17 January 2024 , 00:12
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LIV Golf is increasing its field size even further for the 2024 season by inviting two unsigned players outside the league's four-strong teams to each event.
A new team, Legion XIII, is already being added after the arrival of Jon Rahm from the PGA Tour, who will serve as its captain. Taking the total teams to 13 expands the field from 48, the number of players in each of its first two years, to 52.
The latest change will expand the field to 54, with six more players participating in all 14 events on the schedule that starts at Mayakoba, Mexico, in just over a fortnight. One of the unsigned players is said to be an invite-only 'wild card'.
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The expectation is the Asian Tour’s International Series standings leader will take the other unsigned slot. Andy Ogletree is the series' current Order of Merit champion, and now the American is back in in LIV this year.
Ben Campbell, David Puig, Kieran Vincent, Takumi Kanaya and Wade Ormsby made up last season's top six, winning one tournament each to Ogletree's three. The International Series rankings are based on prize money won, and professional players invited to LIV events will be eligible to earn prize money for their performance.
They will also receive LIV individual ranking points but not Official World Golf Rankings points as they would on the Asian Tour. The expectation is that these changes will happen in time to take effect at next month's opening event.
Jon Rahm joining LIV already expanded the field size by four (Getty Images)But bunkered reports that the specifics of the changes are still in discussion, with LIV officials keeping their counsel over the details. They add that a sponsor or the presenting tournament could decide the 'wild card' unsigned player.
The much-maligned shotgun start is also staying and, in line with the increasing field size, will see two more three-balls beginning simultaneously, rising from 16 to 18. Rahm, notably, is not a fan of the format.
“Shotgun [start] with three days to me is not a golf tournament," he said in the summer of 2022. Before even teeing off in the league, the Spaniard has spoken hopefully about future format changes.
"For all those things I like about this movement, there are always going to be things that are not perfect," he said in December. "That’s something I can live with.
"It’s an ever-growing and ever-changing machine. I hope the leaders of LIV Golf might listen to my advice and see some changes in the future that are better for the future of the game."
But the 2023 individual champion Talor Gooch, for one, is a fan. "I lean towards keeping it at 54 holes," he said last month. “Part of it, too, from my experience on the PGA Tour, was Thursdays are just irrelevant from a fan perspective (except for) only a couple times a year."