It is no surprise that La Sasso has signed for the LIV team captained by Phil Mickelson, a six-time major-winning legend of the game, but also an extremely polarising figure throughout his near 40-year career, who some would argue tarnished his legacy completely with his role in launching the Saudi-funded league.<\/p>\n
This pair will have some fun in 2026, and it is also a great signing for LIV. If you can\u2019t attract big names, the next best thing is to recruit youth and exciting upcomers. La Sasso is the reigning NCAA individual champion and was in his senior year at the University of Missouri, where he was majoring in Integrated Marketing Communications.<\/p>\n
He was born on March 25, 2004 (sigh), and is the son of Mike and Karla. He attended Saint David\u2019s School in Raleigh, North Carolina, and in 2025, he became just the second-ever NCAA individual national champion in his university programme\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
The big headline of La Sasso\u2019s move, though, is that he has now forfeited his invitation to the Masters and the US Open. As the NCAA individual champion of 2025, he earned a spot in both of these majors, but you must keep amateur status to be eligible.<\/p>\n
This can\u2019t have been an easy decision for La Sasso, who you would imagine weighed this up with family, friends and probably Mickelson, who has won three times at Augusta National. There is no doubt that La Sasso was offered plenty of money, and with 14 guaranteed LIV starts this year, he will earn a hell of a lot more.<\/p>\n
He has chosen money over Magnolia Lane, you might say. This is certainly the debate currently raging online, a What-would-you-do-type thing. If we are honest though, it has been further amplified because it is LIV whom he has chosen. It\u2019s \u2018that Saudi thing\u2019 he\u2019s chosen, where all the \u2018money-grabbers\u2019 go.<\/p>\n
But there is plenty of precedent for this. Many amateurs have turned down major starts to turn professional. They believe they\u2019ll get there one day and back their own ability. But frankly, the tour they choose to turn professional on is entirely irrelevant. <\/p>\n
Jacob Skov Olesen won the Amateur Championship in 2024 at Ballyliffin, and earned a spot in the Masters for 2025. 25 at the time, the young Dane gave up his amateur status when he earned a DP World Tour card through Q-school later that year. He lost his spot at Augusta and also at the US Open.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving a good start to the season here on the DP World Tour made it a little easier to watch from the sidelines because that kind of proved that I made the right decision. Of course I wanted to be there, but it wasn\u2019t meant to be this time.\u201d<\/p>\n
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ALSO: LIV Golf must hope TNT\u2019s coverage doesn\u2019t infuriate its viewers quite like the farce of the Ashes<\/a><\/p>\n I might be wrong, but I don\u2019t remember this decision being met with the same outrage around La Sasso. <\/p>\n Wenyi Ding won the Asia-Pacific Amateur at Taiheiyo Club Gotemba in Fuji, Japan in 2024, stamping his ticket for the Masters and The Open in 2025. But he knew, regardless of his performance that week, that he would turn professional soon after.<\/p>\n He was set to earn a DP World Tour card via the Global Amateur Pathway, an initiative that gives the best non-collegiate male amateur a chance on the European circuit.<\/p>\n He left Arizona State, came top of the rankings above Skov Olesen, got his card, then turned professional. He gave up his major starts in pursuit of a pro career where you can earn money, just like La Sasso.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was difficult, but I can\u2019t sacrifice (DP World Tour status) to wait for the Masters,\u201d Ding told\u00a0Golf Digest<\/a>. \u201cI know it\u2019s a great (opportunity) for an amateur player, but I\u2019m going to turn pro. (Hopefully), I can get in (those two majors) by myself.\u201d<\/p>\n You\u2019re allowed to think that turning down major spots is wrong. The chance to play in them might never come again. But we mustn\u2019t treat one player differently from another, based on which tour they choose, and based on which tour you might like more than another.<\/p>\n Signing for LIV does restrict routes to the majors, though. That much is fact, because LIV events still don\u2019t qualify for Official World Golf Ranking points (OWGR). For as long as La Sasso is with LIV, he can\u2019t climb the pro world rankings, which closes an avenue to the big four events.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, he has made the call that countless amateurs have made before him. It should come as no shock at all. They have committed to a career and thought in the long term, and ignored the starry-eyed, short-term lure of the majors.<\/p>\n NOW READ: LIV Golf is now on the cliff edge, with its life in the hands of Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm<\/a><\/p>\n