Bubba Watson completes LIV team with new signing

He played the waiting game and then looked to have fallen agonisingly short – not once, but twice. 

But Ben Campbell will finally now reap the rewards of a tireless 12 months globetrotting in his pursuit of a lucrative LIV Golf place. bunkered.co.uk has learned that the New Zealander is now set to realise his ambition by signing a one-year contract to compete on the breakaway league in 2025.

Campbell, 33, spent the 2024 season as a LIV reserve, travelling to all 14 events on the league’s worldwide schedule but playing just six competitive rounds of golf.

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In the meantime, he was also flying on the Asian Tour, winning a title in Morocco and narrowly failing to secure an outright LIV spot via the International Series rankings.

Campbell finished one shot off a three-man playoff in the Asian Tour’s season-ending PIF Saudi International at Riyadh Golf Club in December, where Joaquin Niemann was crowned International Series champion to deny him a precious LIV spot.

And the Kiwi’s dream appeared over on the same desert golf course in Saudi Arabia a week later, when he finished nine shots behind winner Max Lee – the 30-year-old from Chinese Taipei – in the LIV Promotions Event.

The world No.137 finished his 2024 season second on the Asian Tour order of merit and third in the International Series standings, making him the highest finisher not already on the LIV circuit.

But Campbell has now been given a lifeline by Bubba Watson, who has signed the Asian Tour regular on a short-term deal to fill out his Range Goats GC team. Watson has settled on the former Hong Kong Open champion after an extensive recruitment search.

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“We’re looking everywhere, the best amateurs,” the former Masters champion said last month. “I’m not looking just for an American. Someone who can help us going forward.”

Campbell’s goal, meanwhile, was always clear.

“Everyone’s working so hard to be out there,” Campbell told bunkered.co.uk of his brief LIV experience back in October. “You look at Phil Mickelson, how hard he is working at that age.

“It gave me a lot of confidence in the things I was doing with my coach and physio. It cemented what I was doing is correct. Motivation-wise, I’d love to play out there next year.”

Starting with LIV’s season-opener back in Riyadh next month, Campbell will now get that chance.

Watson, meanwhile, is still expected to return as playing captain of the Range Goats on a “business case” – despite finishing in last season’s ‘Drop Zone’. Campbell’s addition will complete the Range Goats team, which also includes American duo Matthew Wolff and Peter Uihlein.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.