LIV Golf Plans to Allow Player Trades During Transfer Window

According to Sports Illustrated, the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series plans to triple down on its team concept in the startup series’ third season and will implement a transfer window and a trade deadline in 2024. For a trade to happen in the 12-team, 48-player league, both golfers would have to agree to the deal and LIV Golf would have to sign off on the swap too, per SI.

During LIV’s last offseason, some players did move — Talor Gooch went from 4 Aces GC to Range Goats GC, and Peter Uihlen left Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC to take his place. Matthew Wolff then headed to Smash GC to join Koepka. That move has not paid off at all, as Koepka publicly questioned Wolff’s effort last month and accused him of quitting on a round, a move that hurt Smash GC’s chances of advancing in the standings.

“I’m not a big fan of that. You don’t work hard. It’s very tough,” Koepka told SI at the time. “It’s very tough to have even like a team dynamic when you’ve got one guy that won’t work, one guy is not going to give any effort, he’s going to quit on the course, break clubs, gets down, bad body language, it’s very tough. I’ve basically given up on him ― a lot of talent, but I mean the talent’s wasted.”

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Koepka may cut Wolff over the offseason or perhaps he’ll be able to trade him if LIV’s transfer plan is implemented. What’s unclear is exactly what else a deal would involve, aside from the players and league signing off on it, as LIV’s contracts are guaranteed and not based on performance. There’s also clearly no salary cap.

“In other sports like basketball and football, trades sometimes happen due to the malcontent of the player with the team or vice versa. But a LIV trade, since there are only 12 teams and 48 players, may take on a different dynamic,” according to SI. “Clearly money will drive many of the decisions, either via an immediate payday for a player or the prospects of a larger pot of gold down the road with success at the team level and potential deals and endorsements due to those successes.”