LIV Golf Confirms Which Players Have Been Offered Contract Extensions
Cleeks GC player Richard Bland is one of five out-of-contract players guaranteed at least one more year with LIV Golf
After LIV Golf confirmed details on its transfer window, the position of its out-of-contract players was made clearer, with five offered new terms by their teams.
Peter Uihlein, Anirban Lahiri, Carlos Ortiz, Richard Bland and Scott Vincent are in line for at least one more season with LIV Golf thanks to their places in the top 24 of the individual standings.
Uihlein has been with LIV Golf from day one. After moving between teams for some time, he eventually settled with Smash GC in 2022. He finished fifth in the individual standings before stepping into the position vacated by Talor Gooch on Dustin Johnson’s 4 Aces GC for the 2023 season.
He performed admirably, too, eventually finishing 12th in the individual standings helped by four top-10 finishes.
Uihlein played an important role in his team topping the standings for the second successive season even though it came up short in the season-closing Team Championship, finishing fourth as Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC took the title.
Right behind Uihlein in the standings is Lahiri, who was one of six LIV Golf signings announced in August 2022 and immediately joined Crushers GC before becoming an ever-present. So far in his LIV Golf career, Lahiri has finished runner-up three times, but he’s still looking for his maiden win on the circuit.
Mexican Ortiz finished 15th in the standings after a successful second season with Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC. After two top fives in the inaugural season, he followed that up with a runner-up at Tucson among four top 10 finishes in 2023.
Get the top Black Friday deals right in your inbox: Sign up now!
The hottest deals and product recommendations during deals season straight to your inbox plus all the best game-changing tips, in-depth features and the latest news and insights around the game.
Bland’s standing of 20th ensures he’ll have at least one more year with LIV Golf after a second season with Cleeks GC that saw him rally well with three top-10 finishes in the last five regular events of the season proving that, at 50, age need not be a barrier to success on the circuit.
Kevin Na’s Iron Heads GC finished bottom of the team standings, but its best performer was Zimbabwean Vincent, whose second LIV Golf season included fourth at Singapore and Jeddah.
While each of the five players has a chance to remain with their current teams, they can also opt to become free agents and negotiate a deal with a team that has an open slot for the 2024 season.
Meanwhile, there are five more players without a contract who will have to either negotiate a deal or earn a place in the 2024 LIV Golf League via December's qualifier, the LIV Golf Promotions tournament - Pat Perez, David Puig, Matt Jones, Bernd Wiesberger and Graeme McDowell.
On the subject of deals, you have the chance to get one of your own in the form of a Black Friday golf deal, which have already started appearing.
Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories.
He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game.
Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course.
Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.
-
'It Was So Embarrassing... I Would Just Hack Away At The Sand Despairingly' – This Fail-Safe Bunker Shot Technique Is A Game-Changer For Amateur Golfers
The number of shots amateur golfers lose due to poorly executed bunker shots is criminal, but all that can change with PGA Pro Joe Ferguson's fail-safe solution
By Barry Plummer Published
-
Tony Johnstone Facts: 16 Things To Know About The Sky Sports Golf Commentator
Johnstone won 25 times around the world before calling it a day and moving into broadcasting
By Michael Weston Published