LIV Golf will officially welcome LIV Promotions 2025 winner Chieh-Po Lee of Taiwan to the league!
Max, as he goes by according to his new LIV profile, will almost assuredly be joining one of LIV’s thirteen teams before the season opener in Riyadh on February 6 – 8.
Last season all three winners of LIV Promotions 2024 were assigned to a team rather than play through the season as a wildcard.
Jinichiro Kozuma flourished with the Iron Heads while Kalle Samooja and Kieran Vincent were relegated out of the league in their first year with Cleeks and Legion XIII, respectively.
Aside from the relegations of those who finished the season in The Drop Zone, there is no guarantee that anyone not under contract who finished in spots 25 – 48 will be resigned, with captains being exempt from signing themselves.
Other than the recent signing of Yubin Jang of Korea and the trade of Thomas Pieters, LIV teams have been reserved in discussing what the field will look like for the 2025 season.
What we do know is that LIV’s first Taiwanese golfer will be donning the team colours of someone this upcoming February, but who?
Process of Elimination: Where Chieh-Po Lee Is Definitely Not Going
Iron Heads – Captain Kevin Na finalised his 2025 roster a week before Chieh-Po Lee won LIV Promotions 2024 by resigning longtime Iron Heads Danny Lee and last year’s Promotions winner, Jinichiro Kozuma.
Na made huge news by signing Korea’s number-one golfer, the young Yubin Jang. Ironically, the Iron Heads would have made the most sense in keeping with the Asian heritage/nationality theme, but Na wasted no time in being the only league captain to announce a full roster before 2025.
Stinger – Branden Grace gave his all at LIV Promotions 2024, coming in T2 with a final score of 8-under par, but ultimately fell short.
While there is a roster spot open on Stinger, there’s been zero indication that Louis Oosthuizen is willing to break up the all-South African motif.
Stinger will likely either resign Grace through captain’s discretion or look to pull off a coup and secure the services of either Thirston Lawerence or Christiaan Bezuidenhout, arguably South Africa’s top two players in the world.
Ripper – Like Stinger, there is no appetite to break away from the one-nationality theme.
There’s also little sense in breaking up the reigning champions. There have been rumblings of Cam Smith replacing Matt Jones with Adam Scott, but at this point that’s all smoke, no fire.
Cleeks – The exit of Kalle Samooja leaves an open roster spot, but captain Martin Kaymer has been vocal about keeping the club filled by European players only.
Majesticks – Despite three straight years of disappointing finishes, Majesticks will likely stick with the same roster next year.
Majesticks features three captains and Sam Horsfield, the later finished 31st overall in the 2024 standings, outperforming all three captains.
Crushers – Another close-knit team, Bryson DeChambeau has given no indication that he wants to break up the former team champions who finished first overall as a team in the rankings before the Dallas Team Championship.
Native Tongue: Extremely Unlikely, But Possible
Torque – Despite a winless season, Torque is likely banking on Mito Pereira having a bounce-back season after finishing 47th overall in 2024.
One option is swapping Eugenio Chacarra with Pireira, as the former seems to be on the outs with Sergio’s Fireballs.
Fireballs – Like Torque, the Fireballs are an all-Spanish-speaking team, bound by language, not nationality like Stinger and Ripper.
With three podium finishes to add to their win at Andalucia, the Fireballs are likely to sign a veteran Spaniard from outside LIV.
Outside Chance: Each Team Has a Potential Opening
Legion XIII – Jon Rahm took on LIV’s youngest player in Caleb Surratt before 2024 and will be unlikely to add a non-veteran for a second year in a row.
Kieran Vincent’s relegation leaves Legion XIII with one roster spot wide open. Earlier in the year Rahm hinted that his future signee was playing alongside him at a DP World Tour event in Spain.
Smash – Brooks Koepka’s squad won twice during the 2024 season and had three additional podium finishes.
Koepka, Gooch, and Kokrak all finished inside the lock zone while Graeme McDowell secured a return to form, finishing the season 29th overall. There’s little reason to break Smash up for 2025.
4 Aces – The Four Aces are currently undergoing a retool having just signed former RangeGoats standout, Thomas Pieters.
Pieters is the first non-American player for the 4 Aces since the start of the 2023 season when it seemed Dustin Johnson was purposely building an all-American team.
It will be interesting to see if DJ wants to retain Harold Varner III and hope for a return to form from 2023. If not, The 4 Aces would be an incredible landing spot for the rookie!
Most Likely Landing Spots: Teams in Need of Help
HyFlyers – Phil Mickelson showed last season that he is willing to bank on youth and potential by signing Andy Ogletree who won The Order of Merit on The International Series in 2023.
Ogletree personally reported to LIV that he will be returning to the HyFlyers in 2025 which suggests he is either on a multi-year contract or Phil has told him he will be back next season.
Brandon Steele’s lone victory in Adelaide put him just inside the lock zone bubble. Cameron Tringale is reliable, but never really a threat to win.
The HyFlyers are in desperate need of a retool after finishing 8th, 9th, and 12th the last three seasons.
Getting worse each consecutive season was likely not Mickelson’s plan for this team.
Signing Lee would be a worthwhile experiment to inject additional youth into a team that has struggled since its inception.
RangeGoats – The RangeGoats have quickly earned a reputation for being a “cheap” team after trading 2023 individual champion Talor Gooch and then recently giving Thomas Pieters away for nothing, a trade often referred to in other sports as “traded for future considerations” which is business-speak for a cap dump.
The RangeGoats are also the only team that has two potential roster openings as Pieters is now with the 4 Aces and captain Bubba Watson was relegated out of the league after coming in 53rd overall last season.
Matthew Wolff is the RangeGoats’ lone player who finished last season inside the lock zone last season.
Peter Uihlein’s two wins on The International Series might earn him a new contract, but that is where the important issue of money comes into play.
Uihlein will likely command a raise based on recent performances outside LIV, and that’s why there may be three potential roster openings for the RangeGoats.
As a newcomer to LIV, Chieh-Po Lee is likely to be one of the league’s cheapest contracts and be attractive to Bubba Watson who still commands the team through irrevocable captaincy.
Lee will need to make a name for himself in 2025 and beyond to secure a bigger contract for guaranteed money.
