LIV Golf, the Saudi Arabian-backed tour, opened its player registration period on Thursday, allowing for team transfers and contract extensions to finalize its roster for next season.
The registration period allows teams to extend the contracts of golfers who finished in the top 24 of the individual standings and to renew the contracts of those who finished in the "open zone"—25th through 48th overall—LIV said in a statement.
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Team exchanges are also permitted, as is signing players who become free agents or scouting for new talent outside the league.
The new Saudi circuit season, both for individual play and for the thirteen participating teams, will begin in Riyadh from February 5 to 7 of next year.
Last season, which concluded at the end of August, Spain's Jon Rahm was crowned the best player in the individual category for the second consecutive year, ahead of Chile's Joaquín Niemann and the United States' Bryson DeChambeau. He also won the team title with Legion XIII.
Players who finished in the top 24 of the LIV are guaranteed a spot in 2026, and those whose contracts expire automatically receive an offer of at least a one-year extension from their current team.
Those who decline the offer become free agents and can sign with another team on the Saudi circuit. In the "open zone," golfers whose contracts are expiring can either renew or be free to negotiate with another team.
The final group, the 'relegation zone', comprises the bottom six players in the overall standings, who are now out of the league, although they retain the option of returning later through the tournaments that serve as entry points to the competition – the LIV Golf Promotions and the International Series, organized in conjunction with the Asian Tour.
The players who have lost their cards are Sweden's Henrik Stenson, Americans Andy Ogletree and Anthony Kim, Chile's Mito Pereira, South Korea's Yubin Jang, and Denmark's Frederik Kjettrup.
