The LIV Golf League has entered the offseason window for player movement, free agency and updating team rosters as momentum builds for LIV Golf’s third full season teeing off in February 2025.
INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS: LOCK ZONE, OPEN ZONE, DROP ZONE
LIV Golf’s unique team and individual format features two season-long leaderboards, with points earned at each tournament. The player with the most points at the conclusion of the final stroke-play event, the Individual Championship, is the season’s Individual Champion while final team standings determine seeding for the season-ending Team Championship. Legion XIII’s Jon Rahm won this year’s Individual title in his first season with LIV Golf, and the all-Australian Ripper GC, captained by Cameron Smith, took home the Team Champion title.
The individual standings are broken down into three categories, with final positions determining a player’s status in the league:
- Lock Zone: Players finishing in the Top 24 secure an opportunity with the league next season
- Open Zone: Players finishing 25-48 whose contracts are expiring become free agents
- Drop Zone: Players finishing 49 and below are relegated, with chances to earn their spot back next season
Players who finished in the Top 24 Lock Zone of the Individual Standings at the conclusion of the regular season are guaranteed an opportunity to play in the 2025 LIV Golf League season. Those in the Top 24 whose contracts are expiring following the 2024 season are offered a minimum one-year contract extension by their existing team. If a player in this group decides not to accept the offer from his current team, he will become a free agent and may be signed by another team with an open roster spot. Teams that have open roster spots will fill those positions during free agency.
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FREE AGENCY, TRADES AND PLAYER RECRUITMENT
In addition to any Top 24 players who opt to become free agents, players who finished 25th to 48th (Open Zone) whose contracts have expired also become free agents. These players may be re-signed by their previous team or can negotiate a contract with another team that has an open roster spot. Teams are not obligated to re-sign their free agents from the Open Zone and can instead create an open roster spot. Teams with open spots have the option to:
- Sign a Top 24 player who opted to enter free agency
- Sign any player in the Open Zone whose contract has expired
- Sign or trade for a player contracted with a different team if agreed upon by both teams (Note: A team may not recruit a player under contract with another team unless it has received permission from that player’s team to do so)
- Sign a Wild Card player
- Sign the winner of The International Series 2024 Rankings
- Sign the winner of LIV Golf Promotions 2024
- Sign an *external player who was not a regular member of any 2024 LIV Golf team roster
*Note: players must meet a minimum criteria determined by LIV Golf to ensure the competitive integrity of the league
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES AND LIV GOLF PROMOTIONS
During the LIV Golf League offseason, The International Series is hitting its homestretch – with the winner of The International Series 2024 Rankings guaranteed to compete in the League in 2025. American John Catlin, who was selected by three different teams to compete as a reserve player on the LIV Golf League this past season, currently sits in first place on the International Series rankings with 900.58 points. Three events remain on this year’s 10 tournament International Series schedule, where top players throughout the world have a chance to compete in these elevated global events within the Asian Tour calendar. The remaining tournaments include:
- November 21-24: LINK Hong Kong Open (Hong Kong Golf Club, Hong Kong, China)
- November 27-30: International Series Qatar (Doha Golf Club, Qatar)
- December 4-7: PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers (Riyadh Golf Club, Saudi Arabia)
LIV Golf Promotions also presents an exciting pathway for the world’s leading amateur and professional golfers to play in the LIV Golf League in 2025. The tournament’s second edition will be staged December 12-14 at Riyadh Golf Club in Saudi Arabia’s capital, with four stroke-play rounds over three days, including 36 holes played on the final day. LIV Golf Promotions will offer overall prize money of US $1.5 million, and the top finisher will earn a place in the LIV Golf League next season with the opportunity to be signed by a team. In addition, the top 10 finishers, including ties, will earn full exemption into all 2025 events on The International Series.
Highlighting the global aspect of the LIV Golf League, leading players from all over the world will be eligible to participate. Relegated players finishing 49th and below in the 2024 LIV Golf League standings (the Drop Zone), and those without a team contract for 2025 who finished in the Open Zone also have the opportunity to regain their playing rights for 2025. The deadline for players to register is November 18.
As free agency progresses, player signings will be announced by LIV Golf League teams in the leadup to the 2025 season. The League’s third official campaign tees off February in marquee global markets across Asia, Australia and the Middle East.
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