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LIV Golf made international headlines this week when it was announced that reigning NCAA champion golfer Michael La Sasso out of Ole Miss had joined Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers GC alongside Brendan Steele and Cameron Tringale. In doing so, La Sasso forfeited his chance to play at the 2026 Masters as the reigning NCAA champion.
The timing of Michael La Sasso’s LIV Golf announcement was interesting, to say the least. LIV’s season begins in February 4th at the Riyadh Golf Club in Saudi Arabia while the University of Mississippi’s season begins on January 31st.
La Sasso had to make his decision and he had to make it quickly: stay at the University of Mississippi and pursue a path to the PGA Tour or go to LIV Golf, forego the Spring season at Ole Miss, and forfeit his chance to play in The Masters.
Ole Miss Golf Coach Chris Malloy On Why Michael La Sasso Chose LIV Golf
There is nuance here, to be clear. It is easy to say ‘he took the bag’ and split but La Sasso’s decision was not made lightly.
Speaking with Golf.com, Ole Miss golf coach Chris Malloy was asked if he would have opted to join LIV Golf 20 years ago if he was in La Sasso’s shoes. He laughed and then said “I have no earthly idea. Couldn’t answer that one. But I know it would have been a tough decision.”
While the numbers behind Michael La Sasso’s LIV Golf contract have not been made public, comments were made about it.
His coach at Ole Miss described the contract as providing “a lot of financial stability.” He added “financially, a number that you can’t turn back from.”
While La Sasso had an expedited path to the PGA Tour through PGA Tour U, nothing is guaranteed. Then he would still have to win repeatedly on the PGA Tour to earn $$$$ anywhere near what he might get paid from LIV Golf.
Speaking about that, the Ole Miss golf coach said “staying in the States and going through PGA Tour U and PGA Tour all of that, they’re probably a lot less guarantees at this point for some of these guys. So I think that stability, pathway going forward for him was probably a little bit too much to pass up.”
The Ole Miss coach did bemoan losing his best player, the reigning NCAA national champion, less than two weeks before the start of the Rebels’ season but ultimately he commended his star player for thinking about the long term (financial stability) over playing another season, maintaining his amateur status to get into The Masters, and chasing uncertainties when a large payday was staring him in the face.
In an earlier interview, Malloy said “certainly, nobody’s fired up to lose a guy like Mike when we’re trying to make a run at an NCAA Championship. But they understand… ultimately, we play kind of a selfish sport, and you’ve gotta look out for yourself.”
Will this move the needled for LIV Golf? Are you more likely to tune in to watch with the reigning NCAA champion on board? These are the questions I’ve been hearing asked around the golf community over the past 48 hours. Let me know what you think in the Facebook comments!