Louis Oosthuizen leaving LIV Golf to return to European tour - ESPN

Former Open Championship winner Louis Oosthuizen became the latest golfer to leave the LIV Golf League, announcing Wednesday that he is returning to the DP World Tour in 2027.

The 44-year-old was captain of the all-South African Southern Guards GC team since the breakaway circuit's inception in June 2022.

«Five years ago, I made one of the best decisions of my life, moving away from the traditional golf world and into something very special with LIV Golf and Southern Guards GC,» Oosthuizen said in a statement posted to his X account Wednesday. «I'm the biggest supporter of team golf and always will be. Golf needs more of it.»

Oosthuizen, whose 11 victories on the DP World Tour include the 2010 Open Championship at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland, said the European circuit will give him more flexibility in his schedule.

«I realized I have a lot more in me, and my biggest fear was that the schedule on LIV 2.0 would be tough to manage,» Oosthuizen said. «I feel I have a few more years of good, competitive golf left in me, and the only way to be really sharp and competitive is through a schedule I control.»

LIV Golf voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 8. Last week, a U.S. bankruptcy court judge allowed LIV Golf to reject certain golfers' contracts — including Oosthuizen's — as part of its restructuring.

The league is hoping to launch LIV 2.0 in 2027 even after Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund had pulled its funding, which had reached more than $5 billion over the past five years, according to court records.

LIV Golf has secured a potential $300 million investment from BC Partners, including an initial loan of $4 million to help keep operations going during the Chapter 11 bankruptcy