Tour pro misses out on 'dream' transfer to Bryson DeChambeau's LIV Golf team
John Catlin has confirmed he will be a reserve on the LIV Golf League for the 2025 campaign, which kicks off next month in Riyadh.
American John Catlin has confirmed he will play LIV Golf in 2025 as a reserve.
The 34-year-old looked as though he was going to earn his spot on the breakaway tour via the Asian Tour's International Series' order of merit.
Catlin led the way for much of the 2024 campaign and continuously talked of his desire to earn the one golden ticket on offer.
But Joaquin Niemann's victory at the PIF Saudi International meant Catlin was leapfrogged and came up short.
Niemann claimed the title despite playing in two events to Catlin's nine because the points were heavily skewed towards the season finale.
Catlin tried to earn his way into LIV for the 14-event season by taking part in their Promotions events in December but also came up short.
It is understood that Catlin held talks about joining various LIV sides but it appears he wasn't able to convince a franchise to take a chance on him.
Catlin took to X to confirm that he will be a reserve for 2025 though.
He said he was excited to once again compete on the Asian Tour in 2025.
I will be a reserve on the @livgolf_league again for 2025. Excited to compete on the @asiantourgolf and @intseriesgolf to earn my spot on LIV Golf for 2026. Thank you @hitwiththetruth for all of your hard work.
— John Catlin (@JohnCatlin59) January 7, 2025
How does being a reserve in LIV Golf work?
LIV Golf select three players every week to be reserves.
Their travel expenses and accomodation are looked after by LIV and they fill-in when needed for injured players.
They do get individual prize money but don't earn ranking points in LIV's order of merit.
Ben Campbell on the move
Elsewhere, bunkered have reported that Bubba Watson's team is complete.
Watson, a two-time Masters champion, has selected Ben Campbell to fill out the vacant spot on his RangeGoats team.
The lefty did have Thomas Pieters in his team but the Belgian was traded to Dustin Johnson's 4Aces in the summer.
Campbell has signed a 12-month contract, according to the report.
The 33-year-old was a LIV reserve in 2024 and also pushed the aforementioned Catlin in the International Series' order of merit.
Tom McKibbin addresses LIV Golf rumour
TenGolf reported earlier in the week that Jon Rahm has convinced Ireland's Tom McKibbin to join his Legion XIII team.
McKibbin, 22, earned a PGA Tour card in November after he was among the top 10 players on the DP World Tour without one in the Race to Dubai.
The golfer, who was born in the same town as Rory McIlroy, was teary-eyed as he realised that dream.
Spanish outlet, Ten Golf, have reported Jon Rahm has identified Rory McIlroy's good friend Tom McKibbin as an ideal candidate for his LIV Golf team. pic.twitter.com/cZmXzIcaWK
— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) January 7, 2025
But it appears that he will join the two-time major champ on a multi-year deal.
McKibbin refused to comment on the speculation before taking part in this week's Team Cup in the Middle East.
The event serves as a Ryder Cup warm-up, pitting 10 golfers from Continental Europe versus a team from Great Britain and Ireland.
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