Oosthuizen Walks Away From LIV Golf to Chase DP World Tour Return in 2027

Louis Oosthuizen has walked away from LIV Golf, announcing on Wednesday that he is leaving the breakaway league and plans to return to the DP World Tour in 2027. The 44-year-old South African, the 2010 Open champion at St Andrews, was among the first players to join LIV in June 2022 and captained the all-South African Southern Guards GC side featuring Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace and Dean Burmester. "Five years ago, I made one of the best decisions of my life, moving away from the traditional golf world and into something very special with LIV Golf and Southern Guards GC," Oosthuizen wrote on X. "I'm the biggest supporter of team golf and always will be. Golf needs more of it." His stated reason is control over his schedule. "I realized I have a lot more in me, and my biggest fear was that the schedule on LIV 2.0 would be tough to manage," he said. "I feel I have a few more years of good, competitive golf left in me, and the only way to be really sharp and competitive is through a schedule I control." Oosthuizen, a runner-up in all three other majors and an 11-time DP World Tour winner, is the latest talent loss for a league that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 8 and hopes to launch LIV Golf 2.0 in 2027. He follows Jon Rahm, Adrian Meronk, Sergio Garcia, Abraham Ancer, David Puig and Thomas Pieters out of the door, while two-time U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau remains committed. Golfweek reports the international travel demands of LIV's proposed stripped-down schedule weighed heavily on his decision.