One of the top amateurs in the world is joining LIV Golf.
Caleb Surratt, a sophomore at Tennessee, is turning professional and will join Jon Rahm’s LIV team ahead of LIV Golf’s season opener at Mayakoba in Mexico, which begins Friday. LIV Golf announced the long-rumored news Tuesday when it announced Rahm’s team Legion XIII.
Joining Rahm’s Legion XIII with Surratt will be Tyrrell Hatton, ranked 16th in the world, and Kieran Vincent, who was one of three players to qualify for the league via the LIV Golf Promotions event.
Surratt, ranked 10th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, was a member of the 2023 Walker Cup team and won the individual SEC Championship as a freshman last spring. He was named a Golfweek first-team All-America selection, the first in Tennessee history, and was tabbed SEC Freshman of the Year.
In four events with the Volunteers in the fall, Surratt had a 69.00 stroke average in 10 rounds and a second-place finish at the Fighting Irish Classic.
Together we conquer. #LegionXIIIGC @livgolf_league pic.twitter.com/0C9Fx5l0al
— Legion XIII (@LegionXIIIgc) January 30, 2024
Hatton finished T-14 at The Sentry and T-13 at The American Express, his two starts on the PGA Tour this month. It was reported recently Hatton was making the switch to join his Ryder Cup teammate.
Surratt is the second member of the 2023 Walker Cup team to turn pro, joining Nick Dunlap, who will also make his debut this week at the PGA Tour’s 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Dunlap became the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson in 1991 at The American Express in La Quinta, California.
Surratt is not the first high-ranking amateur to join LIV Golf. During the league’s inaugural season, former Arizona State golfer David Puig joined the league when he was ranked ninth in WAGR. Puig is now on Sergio Garcia’s team.
Then, Eugenio Chacarra left Oklahoma State while ranked second in the world, and he won in his fifth start at 2022 LIV Golf Thailand. Chacarra is also on Garcia’s team.