One of LIV Golf’s rumored targets has committed to the PGA Tour — at least for now.
On Friday afternoon, Si Woo Kim announced he would compete in the PGA Tour’s Sony Open in January, ending a week of rumors that put the world No. 47 in the LIV main draw.
“Okay guys see you at @sonyopenhawaii,” Kim posted on Instagram on Friday afternoon, reportedly committing to the event he won in 2023 and asserting his desire to stay on the PGA Tour at least through early 2026. Kim’s agent did not respond to GOLF.com’s request for clarification or comment about his PGA Tour status beyond the January event in Hawaii.
According to reports from Flushing It fan account and alex perry e Today’s playerLIV had targeted Kim as a key part of its offseason acquisition efforts. Kim’s reported pursuit overlapped with the growth strategy outlined by LIV CEO Scott O’Neil in a recent interview with GOLF.com. In the interview, O’Neil pointed to LIV’s international growth as its main objective for the future and mentioned Korea as one of the league’s important markets.
Earlier this week, unsubstantiated reports put Kim in “late-stage negotiations” to join LIV alongside fellow Korean pro Sungjae Im. Im quickly dismissed the reports as false, while “an official” close to Kim was quoted in a Korean newspaper as reaffirming his commitment to the PGA Tour.
“It is true that Kim Si-woo, like many Korean players, has been offered a recruitment,” the official said. Mail Business Newspaper on Thursday. “However, Kim Si-woo finally expressed his intention to decline and decided to stay on the PGA Tour.”
While Kim’s Instagram post seems to tie him to the PGA Tour in the future, his commitment to the Sony Open doesn’t completely rule out the possibility of a late-stage move to LIV. The Sony Open will be played two weeks before the first LIV event of the 2026 season in Riyadh, theoretically allowing time for a change of heart.
At the beginning of this year, LIV Golf was introduced to trademark to a series of new team namesincluding “Becko East GC.” Becko, or the more formal spelling Baekhois the Korean word for “white tiger,” a popular symbol in Korean mythology.
Kim, a 30-year-old pro from South Korea, would have represented a coup for LIV in the international growth department, giving the league perhaps the most commercially successful Korean golfer of the last decade. With the PGA Tour, Kim has blossomed into a key component of the international contingent, winning four times and competing in three Presidents Cups for the International Team.
So far, LIV has added two players with pending PGA Tour status for the 2026 season: Victor Perez and Laurie Canter — though the league’s efforts to attract PGA Tour talent may not yet be complete. LIV has until February 4 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to complete its rosters for 2026.
