Tour winner makes joining LIV Golf ‘number one priority’

A big shake-up is expected at LIV Golf before the 2025 season. 

We’ll see relegation, moves between teams, out-of-contract stars and perhaps most crucially, new signings as the Saudi-backed league continues its attempts to strengthen its roster.

And for one player, joining Greg Norman’s lucrative breakaway series is now the ultimate goal.

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John Catlin has had a taste of what LIV has to offer twice, standing in as an alternate for Charles Howell III on Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC team at events in Houston and Nashville.

He’s delivered too, posting finishes of T24 and T7, and he’ll be back again filling in a temporary role at next week’s showpiece at Valderrama.

But Catlin now wants to make his move permanent.

The American has a great chance too, with the leader of the International Series Rankings on the Asian Tour earning an automatic spot in next year’s LIV roster.

After back-to-back wins at the International Series Macau the Saudi Open, Catlin is now in second spot in the rankings behind LIV’s Carlos Ortiz and is in a strong position to lock up a spot.

“(The international Series) is definitely priority one for me now,” Catlin said before this week’s event in Morocco. “Having experienced the LIV Golf events, they are really cool.

“We are very well looked after and playing that calibre of field for that kind of money is something we all want. That is priority one and I am looking for what will unfold over the next eight events.”

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Catlin banked a whopping $745,000 in prize money across his two LIV starts, but is impressed by more than just the purses on offer at the 54-hole events.

“I’m loving it, I’ve always liked playing golf with music,” he said. “Whenever I’m at home playing golf with my friends we always have music, so it kind of feels like that again.

“The team part is really awesome. Nowhere else do we have that. We kind of have a lot of team chemistry, team camaraderie, and I feel like that’s helped make the transition easier.

“I’ve been a pro for 11 years. I’ve played on pretty much every tour in the world. I’ve had a chance to meet all these guys before, and coming back, it just kind of felt like, hey, I haven’t seen you in a while.”

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.