Movement of pieces in the Fireballs of Sergio García. It has just been made official that Josele Ballester joins the team replacing Luis Masaveu and will play from this very week in LIV Golf. Specifically, in the tournament held at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia.
The news was confirmed this Tuesday, although it is true that it had been rumoured for some time in various golf circles. The possibility became increasingly evident when Ballester gave up his Korn Ferry Tour card, which he was entitled to due to his third position in the PGA Tour University ranking. Another clue was the presence of Luis Masaveu in the Austria tournament of the DP World Tour a week ago. Not so much for his participation in the event but because he wasn’t wearing the Fireballs’ attire.
Thus, Masaveu leaves the Fireballs and Ballester enters. Does this mean that the young Madrilenian is out of LIV Golf? Actually, what it means right now is that he doesn’t have a team, although both for his performance and his behaviour on and off the golf course, the Saudi league is trying to find him a spot. He could remain as a reserve player, provided there is a vacancy.
In this regard, without going any further, Masaveu is going to play this very week, and again in the Fireballs. He will do so replacing David Puig, who is suffering from a back injury. In fact, the Catalan barely played the PGA Championship and had to withdraw last Monday from the US Open qualifier. We will have to see how many more LIV tournaments Masaveu can play for the rest of the year. It will depend on the vacancies that arise and in which teams.
In theory, LIV Golf has three reserve players each week in the tournaments, and the teams make a list from one to three with their preferences before the competition starts. As players get injured and based on their preferences, the golfers are assigned. We will see if Masaveu remains as one of those reserve players, although initially, it doesn’t seem to be the best option for him, as he has a card for the HotelPlanner Tour and his idea is to try to get into the top 20 of the Road to Mallorca at the end of the season. Thus, unless they assure him that he is going to play, as has been the case this week with Puig, it is likely that we will see Luis more in Europe than in LIV Golf.
Therefore, Josele Ballester will join Sergio García from this very week. The US Amateur champion will play his first tournament as a professional starting this Friday in Virginia, and the second will be the US Open at Oakmont in ten days. Josele has made the decision to join LIV at the last moment, and the fact of not having secured the PGA Tour card through the University ranking has been decisive.
The Fireballs are now composed of Sergio García, David Puig, Abraham Ancer, and Josele Ballester. There will still be four Spaniards in LIV, with Jon Rahm as captain of Legion XIII. On some occasions, there could be five, as long as Masaveu can find a spot without replacing another Spaniard.
