LIV Golf has lost another major champion as it works to transition into “LIV 2.0.”
Former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen announced on social media on Wednesday that he would be leaving LIV Golf and would return to the DP World Tour next season. Oosthuizen was a captain of the Southern Guards GC team, and had been since LIV Golf first formed in 2022.
Oosthuizen described the choice to leave as “probably the hardest decision I’ve had to make in my career.”
"Five years ago, I made one of the best decisions of my life, moving away from the traditional golf world and into something very special with LIV Golf and Southern Guards GC," Oosthuizen said in a statement. "I'm the biggest supporter of team golf and always will be. Golf needs more of it."
Oosthuizen, 44, has won 11 times on the DP World Tour in his career, most recently at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in 2023. The South African’s biggest win, undoubtedly, was at the British Open in 2010. Oosthuizen ran away with the major championship at St. Andrews and ended up taking a seven-shot win over the field.
LIV Golf has been working to survive next season after a chaotic 2026 campaign. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced earlier this year that it would no longer bankroll the startup league next season despite reportedly pouring more than $5 billion into it. LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month. LIV Golf has since reached a deal with BC Partners, which will invest more than $300 million into the new league so long as certain conditions are met.
Part of the bankruptcy hearing included several golfers, including Oosthuizen, out of their deals. And with plenty of uncertainty surrounding the league, and feeling like he can still compete at this stage of his career, Oosthuizen was ready to return to the European circuit.
“I realized I have a lot more in me, and my biggest fear was that the schedule on LIV 2.0 would be tough to manage,” he said. “I have a few more years of good, competitive golf left in me, and the only way to be really sharp and competitive is through a schedule I can control.”
Several big names have already left LIV Golf, have announced plans to do so or have asked a court judge to terminate their deals with LIV Golf so they can explore other options. The biggest among them was Jon Rahm, though Cam Smith, Sergio Garcia, David Puig and Abraham Ancer are walking away, too. Patrick Reed left back in January, and has nearly earned his PGA Tour card back through the DP World Tour this season.
Currently, golfers face a deadline of Sunday to commit to play in LIV 2.0, though that deadline can be extended. The DP World Tour, though, has a strict Nov. 16 deadline for players to apply for membership next season. And the European league has said that players can’t compete both with them and LIV Golf next year, something that’s previously been allowed the past several seasons.
It’s unclear whether LIV Golf will actually continue on in 2027. An attorney for LIV Golf said in a bankruptcy hearing last week that they should know the league’s fate by the end of the month. But with more and more players wanting out, retaining top talent is clearly an issue that the venture is struggling to solve.