A year fraught with ups and downs despite being a skipper. You might have guessed the person. Yes, it’s Bubba Watson. A T52 position inside the drop zone ahead of the second-last event of the 2024 LIV Golf season doesn’t help him much. But he’s safe for the time being. Who isn’t, then? Dustin Johnson will answer that for us, or his team’s dangerous situation will.

DJ’s team, 4Aces GC, consists of him, Pat Perez, Patrick Reed, and Harold Varner III. Out of these four golfers, Johnson is placed at T14 on the season-long leaderboard, while Reed is also safe inside the Lock Zone at T20. However, the likes of the other two golfers, not so much… They will need to up their game at the upcoming event to find themselves in the league for the 2025 season, unlike Bubba Watson.

Varner III and Perez, throughout the year, have not managed to rake in a single top-10 finish from the 12 starts they made. The former’s best placement came at the Hong Kong event when he claimed the 15th position, while the latter had a T14 at Nashville. Their performance has caused them to fall down to 47th and 48th place inside the Open Zone, respectively. A peek down and you’ll see a red line indicating the start of the drop zone.

The RangeGoats GC skipper, on the other hand, is safe from being dropped off the next season despite being at the 52nd place on the leaderboard. Any guesses why? Hint: the answer is in the question itself. Well, Bubba Watson, being the captain of a team in the LIV Golf League, is exempt from being relegated.

The 4Aces GC duo, meanwhile, are not alone. Aside from the likes of Anthony Kim and Hudson Swafford, the two who are yet to record a single point from nine and twelve starts, respectively, four other golfers are also in danger of being relegated. The likes of Scott Vincent (T49), Branden Grace (T50), Kalle Samooja (T53), and Kieran Vincent (T54) will see themselves facing the same fate as Brooks Koepka’s brother if they fail to finish strong in Chicago.

The 2023 LIV Golf drop zone victims

Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer had also found themselves inside the Drop Zone by the end of the 2023 season. But their status as skippers, just like Bubba Watson, helped save them from the danger of relegation. The rest, including James Piot, Chase Koepka, Sihwan Kim, and Jediah Morgan, failed to stay safe and departed the circuit soon after.

The four golfers in the 2024 drop zone will have to land a top-half finish if they have any hope of moving past the Zone. Coming back to Watson, although he is safe, the golfer himself had conveyed how moving on is an option if the team, as a whole, agrees. “I told my team if they don’t think I am good enough to play,” said the skipper in 2023, “They can kick me out and we will put another good golfer in my place. I am going to play until they kick me out.” 

It seems like Bolingbrook Golf Club will hold the key to understanding how the final list of golfers to be dropped will turn out to be. Dustin Johnson will surely hope his team pulls through. Watson, on the other hand, will also look to finish strong!