LIV Golf player ruled out ‘indefinitely’

The LIV Golf League will be missing one of its regulars for the foreseeable future.

Jinichiro Kozuma, the Japanese pro who earned his place on the breakaway league via LIV’s inaugural Promotions event in 2023, is out “indefinitely” with an unspecified injury.

Without providing further details, the league has stressed that Kozuma’s status is ‘uncertain moving forward’, which prompted organisers to think on their feet ahead of this week’s showpiece in Singapore.

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 Kozuma plays for the Ironheads, captained by Kevin Na, but has not played in the first three tournaments of the season in Riyadh, Adelaide and Hong Kong.

Usually when a LIV player misses through injury, their team selects one of the four reserves in LIV’s roster to take their place, with Wade Ormsby and Ollie Schniederjans filling the Ironheads void in the early stages of the season.

But after it was confirmed he would miss the latest $25million event at Sentosa Golf Club, LIV announced a surprise impromptu playoff would take place between their reserves to take his spot.

All four LIV Golf reserves – also including John Catlin and Kalle Samooja – played in an 18-hole playoff with a stepladder elimination process dubbed as LIVs first ever tournament qualifier.

Competing in stroke play, the player with the highest score after six holes was eliminated, and the next player was removed after 12 holes.

After Schniederjans and Samooja were ejected, Catlin cruised to a four-under 67 to outclass Ormsby’s three-over 74.

“They’re kind of trying to shake things up – and this definitely shook us up,” Catlin said after earning Kozuma’s spot in the field. “We weren’t ready for it. It’s a cool concept and, hey, I obviously liked it.

“I always love it when there’s a chance where you can earn your spot. Because then, nobody can take it away from you. So, I loved having the chance. I was ready to play. I knew I had to go out and play good golf from the start.”