When LIV Golf’s third season begins on 2 February at Mayakoba, among the familiar names that have become synonymous with the circuit will be several newcomers.
So far, there has been confirmation of five new arrivals. Two of them are already familiar with the circuit, but for the other three, competing in the no-cut, limited-field League will be a new experience.
There is every chance more will join them before the season begins, with CEO Greg Norman declaring that there are "eight to 12 players who are very, very keen to sit down and talk to us about coming on board."
While the identities of those players will likely be revealed in time, here's what we know about the five confirmed for the 2024 season so far.
Jinichiro Kozuma
Japanese star Kozuma turned professional in 2012, and, since then, has played primarily on the Japan Golf Tour. He has picked up two wins on it, too – the 2020 Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters and 2022 Token Homemate Cup.
So far, the 29-year-old only has two Major appearances, when he played in the 2022 editions of the PGA Championship and US Open, but he missed the cut at both.
Nevertheless, that year was his most successful to date, and it was reflected in a career-high world ranking of 94th, which he reached in April, before making three appearances in the inaugural LIV Golf season
Kozuma earned his place in the 2024 LIV Golf League after receiving an invite into the first round of the LIV Golf Promotions event and taking full advantage of his chance, finishing runner-up after coming through a tense three-man playoff.
Kozuma, who also played in three International Series events in 2023, is currently the only Japanese player on LIV Golf’s books.
Andy Ogletree
It’s been a stop-start LIV Golf career for 2019 US Amateur champion Ogletree. He had initially appeared to have a bright future on it when he was among the 48 for the first-ever tournament at London’s Centurion Club. However, it didn’t go to plan and he finished rock-bottom of the leaderboard.
Ogletree later admitted that he’d “kind of got the boot,” which was down to that poor performance, and it initially left him in no man’s land. Despite only one LIV Golf appearance, he was suspended from the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour, but he eventually found a route back to playing on the Asian Tour and, most impressively, its International Series.
By the end of 2022, Ogletree had won the International Series Egypt, and he followed that up with two more wins in 2023, in England and Qatar, helping him to win finish top of the Order of Merit and guarantee a permanent return to LIV Golf.
In between those Asian Tour appearances, he also resurrected his LIV Golf career as a stand in, first for injured Crushers GC player Paul Casey, then for Majesticks GC co-captain Lee Westwood, before making a third appearance, again on Crushers GC, this time for Anirban Lahiri.
He performed well, too, even finishing in the Open Zone of the individual standings despite only three appearances. That allowed him to sign for a team without needing to go into the LIV Golf Draft, and he eventually joined Phil Mickelson’s Hy Flyers GC to complete its line-up.
Jon Rahm
At the beginning of the year, few would have predicted that Jon Rahm would end it as a LIV Golf player. However, the elite men’s game has been nothing if not unpredictable in recent times, and the Spaniard became arguably its biggest-ever signing in December.
Rahm turned professional in 2016 and didn’t waste time making his mark on the game, with his first win coming in the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA Tour.
He has amassed 20 professional wins over that seven-year spell, including two Majors – the 2021 US Open at Torrey Pines and The Masters two years later at Augusta National. He was also pivotal in Team Europe’s impressive Ryder Cup win against the US at Marco Simone, which came barely two months before his shock move.
Those successes have helped make him become of the biggest names of his generation. Still aged just 29, there is every chance Rahm’s best years are still ahead of him, and he’s destined to spend at least some of those with LIV Golf.
Kalle Samooja
After turning professional in 2010, Finn Samooja played mainly on the Asian Tour and Challenge Tour through the early part of his career, His first breakthrough came in 2018 when he won the Challenge Tour’s Hainan Open, which helped him to a finish of fourth on the Order of Merit and gain promotion to the DP World Tour.
His first win on the Tour came at the 2022 Porsche European Open and he continued to achieve some impressive results on it in 2023, including a T4 at the Made In Himmerland.
Samooja secured eligibility for the LIV Golf Promotions tournament thanks to that victory in 2022 and he eventually won it, helped by birdies on the final two holes.
The 35-year-old becomes the first Finn to play in the LIV Golf League, and it’s likely to be a life-changing experience. After 129 appearances on the DP World Tour, he had earned around $2.6m. It’s likely he’ll surpass that in 2024, and he’ll do it within the space of three days if he wins one if its tournaments.
Kieran Vincent
While Brooks Koepka’s brother, Chase, wasn’t able to sustain his LIV Golf career after finishing in the Drop Zone, there will still be siblings in the 2024 League season thanks to Zimbabwean Vincent’s playoff success at the LIV Golf Promotions event, meaning he will join brother Scott when the season begins in Mexico.
The 26-year-old turned professional in 2022, and initially played on the PGA Tour Canada before moving to the Asian Tour in 2023. He soon made his mark, with victory at the International Series Vietnam event, where he edged out LIV Golf player Anirban Lahiri and Kevin Yuan by one shot.
After securing his LIV Golf place in Abu Dhabi, Vincent tried to put into words what his achievement meant for his career. He said: “I just hope that this propels my career to a whole new level, obviously go on a tour where you can learn so much from so many cool guys. Obviously having Jon Rahm recently signed, it really doesn't get much better than that.”
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