LIV Golf Loses Grasp on Two Huge Signings

With the golf world moving briskly in 2024, we have witnessed new equipment, new apparel deals, and some strong Sunday finishes on the PGA Tour.

With all the talk of creating a good product, the Tour must be heading in the right direction because two LIV signings have reportedly fallen through this week in the form of reigning U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark and recent Dubai Invitational winner Tommy Fleetwood.

The PGA Tour Set to Lose Another Current Major Champion to LIV Golf

Earlier today, James Corrigan reported that Tommy Fleetwood and Nicolai Hojgaard turned down office in the range of eight figures (tens of millions), likely a similar value to the signings of Ryder Cup stars Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood. The two European Ryder Cup stars of Rome 2023 would have joined Jon Rahm’s new team, which has since been filled with college golfers.

Tommy Fleetwood rejects LIV Golf offer as Rory McIlroy's friend now top target 👀🎯https://t.co/EzqWMDKLL6 pic.twitter.com/X79EplNMRN

— Mirror Sport (@MirrorSport) January 19, 2024

Wyndham Clark is another top golfer who has been associated with LIV recently. Clark broke through with his maiden PGA Tour win at the Wells Fargo in May 2023, before following it up with a sublime win at LACC for the US Open title. Clark is currently very valuable to LIV and would mean they can boast three of the four reigning major champions, who are exempt from the majors until 2028.

Whether these are permanent decisions remains to be seen. Obviously, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau were initially scathing of the LIV Golf prospect and firmly committed to the PGA Tour. We have since discovered that everyone has a price, and Tyrell Hatton is the next big name in the crosshairs of the guys at LIV Golf.

Swooping in on in-form Ryder Cup players is a good strategy from a LIV perspective. So as to keep the integrity of the biennial event, the DP World Tour and the PGA would have to adjust rules and bans for LIV defection; to allow stars like Jon Rahm to feature in 2025 and beyond.

As the merger negotiations between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf have been kicked down the road until April 2024 - the LIV teams are waiting to be finalized. If two major signings have fallen through the cracks this week, then the PGA may finally have stopped the bleeding, at least for now.

Cover Image via Golf Magazine