RUMOUR: Four players in the World Top 50 CONFIRMED to join LIV Golf in 2023

LIV Golf player signings may be over for this season at least with just two more events on the schedule, but they will soon start to ramp up again ahead of 2023, an insider has told GolfMagic. 

The Saudi-bankrolled circuit, which has already attracted some of the biggest names in Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson, is understood to have agreed deals with four players currently in the world top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) ahead of a new $405 million LIV Golf League getting under way next year. 

According to our source, LIV Golf have not wanted any confirmed transfers to get out this month and consequently take the shine off their remaining events on the schedule, especially with their season-ending Team Championship on the horizon.

"Four players currently in the World Top 50 will be joining LIV Golf in 2023," a LIV Golf insider has told GolfMagic. 

"Everyone on LIV Golf is super tight-lipped at the minute as they want to get through the next three weeks and their season finale without anything overshadowing it."

One of the expected names from the current World Top 50 to make a move to LIV Golf in 2023, we have been told by our source, is Mito Pereira. 

The Chilean agonisingly threw away his chances of a maiden major title at the 2022 US PGA Championship when making a double-bogey on the 72nd hole having held a one-shot lead at the time. 

Pereira is understood to have wanted to play in the Presidents Cup for the first time in his career last month before making the move to join his good friend Joaquin Niemann on the LIV Golf Tour in 2023. 

He played in the Presidents Cup but only took a half point from three matches as the United States ran out a comfortable winners. 

The remaining three names in the World Top 50 ready to link up with LIV Golf next year remain unknown.

But there has been plenty of speculation on social media about a number of star names currently on the PGA Tour. 

One name constantly being linked to LIV Golf is Australia's Adam Scott. 

Scott last week confirmed he still wants to win major championships and play for the biggest events around the world.

However, he is also more than happy for his compatriot Cameron Smith to "make him an offer" to join his LIV Golf team.

Will the lure of tens of millions in guaranteed cash and a starting place in an all-Australian Punch GC be enough to persuade the 42-year-old to leave the PGA Tour? Let's see. 

Then there is the ongoing scenario involving best buddies Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, who have not exactly declared their full allegiance to the PGA Tour in recent months. 

Cantlay, certainly, did not sound 100% devoted to life on the PGA Tour when he said this two weeks ago at the Presidents Cup. 

Of course, it would still be a huge shock to many of us if both Cantlay and Schauffele (current World No.4 and World No.5) turned their backs on the PGA Tour for lives on Greg Norman's controversial new circuit, but just as we have seen from a lot of players this year... money talks. 

Either way, you can pretty much guarantee both Cantlay and Schauffele will make a joint decision on the matter and all will be revealed very soon. 

Then there is Hideki Matsuyama. 

There is something of a grey cloud still hanging over the future of former Masters champion Matsuyama, who has reportedly been offered in the region of $400 million to join the LIV Golf Tour. 

LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman is wanting to take LIV Golf tournaments all around the world and especially Asia, so he would desperately love to have Japan's No.1 sports star leading the line for him where those events are concerned next year. 

However, our source tells us that the PGA Tour is doing everything they can to prevent Matsuyama in particular from going to LIV Golf. 

Right now, it would seem like Matsuyama is more than likely to stick rather than twist. 

The same can also be said of former World No.1 Jon Rahm, who quickly burst the LIV Golf bubble when declaring his loyalty to the PGA Tour just last month. 

Although he may have just ruffled a few feathers at the DP World Tour and PGA Tour with his victory speech at the Open de Espana. 

Another big name being linked to LIV Golf, and he has been for a while now, is Norway's Viktor Hovland. 

Should the exciting Hovland decide to join LIV Golf, it would be a huge blow for both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. 

More: Why are there no South Korean golfers on LIV Golf right now?

Other players that have been linked to LIV Golf in recent weeks include Sebastian Munoz, Lucas Herbert and Thomas Pieters, although we would be a little surprised to see the latter take the plunge, especially given you would think he has every chance of a second Ryder Cup appearance in 2023. 

Tyrrell Hatton's name has also been thrown around by some people for a potential shock move to LIV Golf, but we reached out to Hatton's management team earlier this week and they made it abundantly clear to us the Englishman "is a PGA Tour player". 

The latest rumour we have heard about four imminent LIV Golf player transfers comes just 24 hours after Greg Norman's Tour struck a 'strategic alliance' with the Dubai-based MENA Tour in order for them to receive valuable OWGR points. 

They initially thought it was a done deal, and even James Corrigan of the Telegraph reported exactly that. 

Norman's LIV believed they had found a loophole to allow their players to start earning world ranking points in their invitational events, thus enabling their fields to still be able to qualify for golf's four major championships. 

Even Brooks Koepka's wife, Jena Sims, got particularly excited about the news. 

However, the chief executive of the OWGR, Peter Dawson, released a statement saying the governing body had "insufficient notice" to review these proposed changes before LIV Golf's next two events in Jeddah and their $50 million season-ending Team Championship in Miami.

MENA Tour commissioner David Spencer has since lashed out at the decision, and so too have Koepka and DeChambeau, who have labelled the call as "crazy".

Some strong words from Brooks and Bryson on the OWGR situation pic.twitter.com/YDkjHLtxEt

— GolfMagic.com (@GolfMagic) October 7, 2022

Many LIV Golf players such as Mickelson and Johnson believe they are fully entitled to OWGR points, despite LIV tournaments being played over 54 holes in a shotgun start for just 48 players every time. 

Mickelson even said it is the best way for the OWGR to "keep its credibility" by including the LIV Golf Tour. 

But following the latest setback on receiving ranking points, it remains to be seen if and when LIV Golf will be successful in their pursuit. 

Awarding OWGR points on LIV Golf will prove a major factor in whether or not the world's best players currently on the PGA Tour put pen to paper with the Saudi-backed circuit in 2023, just as we reported the other day. 

Watch this space. 

Next Page: This is the real reason why PGA Tour players are currently waiting to join LIV Golf

Anyway, we have heard four players in the World Top 50 have been confirmed to join a new LIV Golf League in 2023, so take a look at the current world golf rankings for yourself and let us know who you think the four names could be?

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