(Reuters) – LIV Golf will allow player trades through a transfer window for the 2024 season, the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit announced on Wednesday.
In the league featuring 12 teams, during the off-season, teams can trade players from their current rosters, providing both teams approve, and there will also be a mid-season trading window.
“The league has launched the sport’s first-ever transfer window with player movement, free agency and new team rosters in progress as momentum builds for LIV Golf’s second full season teeing off in 2024,” a statement said.
Players who finish in the Top 24 Lock Zone of the Individual Standings at the end of the regular season are guaranteed an opportunity to play in the 2024 LIV Golf League.
In Phase One, players in the Top 24 whose contracts expire at the end of 2023 are offered a minimum one-year contract extension by their existing team. A player who decides not to accept the offer will become a free agent.
Phase Two is where free agency starts, and players who finished 25th to 44th are also free agents, where teams are not obliged to re-sign free agents but can instead create an open spot.
The open spot allows a team to sign a Top 24 player who opted for free agency, sign any player in the open zone, sign a player from another team if both teams agree or sign an external player not a member of any 2023 team roster.
In June, a merger was announced between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV, whose player roster includes major champions Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith.
In October, LIV Golf’s bid to have its players earn ranking points was unanimously rejected by the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) due to concerns about the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit’s format.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
