With $30 million on the line, one of the biggest stops on the LIV Golf’s calendar will now head into its first round without a consistent performer. The disheartening news came on X on Monday via a tweet.

Crushers GC posted that Paul Casey has withdrawn from LIV Golf Korea because of wrist discomfort, with Travis Smyth named as his replacement. Casey has not yet issued a public statement on the withdrawal.

For Casey, wrist discomfort marks a new setback. Heading into 2026, he’d spoken optimistically about his toe surgery recovery:

“This time last year, I had just come off surgery on my toe, so I feel like I’m in a much better place with my golf game. It is my 25th season, and I’m still excited and full of energy.”

He spent 2025 rehabbing his toe. Before that, back and knee issues forced him out of the 2022 Masters and the 2023 PGA Championship.

Smyth, an Australian wild card, will now play at the Asiad Country Club, Busan, South Korea. He rejoined LIV in 2026 after leading the Asian Tour Order of Merit and winning the 2026 International Series Japan. That win pushed his world golf ranking to a career-best 134th and earned him spots on both the PGA Championship and the Open Championship for this season.

Smyth described the mental shift behind his form in a statement ahead of his return to LIV:

“My ability to score and put myself in contention, mentally I feel like I’ve come to another level, and it’s allowed me to play it better.”

Korea is the eighth event of LIV’s season, and Smyth now enters the event with real momentum.

Casey’s withdrawal also comes at a direct competitive cost. In 2026, LIV Golf restructured its standings into three tiers. The Lock Zone covers the top 34 players guaranteed their spot in the league. The Open Zone runs from 35th to 46th place. This band is for players who hold their place conditionally, with no guarantee of being re-signed. The league relegates anyone finishing 47th or below.

The 5x Ryder Cup winner currently sits at 34th in the LIV individual standings on 69 points, which places him right at the border between the Lock Zone and the Open Zone. This missed event means zero points added in a week when the rest of the field is competing. With six events still to come in the regular season, the challenge is certainly high for him.

Busan is hosting LIV for the first time, and the league had every reason to want a clean, high-profile week here. Bryson DeChambeau arrives as the defending champion, having dominantly won the last event. Jon Rahm leads the 2026 individual standings with 802 points.

On paper, this should be one of the most competitive stops this season, but the field heading into Korea is facing more and more withdrawals.

What does LIV Golf’s Korea look like without its biggest names?

Phil Mickelson withdrew this week and will continue to take an extended break from competition because of an undisclosed family health matter. Scott Vincent will replace him on High Flyers GC. Mickelson has now missed most of the 2026 LIV season.

Tyrrell Hatton has also pulled out this week. He and his wife, Emily, welcomed their first child last week, and Max Rottluff is stepping in for his LIV debut.

This event arrives amid LIV Golf’s precarious position. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund had confirmed it will not finance LIV beyond the 2026 season. Per latest reports, the league is laying the groundwork to file for bankruptcy while simultaneously pitching a reduced 10-event schedule to potential investors through New York-based Ducera Partners.

DeChambeau also addressed the situation and his own position at a press conference in Busan on Tuesday:

“We are surprised that they pulled out as quickly as they did, he said. We didn’t really see that coming, but that’s okay. One door closes, another opens.”

But the league is still pressing on. Asiad becomes the 32nd different course to host an LIV Golf League tournament, while Korea becomes the 8th different country to feature on the calendar in the first eight events of 2026.