If LIV 2.0 — the newly envisioned, post-bankruptcy league CEO Scott O’Neil hopes to debut in 2027 — is to get off the ground, it needs top players to sign on. Without them, new investment and interest in the league are threatened.
But this week has seen a rash of departures from LIV Golf, with multiple players declaring they would not play on LIV 2.0 in 2027.
On Thursday, LIV took another blow in the player commitment department, with young phenom David Puig announcing he would not sign on to play for LIV next year.
Here’s what you need to know.
David Puig to leave LIV for DP World Tour: ‘It’s a decision I’ve made’
Puig is a 24-year-old Spanish standout, and unlike most LIV stars, he’s spent his entire career with the league.
After playing college golf at Arizona State, Puig played in two LIV events as an amateur, including the inaugural event in England back in 2022. In September of that year he turned pro and officially signed on with LIV.
Puig’s best finishes in LIV’s season-long individual standings came in the last two years, when he finished 10th in 2025 and ninth in 2026.
And though he never won a LIV tournament, Puig has been doing some winning elsewhere over the past few years.
He captured his first pro victory at the 2023 International Series Singapore event on the Asian Tour, and he followed it up with another Asian Tour win in 2024 at the IRS Prima Malaysian Open.
Then last year, Puig earned his biggest triumph yet, winning the 2025 BMW Australian PGA Championship for his first DP World Tour victory.
It was at another DP World Tour event on Thursday that Puig revealed his decision to depart LIV and instead play a full season in Europe in 2027.
At the Open de Espana, Puig told reporters, “I don’t see myself playing in the LIV 2.0. It’s a decision I’ve made. I hope to play the European Tour next year, which I really enjoy, with a fuller schedule.”
Puig joins other Spanish stars in leaving LIV Golf
Puig is not the only Spanish pro who announced his intentions to leave LIV Golf this week.
On Wednesday, news broke that two-time major champion Jon Rahm would not play on LIV in 2027, via a lawyer’s statement in LIV bankruptcy court. The same court allowed Sergio Garcia to officially terminate his contract with LIV Golf, a request Garcia’s lawyers had made last week.
In his own Open de Espana press conference this week, Garcia said “I think everything is an option” when it comes to his future playing career.
He even left the door open for a PGA Tour return, saying, “It’s definitely a possibility.”
But he also noted that a PGA Tour Champions career would be more likely.
“I turn 47 in January, and the Champions Tour is a possibility,” Garcia said on Wednesday. “Besides, I’d like the chance to play some of those tournaments, especially the big ones on the Champions Tour. These are things that I’m starting to consider at my age.”
Hours after Rahm’s LIV departure came to light, another report said that LIV pro Adrian Meronk, who just won the 2026 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last week, had “no intention of extending his contract” with LIV.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: golf.com
