Golf fans label LIV a ‘joke’ after team makes questionable mid-season move
· Yahoo Sports
LIV Golf could really do with some positive PR, so they won’t be thanking Korean Golf Club for their recent move.
The newly formed team already caused controversy at the start of this season after rebranding to a Korean-only team and ousting Japanese player Jinichiro Kozuma, along with their captain, Kevin Na.
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And once again, Korean Golf Club has sparked controversy by making a roster move shortly before its home event, LIV Korea. They took Danny Lee off their team, assigning him Wild Card status, and filled his spot with the current KPGA Tour Genesis Points leader, Doyeob Mun.
That called into question how LIV’s team format should be allowed to work, as it’s unclear whether Korean Golf Club broke the league’s rules.
Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty ImagesGolf fans question LIV Golf rules after controversial mid-season move
When Korean Golf Club made this roster move, Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces team took to Instagram to question LIV’s rules. They commented, “Is that allowed?” And some fans were clearly in agreement.
There’s some confusion about whether LIV has allowed an extra player to simply join the league out of nowhere as Mun joins Korean GC. One person took to X to ask, “Wait – did a “Wild Card” player leave to make room for an additional player on the tour?”
And another fan noted that the rules seem so unclear that teams can just make them up, posting, “I mean when you can just make up the rules as you go, basically anything is ‘allowed’”
After Ironheads GC became Korean Golf Club and Smash GC became OKC GC just this season, the constant rebranding and changes have led to some fans calling LIV a “joke”:
“This is an absolute joke. Those who supported team golf never thought it would get this bad. Enough is enough.”
Another fan added, “How can we take this seriously when teams change names mid season and players.” And one fan joked that the league is turning into crazy golf, saying, “Might as well put windmills on the greens at this point.”
However, LIV is ultimately a team tour, and in any other team sport changes to rosters are allowed. That led some fans to say it’s fair enough that Korean GC made this move.
One fan posted, “Yes, teams should be allowed to bench underperforming players, it happens in most other team sports, so why not golf?”
Another agreed, “Glad to see team making tough decisions to make themselves better.”
But the larger issue is that in other team sports, there are clearly defined windows as to when certain moves can and cannot happen, and they seem to be missing in LIV.
Was Korean Golf Club’s roster move allowed in LIV Golf rules?
While it may not have been totally clear to the 4Aces the mid-season roster swap was allowed under LIV Golf rules.
The move strictly followed the league’s roster management guidelines. Under LIV Golf’s regulations, teams are allowed mid-season roster flexibility, particularly when adjusting their lineup with the league’s established pool of Wild Card spots and reserve players.
Rather than being cut or dropped from the league entirely, Danny Lee was reassigned into a designated Wild Card role for the remainder of the 2026 season. This internal move freed up an active four-man team roster spot for Korean GC to legally acquire Mun, a non-league external signing playing via merit on the Asian and Korean tours.
Because the league operates under centralized contracts that allow players to be designated as team members or independent wild cards, Korean GC successfully completed the swap without breaching any bylaws, effectively achieving their goal of a fully South Korean team lineup for their home event.
So while these rules should be communicated more clearly, Korean GC didn’t make a mockery of LIV by breaking its rules.