The LIV Golf exodus continues after another of the league’s captains declared his intention to leave…
Another major champion is calling it a day with LIV Golf.
The exodus from the league is gathering pace after 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen became the second captain to announce he has played his final LIV event.
Southern Guards skipper Oosthuizen told the South China Morning Post ahead of this week’s Link Hong Kong Open that the proposed relaunch of the league in 2027 requires “a lot of international travel for single events”.
The 44-year-old added: “I need to arrange my own schedule and look after my body. I want to play near one spot for three weeks at a time, not have all the big traveling for one tournament.
“I loved LIV and the team aspect, but it’s time to move on.”
Oosthuizen earned over $32million in prize money across his five seasons at LIV without registering an individual win, and despite suggesting the lighter schedule was one of the reasons he joined, he now wants to play elsewhere.
LIV’s next iteration, with the proposed $300 million backing from BC Partners, hopes to include a slimmed down 10-event schedule, with purses ranging between $5.5m and $9m.
Oosthuizen, who possesses 11 DP World Tour wins and one of the game’s most eloquent swings, is likely to target a return to the circuit ahead of the Open’s return to St Andrews, the iconic home of his solitary major win.
“I’ve had some success at majors, but you work and play to have a sniff of that again,” he added.
“I’m at a different stage of my golfing life [from when I won a major] but it’s pretty sweet when you still get called the Open champion.
“I hope to get my body and my game in a place next year [to compete for majors]. The Open is at a course I love and where I’ve won. The goal is to get my game as sharp as possible, to have myself ready, then see how it goes.”
Oosthuizen joins Jon Rahm and David Puig among those to declare his intentions to exit LIV. A swathe of other players are soon set to announce their own decisions to leave.