Free agency, trades and promotions: Explaining LIV Golf’s offseason transfer period
LIV Golf faced criticism for the quiet offseason that followed its eight-event debut in 2022. Momentum stalled as the schedule and team rosters weren’t announced until just before the start of the rebranded 2023 league season, and the hyped-up transfer period fell flat as the new players failed to move the needle.
Now with a full 14-event season under its belt, the league has announced its offseason plans that could make for an interesting few months during golf’s silly season.
From free agency and trades to its first-ever promotions event and a mid-season trade window in 2024, here’s everything you need to know about LIV Golf’s offseason plans.
Contract extensions
The first phase is currently underway and features the top 24 from the LIV Golf League’s season-long standings, known as the Lock Zone. The players who finished in the Lock Zone are guaranteed a spot for the following year, and if they have an expiring contract, their team must offer a minimum one-year contract extension.
A whopping 19 of the top 24 were already guaranteed a spot for 2024 due to their existing contracts, so just five players are extension eligible this offseason: Peter Uihlein (12th, 4Aces GC), Anirban Lahiri (13th, Crushers GC), Carlos Ortiz (15th, Fireballs GC), Richard Bland (20th, Cleeks GC) and Scott Vincent (22nd, Iron Heads GC).
Players can either accept the offer from their current team or try their luck in free agency.
Free agency
The players in free agency will be comprised of those who didn’t re-sign with their current teams from the top 24, as well as the players with expiring contracts who finished Nos. 25-44 in the season-long standings, known as the Open Zone. Those players can either re-sign with their previous team or negotiate with another team that has a free spot on its roster.
Once again, there are just five players from the Open Zone who currently don’t have a contract for 2024: Pat Perez (28th, 4Aces GC), David Puig (31st, Torque GC), Matt Jones (37th, Ripper GC), Bernd Wiesberger (41st, Cleeks GC) and Graeme McDowell (42nd, Cleeks GC).
If a team decides not to re-sign an Open Zone player, they will create a free roster spot and can fill it by:
Signing a top 24 player who entered free agency
Signing an Open Zone player whose contract expired
Signing or trading for a player contracted with a different team
Signing an external player who was not a regular member of any 2023 LIV Golf team roster
LIV has minimum criteria for new players “to ensure the competitive integrity of the league,” and teams can’t recruit players under contract with another team without permission from that player’s current team. In other words: no tampering.
Free agency is flexible in its first year and currently doesn’t have fixed start/stop dates. The period will end when just four league roster spots remain. These spots are reserved for the winner of The International Series Rankings and the top three finishers from LIV Golf Promotions.
LIV Golf Promotions
The inaugural LIV Golf Promotions event – initially reported by Golfweek in February – will be held Dec. 8-10 at Abu Dhabi Golf Club and will see three players punch their ticket for the league in 2024. Four rounds will be played over the three days, with 36 holes on the final day. The purse is $1.5 million and players must pay a “nominal” entry fee (when LIV opened entries for its first event in London in 2022, “Tiger Woods” entered 216 times).
MORE: What to know about LIV Golf Promotions
The promotions event is the same week as the PGA Tour/LPGA mixed team event, the Grant Thornton Invitational at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida. It’s also the same week as the DP World Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club in South Africa. The deadline for players to register is Nov. 20.
LIV Golf Draft and midseason trade period
While trades can happen at any time during the offseason, in 2024 there will be a midseason trade window, similar to the summer and winter transfer periods in professional soccer. In that midseason trade period, with dates to be announced, teams can either trade players or negotiate extensions with players currently under contract.
After the promotions event, the league will host the LIV Golf Draft where the winner of the International Series Rankings (Andy Ogletree) and the three promoted players will be available for selection. Additional details on timing and format will be released at a later date.
