Detailed List of Latest Poachings By LIV Golf

LIV Golf emerged in 2022 and tore a rift right through the golf world. By offering a lot more money in a lot less game time the series soon got many stars to jump over to their side. As the year went on, more and more players began to flock to the other side. And despite the PGA Tour’s best efforts, even in 2023, they haven’t been able to put an end to the League of Defectors stealing their players from right under their noses. Explore with us all of LIV Golf’s new signings in 2023.

LIV Golf rumors ring true with their signings list

Compared to last year, the Saudi-backed league’s signings before the 2023 season have certainly been underwhelming. But that being said, the PGA Tour was still unable to railroad all the rumored signings. The new series signed six new players in the four months between its inaugural season and its fast-approaching second season.

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Among the six new signings for the year as per Sky Sports’ recent report, four of them belonged to the PGA Tour, while the other two were DP World Tour stars. The Saudi side also managed to secure 4 top-100 ranked players with their signings this year. Not too great, but not too shabby either!

Mito Pereira

Pereira had been one of LIV Golf’s biggest signing rumors since 2022, and only recently he confirmed his jump to the other side. The Chilean turned pro in 2015 but began playing on the tour only in 2021. He was still looking for his first win on the Tour before he signed with the breakaway tour this week. And now because of his jump, it is likely that he may never find one.

His last tour tournament was the CJ Cup in South Carolina in October last year, where he placed 18th. Overall, he’s made $3,677,058 on the PGA Tour. An amount that he will certainly surpass in no time playing for the Saudi side. The 26-year-old currently ranks 50th on the OWGR charts and will be joining his countryman Joaquin Niemann on LIV’s Torque GC squad.

Sebastián Muñoz

The Columbian golfer is one of LIV’s four top-100-ranked signings this year. But barely! Muñoz is 98th on the OWGR list. And perhaps it won’t be long before he falls out of it now that his ranking point event options are limited. The 30-year-old had been playing on the PGA Tour since 2017, 2 years after he turned pro. He has now, along with Pereira, joined Niemann’s Torque GC on LIV Golf.

In the five years he competed, he won once on the Tour and made $9,169,543. He played for Farmers Insurance this year, where he didn’t make the cut. Maybe that was his tipping point to side with the Saudi-backed side, a league that has no cuts.

Brendan Steele

Steele was another player from the PGA Tour who signed for the Saudi-backed side this year. The 124th world-ranked golfer had been playing on the Tour for more than a decade. In that time, the golf pro amassed three wins and made $20,223,613. He will be playing alongside Phil Mickelson on the HY Flyers GC team on the breakaway tour.

He competed in the Phoenix Open earlier this month, where he too, similar to Muñoz at the Farmers Open, did not make the cut. The 39-year-old will certainly not be cut any longer from events, but he now can also not increase his PGA Tour win count.

Danny Lee

The Kiwi golfer was confirmed, along with Steele, to sign with LIV Golf earlier this week. In the decade that he’s played on the Tour, Lee has managed only one win, which came in 2015. The New Zealand native additionally made $15,363,106 on the course from the 163 cuts that he made over the years.

Lee competed in the Genesis Invitational just last week, and soon after not making the cut, he jumped over to the other side. He now faces the same ban as the rest of the defectors and cannot take part in any PGA Tour events.

Dean Burmester

Burmester has been playing professionally for nearly 14 years. The South African golfer was earlier part of both the European and Sunshine Tours. And he has now joined LIV Golf’s ranks. He had made quite a name for himself with two wins on the European Tour and €4,611,121.33 in official prize money.

He currently sits at 85th on the OWGR charts and is another of the four top-100 golfers the Saudi side signed this season. The South African will be playing on the team, Stinger GC, that is captained by Louis Oosthuizen.

Thomas Pieters

The latest and probably the biggest star the other side was able to get a hold of this season was Pieters. He won six times on the European Tour and took home €10,464,919.58 in total. He even competed in the Dubai Desert Classic late last month and tied for 6th. Pieters also currently ranks 35th in the world, but his recent move has added uncertainty to how long his high ranking will last.

The Belgian open voiced his disdain on Twitter about not being invited to play at the Genesis Invitational last week despite his rank. And that seemed to be the breaking point that LIV Golf needed to sign him. He has now joined Bubba Watson’s team, the Range Goats GC.

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Which of these signings surprised you? And who among them will go on to be stars for the LIV side? Let us know in the comments section below.