DROPPED: LIV’s Matthew Wolff Is Now Team-Less Once Again

Love it or hate it, LIV Golf brings an interesting angle to golf with the emphasis on its 12 teams, which are run by player managers and each composed of 4 players.

The problem, however, is that there are only 48 spots but more than 48 players. And Matthew Wolff—who is still endorsed by TaylorMade and Nike Golf as of this moment—is the first to fall victim to the limited playing slots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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After initially being recruited by Phil Mickelson’s Hy Flyers GC, Wolff was released in February 2023 and promptly picked up by Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC—who freed up a spot after dropping Peter Uihlein.

Unfortunately, Wolff’s tenure on Smash seems to have come to a very brief end, as reports are quickly coming out that Smash has released Wolff—whose name no longer appears on any Smash GC social media bios and has likewise been stripped references to the team from his social media bios—following the Washington DC, where Wolff withdrew due to an injury.

Wolff’s release comes at a very interesting time, as rumors are also picking up that Nike Golf is looking at acquiring defending the 2023 PGA Champion’s team for $2 billion dollars and potentially renaming the team “Swoosh.” If Nike’s acquisition of a team would be a landmark moment for LIV, which is desperately in need of some notable third-party sponsors to partner with their league. And it appears that Koepka’s resurgence in Majors may have done enough to bring some of the big—if not the biggest in golf apparel—names in golf to the LIV stage.

Wolff’s situation presents a very interesting dilemma: what do teamless LIV golfers do? Yes, this will provide Wolff with an opportunity to recover from whatever injury forced him to withdraw from the DC event, but what happens once he’s recovered? Indeed, without additional unsigned players in the same predicament, there seems no reason to expand teams to open up a “bench” spot and to encourage teams to rotate their rosters so event attendees can see all of the LIV golfers at each event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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In the event this is the end of Wolff’s 2023 LIV season, you can anticipate that critics (as well as the PGA TOUR) will be quick to point out this newest shortcoming of joining the alternative league—that just as easily as you found yourself with a guaranteed paycheck, you can also find yourself sidelined and without any playing opportunities.

The next LIV event is scheduled for June 30 to July 2 at Real Club Valderrama in Spain. As a result, we can anticipate a formal announcement—consisting of Wolff’s release and the new Smash GC player signing—in the next few weeks.

Cover Image Via GolfshotMX