With the DP World Tour and LIV Golf seasons over and the 2025 PGA Tour season officially coming to an end this week at the RSM Classic, pro golfers are looking toward next year. While many are battling for PGA Tour status at the RSM Classic, one player originally in the field has given up the hunt.
French pro Victor Perez withdrew from the RSM Classic on Tuesday, and shortly thereafter rumors were confirmed that Perez would be leaving the PGA Tour and joining LIV Golf.
Here’s what you need to know.
LIV Golf team makes cryptic post about new player
Early on Tuesday, the official X account for the LIV Golf team Cleeks Golf Club posted a message on X that started the rumor mill.
The post read “A new chapter begins. 11.19.25.,” and included a photo of four Cleeks GC golf bags. Three of them had the names of existing Cleeks players: Martin Kaymer, Richard Bland and Adrian Meronk. But the fourth golf bag featured the date “11/19/25” in place of a name.
Hidden in the bottom right corner of the photo was the French word “Allez.” Based on that, rumors started swirling that it would be a French pro that would join the Cleeks imminently.
Victor Perez’s move to LIV Golf confirmed after WD
Not long after the Cleeks post went up, reports started to surface that the player in question was Victor Perez.
Perez, 33, has three DP World Tour wins in his career, the most recent coming at the 2023 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. His best finish in a major was a T12 at the 2023 PGA Championship.
He earned his PGA Tour card for 2025 and played in 25 events. Perez missed eight cuts this season and earned only one top-10 finish.
Sitting at 108th in FedEx Fall standings heading into the RSM Classic, Perez still had a chance to move into the top 100 and secure his Tour card for 2026.
Then on Tuesday afternoon, the PGA Tour announced that Perez had withdrawn from the RSM Classic field, replaced by alternate Tommy Gainey.
The WD seemed to confirm rumors that Perez would be the newest member of the Cleeks. Then later Tuesday afternoon, the Cleeks made it official.
In an X post the next morning, the Cleeks account wrote, “From France, with flair. Say hello to Victor Perez.”
Perez is the first PGA Tour player to make the move to LIV this year, after Min Woo Lee confirmed he would remain on the PGA Tour.
