LIV Golf Team Captains NOT Exempt From Relegation, Meaning Bubba Watson Is In Drop Danger

As the 2024 LIV Golf tour head into their final tournament this year at Chicago, the officials have confirmed that the LIV golf team captains will NOT be exempt from relegation – which means RangeGoats skipper Bubba Watson, who is near the foot of the standings, could face the drop.

LIV Golf Captains Still In Danger Of Relegation, Say Tour Officials

As the lucrative LIV golf players head to the Bolingbrook Golf Club this week in Chicago for the final event on the 2024 tour, the team captains are still at risk of being relegated.

For those that don’t know, each player will get points based on where they finish in each LIV golf event over the season – with, of course, the best finishers getting the most points.

The LIV golf league standings are then split into sections that consist of the ‘Lock Zone’ (top players), the ‘Open Zone’ (middle players) and the ‘Drop Zone’ (bottom players).

At the summit is Spain’s Jon Rahm with 195.17 points heading to Chicago, with Joaquin Niemann second on 192.20 pts and England’s Tyrrell Hatton back in third on 143.49 pts.

If Rahm can stay at the top, he’ll also scoop a monster $18m individual bonus, while you can see the full LIV Golf Chicago prize money breakdown here.

The ‘Open Zone’ consists of the players in the middle of the table, but as the tour approaches the final week, it’s the players in the dreaded ‘Drop Zone’ that have the most to worry about.

You can see the full list of ‘Drop Zone’ players here below – with the highest-placed player Scott Vincent on just 5.90pts with the lowest ‘Open Zone’ player Pat Perez on 7.76 pts – meaning Vincent (and those below) need points at Chicago ‘big-time’ in order to move out of the relegation area.

Jon Rahm is also the clear favourite with the best golf betting sites in the UK to win this week’s LIV Golf Chicago and cement his place at the top of the standings.

Current LIV Golf Standings (Drop Zone)

Bubba Watson One Of The Big Names In The 2024 LIV Golf ‘Drop Zone’

The former US Masters winner Bubba Watson, who captains the LIV golf team the RangeGoats, is the big name currently in the ‘Drop Zone’ – heading to Chicago in 52nd place on just 3.66 pts.

Watson and other golf fans had thought that as being team captain this would exempt him from the drop.

However, the LIV Golf officials have cleared this up, by coming out this week to say captains are still eligible for relegation – meaning they’d miss out on the lucrative 2025 tour.

That said, despite this, any relegated LIV Golf player will still have the chance to earn their way back into the 2025 line-up.

Anthony Kim and Hudson Swafford, who were two wildcards, are also, however, not in with a chance of relegation despite being in the ‘Drop Zone’ as they are players that weren’t given teams.

Watson is currently the only captain in the seven-man LIV Golf ‘Drop Zone’, but not far away in the lower region of the ‘Open Zone’ are other skippers Ian Poulter (46th) Phil Mickelson (44th) and Henrik Stenson (41st), who mathematically could get drawn into relegation.

⛳️🚨 NEWS:

Captains on #LIVGolf ARE NOT exempt from relegation this season.

Bubba currently sits outside the safe zone and is subject to relegation.

The league has a board that can decide to bring captains back based on, among other factors, commercial viability of the team.

— Tee Times (@TeeTimesPub) September 12, 2024

Only The Top 24 LIV Golf Players Are Certain To Play In 2025

Relegated players can be re-signed by the LIV Golf Tour, but if last season’s format is anything to go on, then only the top 24 players are guaranteed a place for 2025.

Then players with expiring contracts who finish 25th to 48th in the standings ‘Open Zone’ are then free agents, who can either leave or be re-signed by their old team or join a new one.