Michael La Sasso passes on Masters start to join LIV’s HyFlyers

by Golf NIL Staff

January 20, 2026

Michael La Sasso had options on the table as he prepared to turn professional. He chose LIV Golf.

LIV Golf announced Tuesday that the 2025 NCAA Division I individual champion has signed with Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers GC, ending his college career at Ole Miss and passing on an April start at Augusta National. The move comes ahead of LIV’s season opener in early February.

La Sasso carries an $800,000 Golf NIL Valuation, one of the highest in college golf. Record Golf NIL Valuations have changed the math around staying in school, while programs like PGA Tour University and PGA Tour University Accelerated have created clearer paths into the professional ranks.

Ranked third in the PGA Tour U standings behind Virginia’s Ben James and Texas golfer Christiaan Maas, La Sasso was positioned to move through that system. Instead, the Raleigh, North Carolina native chose a different entry point into the professional game.

La Sasso’s appeal to LIV is that he checks more than one box.

Michael La Sasso competing in the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont, one of the major championships he qualified for as an amateur | Jeff Haynes/USGA

From a performance standpoint, he brings a powerful game and a proven track record of success. He’s also entering the pro ranks with an online presence rare for an amateur golfer, already one of the most-followed names in collegiate golf. For LIV, that is exactly the mix they've been targeting.

Over the last five years, the league has focused on building audience engagement around its product, and a player like La Sasso brings built-in visibility across platforms.

La Sasso isn’t the first NCAA individual champion to go the LIV route. Clemson’s Turk Pettit joined the league in 2022 after claiming the 2021 title. Other high-profile college players have made similar moves, including 2021 U.S. Amateur champion James Piot, who joined the HyFlyers after his final season at Michigan State.

Two world top-10s have recently gone that way as well: Caleb Surratt left Tennessee mid-school year to compete for Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII, and 2024 U.S. Amateur winner Josele Ballester joined Sergio García’s Fireballs GC in 2025, shortly after graduating from Arizona State.

In November 2022, the PGA Tour rolled out its Accelerated program for underclassmen and tied a PGA Tour membership to the No. 1 spot in the Tour U rankings. Since then, most top players have chosen that path. Even with that structure firmly in place, LIV has continued to sign elite college and amateur talent.

What La Sasso gains is immediate professional opportunity and financial security on a team led by one of golf’s legends. What he gives up—for now: college completion, a Masters start, a foothold in the OWGR, and access to the PGA Tour’s existing system.

“It’s a rare opportunity to learn from one of the greatest players in the history of the game,” La Sasso said in a statement. “LIV Golf allows me to compete at the highest level on a global stage, and I thrive in a team environment.”

Set to debut Feb. 4-7 at Riyadh Golf Club, La Sasso joins Mickelson, Brendan Steele, and Cameron Tringale on a HyFlyers roster that finished fifth in the 2025 LIV Golf Team Championship. Whether this pays off will depend on factors he can’t control: LIV's ability to last, to secure world ranking points, and to keep its top names from heading back to the PGA Tour.

Right now, La Sasso is betting that this version of his future is worth more than the one he just walked away from.