up the leaderboard, with the next tournament taking place in the UK at the Centurion Club in Hertfordshire between July 7-9. However, the relegation plans and risk of losing their place in the series will add to pressure for players currently struggling.
Alluding to the plans, an unnamed LIV executive told Sports Illustrated: "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.
"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." The top three finishers on the International Series' 2023 Order of Merit will earn LIV Golf cards, and earn the right to compete in the breakaway league next year.
