Three years ago, LIV Golf signed Brooks Koepka with a reported $100 million guarantee. This week, the league is signing a Belgian and an Australian — and reportedly abandoning lavish signing-on fees altogether.
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According to Australian Golf Digest, Thomas Detry and Elvis Smylie are both set to join LIV Golf ahead of the 2026 season. Detry, the world No. 57 who won the 2025 WM Phoenix Open, became the first Belgian winner on the Tour, and would be the highest-profile newcomer of the winter so far.
Detry is expected to join 4Aces alongside fellow Belgian Thomas Pieters. Smylie, the 2024 BMW Australian PGA Champion, appears destined for Ripper GC, reuniting with mentor Cameron Smith. The connection between Smylie and Cameron Smith is deep. In 2019, Smylie received a special scholarship that allowed him to train with Smith. He also lived with the Australian golfer at his Florida home for a week.
The signings come just days after Akshay Bhatia rejected a lucrative LIV offer, choosing to remain on the PGA Tour and chase his long-term dreams of winning majors. While the American rising star stayed home, LIV pivoted internationally, showcasing that its recruitment playbook has changed.
Exclusive: Thomas Detry and Elvis Smylie are both set to join LIV Golf. Detry, the world No57, won the WM Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour last year.https://t.co/GGcdIoXUjr
— Tom Kershaw (@trlkershaw) January 6, 2026
The contrast between 2022 and 2026 cuts deep. When LIV launched, it operated like a sovereign wealth fund with a vendetta — hurling nine-figure guarantees at anyone who could move the needle. Jon Rahm‘s reported $300 million deal in December 2023 marked the peak of that era.
Now, reports indicate LIV has “abandoned lavish signing-on fees” — a tacit admission that the blank-check era has closed. Detry arrives with over $10 million in career PGA Tour earnings and a seven-shot Phoenix Open victory under his belt. Smylie brings a 23rd-place Race to Dubai finish and the credibility of beating Cameron Smith at the 2024 BMW Australian PGA Championship.
These are proven performers, not lottery tickets. But they aren’t Scottie Scheffler. They aren’t Akshay Bhatia. They aren’t the American names that once seemed within reach. LIV’s pivot toward international depth: Detry and Smylie suggest a league building around chemistry rather than headlines.
Laurie Canter’s recent signing to Majesticks GC reinforces the pattern: European consolidation over American conquest.
But roster chemistry only matters if the roster stays intact. And LIV’s biggest name just walked out the door.
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Brooks Koepka’s LIV Golf exit reshapes the league’s future
On December 23, 2025, LIV announced that Brooks Koepka had departed the league by mutual agreement. The five-time major champion, once LIV’s most decorated player with five individual victories, walked away with a year remaining on his contract to prioritize family after his wife suffered a miscarriage in late 2025.
Brandel Chamblee argues that Koepka’s Tour departure gave LIV its legitimacy. Now, does this departure strip off that legitimacy, too?
His 2025 season told part of the story: winless, 31st in individual standings, missed cuts in three of four majors. But the departure transcended form. It signaled that even LIV’s most committed stars could walk away.
Talor Gooch now captains Smash GC alone. Harold Varner III slides over from 4Aces to fill roster gaps.
For American fans watching this unfold, the divide crystallizes further. The PGA Tour retains Bhatia at world No. 45, with his 2024 Valero Texas Open playoff victory still fresh in the memory of golf fans. LIV consolidates its international base — Belgians with Belgians, Australians with Australians.
Two leagues. Two identities. The battle for golf’s future continues to split along continental lines.
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