Bubba Watson jokes about Rory McIlroy calling for a spot in his LIV Golf team
Like many of the LIV Golf teams, Bubba Watson's RangeGoats GC is currently recruiting for the 2025 season. RangeGoats GC currently has two openings on its roster.
Bubba Watson admitted in an interview with Sports Illustrated that onboarding new players is a complicated process. The two-time Masters champion also spoke about taking time in the process, cracking a Rory McIlroy joke to get his point across.
Here is what Bubba Watson said:
"Rory [McIlroy] might call me and say ‘hey man, can I have a spot? That’s what I’m saying. We’ve got to wait and see."
Bubba Watson made the joke to illustrate that he will not rush to sign a player while a top name may come along. Watson also said that he has not dismissed the idea of signing himself, despite being relegated at the end of the 2024 season:
"I’m the owner, if I really want to I can put myself in there. We’ve got to just see what’s out there, what’s available."
RangeGoat GC lost a player with Bubba Watson, who was relegated due to poor results in 2024. During the off-season, the team traded Thomas Pieters to 4Aces GC, leaving only Matt Wolff and Peter Uihlein officially on the roster.
Watson played 14 tournaments during the 2024 LIV Golf season. He did not finish in the top 10 and his best result was a tie for 15th at the Las Vegas event.
Bubba Watson's options to play in the 2025 LIV Golf season.
During his interview with Sports Illustrated, Watson stated that his "ideal scenario" is to play in the 2025 LIV Golf season. However, he acknowledged that this would depend on certain conditions.
The most immediate option for Watson to return to his team's roster is to win back his spot in LIV Golf. However, the league will only award two contracts by way of qualification, one to the winner of the Asian Tour's International Series (John Catlin) and another to the winner of next week's Promotional Event in Riyadh.
There is no official word yet on whether Watson will be on the Promotions Event field. If he does not win this tournament, his only option to play with his team in 2025 will be through direct recruitment.
There is no information available on the process by which LIV Golf teams can directly recruit players who have not gone through a qualifying process. However, Watson has stated that it is possible and that he can recruit himself since he owns the team.
At the end of the 2024 season, five players were released from LIV Golf (Watson, Kalle Samooja, Scott Vincent, Kieran Vincent, and Branden Grace). Two of these spots are already filled for 2025, but there has been no word on the three other spots yet.