There may still be some life for LIV Golf after the rebel league, which shockingly announced a merger with the PGA Tour earlier this month, announced a new relegation structure.
There are still plenty of unknowns about what will happen once the two golf leagues join forces, but ESPN had reported in the days following the announcement that PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan would have oversight of LIV Golf and raised questions about whether it would exist beyond this season.
However, the announcement on Monday seemed to give more credence to the idea that LIV Golf will be around for at least another season.
The golf league still has seven more events on its calendar for 2023, which includes a stop in the tri-state area at Trump Bedminster in New Jersey from Aug 11-13.
Dustin Johnson had also told ESPN earlier this month that he had been told by Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), that LIV Golf would have a 2024 season.
The PIF funded the upstart golf league, which had drawn criticism from many different people.
“Everything I’ve heard, they’re still working on a full schedule for next year,” Johnson told the Worldwide Leader. “The rest of this year and 2024 is going to be the same as far as I know. After that, you know as much as I do.”
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The golf world was flipped on its head when the once-rival leagues announced the merger on June 6.
Monahan is expected to oversee both LIV and the PGA Tour and Al-Rumayyan will serve as the chairman for the new combined entity of the two leagues.
The relegation format will mirror the one the English Premier League uses and will feature three zones that make up the golfers competing in the LIV circuit.
The “Lock Zone” consists of the top 24 golfers in the league that are safe on their respective teams and for the 2024 season.
The “Open Zone” consists of the 25 through 44th ranked players, who will be safe from relegation but would be open to trades or releases by their respective teams.
The “Drop Zone” is those outside of the top 44 and means they would be relegated from LIV Golf and be put into a LIV Golf promotional tournament, which would allow them to earn their way back into the league.
