The LIV Golf offseason is underway. How does it work? Who was relegated? Can they trade?
Nick Stavas- The LIV Golf season-long standings determine a player's status for the next season through a three-tiered system: the Lock Zone, Open Zone, and Drop Zone.
- Team captains can adjust their rosters through free agency, trades, and signing players from outside the league.
- Players can earn a spot in LIV Golf by winning the International Series or through the league's Promotions qualifying event.
The 2025 LIV Golf season is in the rearview mirror, which means it's time to shake things up.
The LIV Golf offseason has officially begun, meaning teams are free to make moves to adjust their rosters as the captains see fit. Here's what you should know.
How do the LIV Golf standings work?
The LIV Golf relegation system can seem confusing but it's really pretty simple. The season-long individual standings are split up into three categories, or "zones." There's the Lock Zone, the Open Zone and the Drop Zone. Here's how it works:
- The Lock Zone consists of the top 24 players in the standings. They are "locks" for next season due to how well they played in 2025. That means they are guaranteed a spot on the LIV Golf roster in 2026 and they are offered automatic contract extensions to remain on their current team. They don't have to accept it, though.
- The Open Zone features the next 24 players, or those ranked 25th-48th in the standings. These guys are eligible to be signed by any team in LIV Golf, including the one they were on in 2025, but nothing is guaranteed. Teams are not required to offer these players contracts.
- The Drop Zone is, well, everyone else. Any player who finished 49th or worse in the 2025 LIV Golf season-long individual race is relegated from the league entirely, meaning they cannot be re-signed as it currently stands. They can, however, requalify for the league via two avenues: the International Series and the LIV Golf Promotions event. More on that below.
Which players were relegated from LIV Golf?
The full LIV Golf standings show you which zone each player fell into at the end of the 2025 season. Here are the five full-time members of LIV teams who finished in the Drop Zone:
- Henrik Stenson (Majesticks GC)
- Andy Ogletree (HyFlyers GC)
- Mito Pereira (Torque GC)
- Yubin Jang (Iron Heads GC)
- Frederik Kjettrup (Cleeks GC)
How do trades, free agency work in LIV Golf?
Captains are able to adjust and fill their roster in several different ways. Here's how:
- Just because the players in the Lock Zone (top 24) are automatically offered contract extensions with their current team doesn't mean they have to sign it. They can reject it and become a free agent, which means another captain could potentially swoop in and make a pitch for that player to join his team.
- Open Zone players are offered nothing automatically. They can be re-signed by their current team if their captain chooses that route, but if not, they'll be looking elsewhere. That means captains of other teams can pick from this pool of players to fill out their roster for next season.
- In addition to straight-up player-swap trading, teams can also sign players contracted by other teams, as long as it's agreed upon by both parties. That means if a team wants to part ways with a player under contract, they can offer that player's rights to other teams looking to fill roster spots.
- Talent can be recruited from outside the league, too, if a captain has their eye on a player not currently signed to LIV.
- Lastly, captains can choose to sign players who earned their way into LIV Golf via the International Series or Promotions Event.
What is the International Series?
The International Series is a set of nine events throughout the year sanctioned by the Asian Tour and financially bolstered by LIV Golf. Each event features an elevated purse and is part of a season-long race. The player who performs the best across all nine events will finish atop the International Series rankings and automatically earn a spot on the LIV Golf roster for the following season.
What is the LIV Golf Promotions Event?
The LIV Golf Promotions event is a qualifying tournament that invites rising pros, top-ranked amateurs and those who have been relegated from LIV Golf looking to earn their spot back. The winner is added to LIV Golf's roster for the following season. Details on the 2025 LIV Golf Promotions event have yet to be announced.
Who won LIV Golf in 2025?
Jon Rahm won the season-long LIV Golf individual championship despite not actually winning a single event all year. He did finish top 10 in all but one event, though, which was good enough to narrowly edge out Joaquin Niemann, who won five times but also finished outside the top 20 in five events.
The team championship was also won by Rahm and his Legion XIII squad, consisting of Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin and Caleb Surratt.