As the new season approaches, LIV Golf, which as of now features 12 teams with 48 players, announced last week that it has introduced a transfer window in order to trade players in its off-season. Thus, players who haven’t performed well will not be getting a free pass into the next season and are thus replaceable.
Throughout 2023, the tournaments that a player won determined their place in the individual standings. Based on the rankings that each golfer has on the final leaderboard, the Saudi-backed league has divided its players into three distinct zones. What are these zones, and what do they mean for the players? Let’s find out.
LIV Golf Zones and Player Standings
Lock Zone: Players who rank from 1–24 are offered an extension of their contract for the next season. Now, if a player declines that offer, he will be a free agent. This golfer can switch to another LIV team according to his preference. But it is up to the LIV team whether they will accept him as a member.
Open Zone: Players who stand between 25 and 44 are free agents. Players from the lock zone (who do not accept the offer of their franchise) and players in the open zone can pitch to any of the LIV teams for their inclusion, if there is an open spot.
Drop Zone: Players who rank 45 and below would be in danger and automatically relegated out of the league. These players can earn their seats back through a promotional event in the off-season of LIV Golf, the LIV Golf Promotions event, which is scheduled to take place from December 8–10, 2023, in Abu Dhabi.
The entire process of player trading is further divided into three phases.
LIV Golf Transfer Window: A Detailed Breakdown
Phase One: In this phase, the players who rank 1–24 are offered an extension by the team for the 2024 season. But if somebody is willing to switch teams and declines the offer, he becomes a free agent and will join the Open Zone Players. This process is currently underway, and a few players who are eligible for the extension are Peter Uihlein and Anirban Lahiri, among others.
Phase Two: This phase consists of the players in the top 24 who opted to decline their previous team’s offer, including the free agents from the open zone who rank from 25 to 44. These players can re-sign with their previous teams or go to another team that has an open spot. Moreover, teams are not obligated to re-sign the offer, and it depends on the team whether it accepts the request of the free agent or trades a player from another team. The players currently in the open zone include Pat Perez and Bernd Wiesberger, among others.
Phase Three: In this phase, the world’s leading golfers will be competing in LIV Golf’s Promotions Event scheduled for the first week of December. The event will have four rounds, and the final round will play over 36 holes. The top three finishers will earn a place on a LIV team and exemptions from all LIV events. Over time, the relegated players can earn their place back through this event.
There is also the possibility of LIV Golf signing new players into the league. That would put the positions of these Drop Zone players in jeopardy. And, after the PGA Tour allowed its players to compete in the LIV Promotions event, it is highly likely that one of those players can finish in the top three of the event. What happens to those players has not yet been specified.
During the off-season, trading will take place among the teams to finalise a team. Thus, a lot of new alterations are to be witnessed in LIV Golf’s revamped roster. And as the PGA Tour gears up to finalize a structure for the framework agreement before the intended deadline, LIV Golf will have to cement its footing by streamlining the way players are retained and allowed to play on its events.
For now, this system is a massive boost to its appeal for OWGR, which was denied, citing lack of proper relagation as one of the primary reasons for its rejection. Will LIV Golf be able to acquire official rankings for its players? Only time will tell
