Mickelson has new-look LIV team for '23 season
The LIV Golf League announced its final four team rosters Monday, and Phil Mickelson‘s HyFlyers GC is undergoing a makeover with the circuit set to begin its second season this week.
Mickelson’s squad has two new members joining holdover Cameron Tringale: three-time PGA Tour winner Brendan Steele and James Piot, who won the 2021 U.S. Amateur and jumped to LIV Golf after leaving Michigan State last year.
Steele and Piot replace Bernd Wiesberger and Matthew Wolff on Mickelson’s team. Wiesberger joined Martin Kaymer‘s Cleeks GC and Wolff is part of Brooks Koepka‘s Smash GC this year.
Bubba Watson‘s RangeGoats GC added DP World Tour star Thomas Pieters, who is ranked 35th in the world. Watson’s team also includes Harold Varner III and Talor Gooch, who helped the 4Aces win a team championship last year. Watson didn’t play last season while recovering from an injury.
Kevin Na‘s Iron Heads GC also has two new players: past PGA Tour winner Danny Lee and Scott Vincent, who played for four LIV Golf squads last season.
Dean Burmester, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour and a PGA Tour rookie this season, is the newest addition to Louis Oosthuizen‘s Stinger GC. Each of the four players on Oosthuizen’s team is from South Africa; Branden Grace and 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel are the others.
The eight other LIV teams were announced earlier this month.
The rosters are set ✅#LIVGolf pic.twitter.com/H8zbVEsA5u
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) February 21, 2023
Hudson Swafford, who played most of last season for Niblicks GC (now RangeGoats GC), announced Sunday that he’ll miss all of LIV Golf’s second season because of a hip injury. Swafford won three times on the PGA Tour, including the 2022 American Express.
“I have been struggling with a hip injury which has caused a decline in my on-course performance,” Swafford wrote in an Instagram post. “After consulting with a specialist, I was unfortunately advised my best option for an optimal recovery was to undergo surgery.”
The LIV season begins at Mayakoba in Mexico on Friday.
