LIV Golf Begins in a Month and Jon Rahm Doesn't Have a Team Yet

The Saudi-backed league could add a 13th team for its new star but that would entail adjusting purses and the playing format.

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Around the time of Jon Rahm’s signing with the LIV Golf League last month, there was considerable speculation as to who he might bring with him to form a 13th team for LIV Golf. So far nothing official has emerged from that chatter, and it leaves LIV in the position of having to plan for a 12-team league or a 13-team league.

That is not exactly ideal. Adding a team, while probably a good thing overall, will cause issues in the short term. With four extra players, LIV Golf needs to redistribute its purse structure as well as the points for individual events. Perhaps minor in the overall scheme of things, but still something to be resolved with the first event in Mexico, Feb. 2-4, just a month away.

Jon Rahm could be the captain of a new LIV Golf team or take over an existing one :: Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports

Adding a team brings the league field to 52 players—which doesn’t work in LIV ‘s 3-ball shotgun format. It could simply have two 2-balls at each tournament in addition to the other threesomes, but there is some consideration to adding two individual players at each tournament to bring the field to 54 players. (That would be 18 groups of three.) How those players would be determined could take many forms, including qualifying or via the Asian Tour or International Series.

If Rahm does get his own team, the League would have eight openings. Three of those would be filled by the three players who advanced from the LIV Golf Promotion event last month; so far, they remain in limbo as to team they will play for in 2024. LIV Golf has said it will have a draft of those players, but has yet to announce when it will be, undoubtedly because it is waiting on what will happen with Rahm and a possible extra team.

Three more spots need to be filled on Rahm’s team, plus two for the Cleeks, which is captained by Martin Kaymer and only has Richard Bland listed on the team, according to LIV Golf’s website. The other two teams needing players are Kevin Na’s Iron Heads, which is one player short; and Cam Smith’s Ripper, which is two players short, with the status of two-year LIV player Matt Jones uncertain.

What if another team is not added? The best guess is Rahm would take over the Cleeks, where Kaymer is not a contracted captain. That would bring that team to three players, with the possibility of adding one more or taking one of the promotion players.

One way or another, something is likely to happen soon. LIV Golf has promotional activities scheduled for this month and would clearly need to have all of its pieces in place.