Fans might’ve thought Sam Horsfield followed his mentor and friend Ian Poulter to LIV Golf when they shared a press conference at the Saudi-funded league’s inaugural event two years ago.
Horsfield’s friendship with Poulter stemmed from when he beat the European Ryder Cup hero on the course for the first time when he was a 14-year-old protégé. Their bond has culminated in the pair sharing a locker room for Majesticks GC on a tour that has shifted the landscape of professional golf.
The young Englishman, born in Manchester and raised in Florida, developed his career with Poulter on the other end of a phone for advice, but when a new golf league came knocking, Horsfield took it upon himself to indulge LIV CEO Greg Norman in 2022 and take the plunge without the knowledge that Poulter was going to do the same thing.
Fast forward to June 2024 when Horsfied came second at LIV’s most recent event in Nashville, surrounded on a leaderboard by Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith and Tyrrell Hatton, the names he’d likely envisaged tussling with before leaving the DP World Tour for the breakaway league just a couple of years ago.
“My relationship with Ian and having the same agency and management as Ian helped with that,” he told NCG the day after he qualified for The Open at Troon through Final Open Qualifying.
“But it was a thing I was interested in before I knew Ian was going over to LIV. I remember meeting with them beforehand and I was very interested, and then the opportunity came up with Ian, and then other boys followed suit.
“I always thought it was a great opportunity for me and for my career to be able to play with some of the best players in the world week in, week out, testing my game to see what it’s like. I enjoy the competition, I enjoy the challenge. The European Tour (now DP World Tour) was a great spot for me, but I felt like it was time for a change and with LIV coming up, having the opportunity and here we are.”
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Sam Horsfield: LIV Golf talks started before knowledge of Poulter heading in same direction
Horsfield has been with LIV Golf since that explosive first event at Centurion Golf Club in Hemel Hempstead. He came outright fifth and pocketed $975,000. This was an embryonic stage for the start-up circuit which didn’t have team colours or names, or a large portion of the star quality it possesses as we speak.
Horsfield now shares the fairways with Poulter, Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson representing the Majesticks in a combination of light and dark blue, with the occasional shade of pink. The 27-year-old missed much of the 2023 season after requiring hip surgery and it took him nine tournaments in 2024 to appear in the top 10 of a leaderboard.
Having been inspired by Tiger Woods to take up the game, Horsfield won three times on the DP World Tour before making the switch, most recently at the Soudal Open two years ago, and only visa complications stood between him and playing for Great Britain & Ireland in the 2015 Walker Cup.
With his runner-up finish to Hatton two weeks ago, perhaps some capitalisation on his pedigree is finally coming to fruition after a sustained absence from the winner’s circle.
In his four-man LIV Golf team, there are three co-captains and he is the only one without an armband. But while this trio, a core of players that helped Europe dominate the Ryder Cup this millennium, is approaching the twilight of their careers, Horsfield is only getting to the peak and is excited about what his future with LIV Golf looks like.
“I could do,” he said about the prospect of becoming a LIV Golf captain in the future. “There is definitely a bright future ahead and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with the Majesticks and seeing how everything plays out.
“I think it’s going to be really exciting, even though it’s a nervous time for golf, it’s also exciting. It could be cool to see what they turn into and hopefully, I’m with Majesticks for a while. I’ve enjoyed the company of the guys, and we’ll see what happens in the future.”
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