LIV Golf is seeking player signatures for its 2027 season, but two-time PGA Tour winner Joaquin Niemann isn’t among them yet. The Chilean golfer was competing at the BMW PGA Championship this week, where he finished tied for 21st after closing with a 72. Following the tournament, Niemann revealed that he wasn’t part of the call with LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil.
“No, I wasn’t…,” Niemann said about the call in a chat with Flushing It. “He does the calls every week, and I’ve been playing tournaments the last few weeks. So I just don’t want to get my head in something different. So I’ll probably go back and get in touch.”
Despite his standing in the league, Niemann appears to be in the dark about his future with LIV Golf. “I have no idea,” he said about his future in LIV Golf. “I mean, I wish to say something, but I have no idea.”
The 27-year-old, who signed with LIV Golf in 2022, is the most dominant player in the breakaway tour since he has won nine events in the league over five years. Safe to say, the captain of the Torque GC team is definitely a signing LIV 2.0 would want. However, when he was asked whether he has committed to the league’s next season, his answer didn’t paint a positive picture of their future partnership.
“No, nothing yet,” he said.
LIV Golf, of course, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after Saudi Arabia’s PIF pulled its funding. The league is now seeking to restructure its operations, with several significant changes expected as part of the process. The 2027 schedule is reportedly set to be reduced to 10 events, with five said to carry $5.5 million purses and the other five offering $9.5 million, though LIV Golf has not officially confirmed those figures.
The restructuring reportedly became possible largely thanks to new lead investor, BC Partners, which is expected to inject $300 million into the league.
While he figures out his next move, Niemann continues to compete in DP World Tour events, having finished T2 at the Irish Open. Although Niemann was previously a DP World Tour member, he currently does not have status on the European circuit because he failed to play the minimum four events last year.
Unless he wins a tournament, he can become an affiliate member in 2027. Alternatively, he could go through DP World Tour Qualifying School to secure his status, as rising star Michael La Sasso and others have done. For now, however, the Chilean star plans to take a break from competitive golf and spend some time at home with his family while working on his game.
He will then prepare for the next season, wherever, or in whatever form, it ultimately takes. Niemann’s next appearance is expected to come at the Australian Open at Melbourne’s famed Kingston Heath in early December.
In the meantime, LIV Golf’s biggest star Bryson DeChambeau has teased a mystery announcement for Monday at 12 p.m. CT, posting two cryptic graphics on Instagram, including one that says, “I’m coming home.”
The two-time major winner didn’t explain what the announcement concerns. So, it has prompted speculation about whether it could involve his future with LIV Golf, a return to a particular tournament, his golf career more broadly, or even his highly successful YouTube business. But the timing is interesting because of LIV’s current financial status and the fact that DeChambeau’s contract with the tour has ended.
On top of that, the bankruptcy filings mean players don’t have to stick around with the tour as it enters LIV 2.0. Not to mention, LIV Golf already owes the 33-year-old $5.76 million from his original contract.
Having said that, it appears that despite finding a new investor, LIV Golf may end up facing a lack of big names on its roster.