In LIV Golf’s Quest to Create Their Own Stars - Puig, Ballester, and McKibbin Emerge as Frontrunners

LIV Golf's unique team environment is helping develop young stars like David Puig, Josele Ballester, and Tom McKibbin. Discover how mentorship from elite players is creating the next generation of golf champions.

Tee Times

Nov 30, 2025

In LIV Golf’s Quest to Create Their Own Stars - Puig, Ballester, and McKibbin Emerge as Frontrunners

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Tom McKibbin: Choosing Development Over Tradition

Josele Ballester and David Puig: Rising Stars Under Sergio Garcia's Mentorship

The LIV Golf Advantage: Team Environment and Player Development

The Future of Star Development in Professional Golf

Tom McKibbin: Choosing Development Over Tradition

The original contingent of star players on LIV Golf were stars from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour alike. Seasoned veterans like Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, and Dustin Johnson mixed with elite players entering their prime like Bryson DeChambeau, Joaquin Niemann, and Talor Gooch.

Adding more stars in recent seasons like Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton helped significantly boost the quality of the fields and star-power towards the top, but enlisting their talents comes at quite the cost. Nearly 400m in signing bonuses between the two players (https://x.com/TeeTimesPub/status/1730334456223862843).

While it’s possible for LIV Golf to fund these player acquisitions for as long as they’d like without thinking twice, the system they’ve built allows for them to create massive value by developing the game’s next stars. Finding young players with elite talents and having the guidance of a team captain help take their game to the highest levels.

The perfect example of this comes from Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin. After finishing inside the top 10 on the Race to Dubai Rankings, McKibbin had earned a PGA Tour card for the following season. Having grown up a member of Holywood Golf Club in Northern Ireland, the same club as Rory McIlroy, he’d now earned the opportunity to follow in his footsteps. However, McKibbin was also afforded an opportunity that wasn’t available for McIlroy when he opted to join the PGA Tour.

One year prior Zimbabwe born Kieran Vincent had earned his spot on LIV Golf and joined Jon Rahm’s newly formed Legion XIII GC on LIV Golf. He’d have a handful of good moments, but ultimately would be relegated out of the league at the conclusion of the 2025 season. That left a vacancy that ultimately, coupled with a modest signing bonus, was filled by the then 22-year-old Tom McKibbin. He’d choose to leave his hot off the press PGA Tour card behind and join LIV Golf.

“Yeah, obviously it was a decision that I made, obviously being young and 22. I've watched this for the last couple years since it started, and it's something that I've really liked to watch, something very different, something that probably appeals to more people my age. I think sort of the opportunity to get to play with these guys here and learn from some of the best players in the world week in, week out is something that appealed very, very nicely to me.”

His freshman season was filled with strong showings finishing inside the top 10 four times and helping lead his team to four team wins and eventually the 2025 Team Championship. At the conclusion of the season he’d explain how the opportunity to play and practice alongside teammate Tyrrell Hatton and team captain Jon Rahm have helped him progress as a player:

“Yeah, I think getting to spend time with Jon and Tyrrell has definitely, I've definitely learned a lot from them. And then I think getting paired with some of the other guys and stuff throughout the tournaments, people that you've watched on TV or grew up watching, I'm getting to learn from them.”

Had McKibbin opted for the other route, the route that all of the other DP World Tour in the same position opted for, he’d have played in a number of regular PGA Tour events with an opportunity to play his way into the Signature Events and playoffs, but that wasn’t guaranteed. McKibbin’s season on LIV Golf provided him the opportunity to grow significantly as a player, playing not only under Jon Rahm, but alongside other stars on some of the best courses in the world.

“I think some of the golf courses as well were a little bit trickier than what I'd been used to, so sort of getting used to those and developing my game through that. So I think a lot of small things that add up to quite a big sort of difference.”

And develop as a player he did. Shortly after the conclusion of the LIV Golf season, McKibbin would net his second win as a professional at the Hong Kong Open, a win that came with an exemption to both the Open Championship and the 2026 Masters.

Josele Ballester and David Puig: Rising Stars Under Sergio Garcia's Mentorship

But his story isn't one of a kind. Just a few short weeks after McKibbin's win, another young LIV Golf player would find himself in the winner's circle. Josele Ballester joined Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC midway through the 2025 season. After making a literal splash at the Masters this year, the former US Amateur champion was opting to play under Sergio Garcia, a childhood friend and hero of his.

Josele, speaking on what his relationship with Sergio Garcia was like before he turned professional and joined him on LIV Golf:

“He's been almost like a mentor. I was fortunate to start working with his dad when I was around 14 years old, and then because of that, I got to know Sergio, and the few times when he was in Spain we would always play together. He would share his knowledge about the game with me, and that's something that I'm always really grateful for. Now kind of following in his footsteps and being here under his arm, it's pretty special.
I know I'm in the right place with the right people, so really, really happy that I can share this experience with him and with the rest of my teammates.”

Towards the end of the LIV Golf season, Ballester would find himself in a playoff to win the individual event in Chicago. While he wouldn’t secure the win there, he’d later win the PIF Saudi International against a very strong field.

Then, the week following the PIF Saudi International, Ballester’s teammate David Puig would break through on the DP World Tour with his win at the BMW Australian PGA Championship. Having joined LIV Golf as an amateur in 2022, Puig would turn pro in the closing stages of the 2022 season, and eventually join Garcia’s Fireballs GC in 2024. He’d already netted a couple of wins as a professional on the Asian Tour, but his comfortable win at the Australian PGA Championship will give him a boost of confidence that could serve as a spring-board to elevate his game to the next level.

Josele and David, at just 22 and 23 years old, respectively, have all of the early indicators that they could be the future of Spanish golf. Hall of Famer and fellow LIV Golf competitor, Phil Mickelson, recently echoed the same:

(On Puig): “190 ball speed, short game on Seve’s level, putts as well as anyone in the game, and plays fearlessly every day. Same as Josele and they are together every day pushing each other to get better. The wins are just going to keep adding up for a very long time” (
Phil Mickelson on Twitter / X
)

The LIV Golf Advantage: Team Environment and Player Development

It's not news to anybody that these are elite players, because for all three players there have been myriad glimpses of brilliance throughout their time on LIV Golf. Puig has been in the mix several times, McKibbin came out of the gates hot in his first ever event and followed it up with some early top 10s in 2025, and Ballester nearly won in Chicago in his first season.

While there’s no doubt that some of this development is the natural progression of their golf games, and a portion of it comes from playing under and being mentored by some of the game’s greats, Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia thinks that there’s a little more to it than that. Speaking of Josele Ballester joining his team during the season, Sergio Garcia noted:

“ I just want him to have the possibility of at least starting here with us because I think that it's probably -- it's not easy. Don't get me wrong. Because all of us out here are competitors and amazing players. But at least it's probably a little bit looser than it might be starting on other tours where at least here you're getting round after round after round and you're getting more repetition, you can get in a little bit of a better rhythm than if you start on any other tours, and for whatever reason you don't start well and you're missing cuts and that kind of snowballs mentally.”

This provides some interesting insight into what things might be like behind the scenes on Fireballs GC (and potentially other teams) and why Sergio is so interested in bringing in young players to fill out the roster. Earlier this offseason it was reported that Abe Ancer may be moving to Torque GC and his spot will be filled by another young Spaniard with tremendously high upside, Luis Masaveu.

Garcia feels that a major differentiator with LIV Golf that may help them develop new stars and help young players reach their potential revolves around the team environment. They’re practicing and playing together every day, they spend the time before and after the round together, they’re around their teammates when things aren’t going well, and perhaps most importantly, they have an elite player in their team captain to learn from.

While things didn’t work out for Torque GC member Mito Pereira, he echoed a similar sentiment ahead of the individual championship in Indianapolis last season. When we asked him how being around his teammates through the tough times have helped he said:

“I’m thinking about that a lot. It would have been way worse without being here with these guys. So I’m very thankful for that. Sometimes you take it for granted that you have people around you that’s trying to help, but when you are in those tough times and you really see the people that is helping you, or trying to help, it’s really nice to see. Yeah, I’m thankful for that, and it would have been way worse these couple of years. But obviously it hasn’t been good, but it has been better than it would have been”

The Future of Star Development in Professional Golf

The team environment within LIV Golf is unique in the way it affects events, with players having more to play for than just their own score, but perhaps the way it can affect the careers of young professionals is even more important.

David Puig, Tom McKibbin, and Josele Ballester could be the first of many stars to get their start on LIV Golf and go on to reach a level of play that might not have otherwise happened.