The highest-profile stars who have signed with LIV Golf: Leaked photo confirms Aussie's backflip
The stars who have joined LIV Golf
Cameron Smith, John Rahm, and now Lucas Herbert have all joined LIV Golf.
The breakaway league split the game in two and in 2022 dropped a bombshell on the PGA Tour by nabbing Aussie superstar Smith just weeks after he won the Open Championship.
The Saudi-backed tour struck another huge blow by signing Rahm for $908m in late 2023, and more are sure to come.
Here, we run through the biggest names to ditch the PGA and European tours to sign with LIV.
Lucas Herbert
The Aussie has been snapped posing with Cameron Smith in the all-Australian Ripper GC team apparel ahead of the 2024 season kicking off, all but confirming rumours of his defection.
Herbert - a one-time winner on the PGA Tour who has found some success on the European circuit - had previously denied any interest in LIV Golf, telling Wide World of Sports last April he "still has no idea who actually won" the Adelaide event days after it happened.
Herbert had hoped to climb the world rankings and break into the top 50, but is set to slide at a rapid rate now given LIV events don't carry any rankings points. It will make qualifying for the Olympics almost impossible.
Cameron Smith
Just over a month after claiming his first major title with victory at the Open Championship at St Andrews, Cameron Smith's move to LIV Golf was confirmed, in a deal reported to be worth around $140 million.
The then-world No.2 was LIV Golf's biggest signing to date at that time, given his status as a reigning major champion, his world ranking, and the fact he won the PGA Tour's flagship event, the Players Championship, earlier in 2022.
As golf writer Jason Sobel tweeted, his signing was a huge coup for LIV Golf amid the war with the PGA Tour.
"Cameron Smith is a massive loss," he wrote. "Even the most pro-PGA Tour supporters can't sugarcoat it. He's second in the OWGR, won The Open and The Players. Terrific player. Popular, too."
Smith won multiple events on the LIV calendar in 2023.
Jon Rahm
The champion Spaniard's defection at the end of 2023 sent shockwaves through the sport, and came with a reported signing fee of $908 million.
It came months after he won the Masters, his second major title.
Rahm had previously been a staunch critic of LIV and was immediately labelled a hypocrite when he accepted the monster Saudi payday.
In 2022 he had declared of LIV, "the only appeal I see is monetary, right?... I think there's a lot more to be able to play for besides just money on the PGA Tour. There's history, there's legacy."
Tyrrell Hatton
The Team Europe star signed on just days before the 2024 LIV season began, joining Jon Rahm's new team.
Hatton's sign-on fee was reportedly worth $96 million.
Adrian Meronk
The Polish star broke Aussie hearts but won plenty of fans when he trumped Adam Scott to claim the 2022 Australian Open.
He made the leap to LIV Golf on the eve of the 2024 season and was ranked 39th in the world at the time. He's considered one of the best ball strikers on the circuit.
Meronk was the 2023 DP World Tour player of the year.
Marc Leishman
Veteran Aussie Leishman, once ranked as high as 12th in the world, was a six-time winner on the PGA Tour.
His best finish in a major came at the Open Championship at St Andrews in 2015, when he was part of a three-man playoff eventually won by Zach Johnson.
He also famously played with Adam Scott on the final day of the 2013 Masters, when Scott became the first Australian to don the green jacket, with Leishman finishing fourth.
Leishman also played on four Presidents Cup teams.
Joaquin Niemann
The rising Chilean star reached 15th in the world rankings earlier in 2022.
His nine professional wins before joining LIV included two victories on the PGA Tour, including the Genesis Invitational in February 2022.
He was one of a handful of players to make the cut at all four major championships in 2022, although he was unable to convert any of them into a top-20 finish.
Regardless, 2022 was his best year on the PGA Tour, banking more than $7 million.
Bubba Watson
The 2012 and 2014 Masters champion reportedly received around $70 million to sign with LIV Golf.
Once ranked as high as No.2 in the world, he won 12 times on the PGA Tour, most recently in 2018.
He's played on four Ryder Cup teams and twice represented the USA at the Presidents Cup.
"Watson is a maverick performer and entertaining showman, who retains the ability to shoot low numbers, as he proved with a 63 at the US PGA in May, despite appearing at Southern Hills with an injured knee," the Telegraph said when he signed.
Bryson DeChambeau
One of the most polarising figures in the game, DeChambeau won the 2020 US Open at Winged Foot by six strokes.
He's perhaps better known for his body transformation that took place in 2019-20, where he added close to 20 kilograms of muscle in an attempt to hit the ball further.
Nicknamed the "Mad Scientist" he has all his irons cut to the same length, and is rumoured to have dropped golf balls in Epsom salt to test their centre of gravity.
DeChambeau was a member of the United States Ryder Cup team in 2018 and 2021, and the Presidents Cup team in 2019.
