Jinichiro Kozuma opened up about his exit from LIV Golf. The Japanese golfer had played for the Iron Heads GC in the Saudi league; however, ahead of the start of the 2026 season, the team was rebranded to the Korean Golf Club and added new faces.

Danny Lee is the only one returning to play on the team. Byeong Hun An is joining the team as the captain alongside two other players, Younghan Song and Minkyu Kim. This week, in an exclusive interview with Sports Illustrated, Jinichiro Kozuma said that he was surprised to learn that Kevin Na would no longer be part of the team. He talked about changes at LIV Golf and the rebranding of the Iron Heads into a “Korean-based team.”

“Toward the end of last year, I heard that there was a possibility the Iron Heads might transition into a Korean-based team,” Kozuma said. “At the same time, I was also told that if that happened, there was a chance I wouldn’t be able to remain with the team. After that, however, there were a lot of rumors and the situation seemed to change from time to time.

“So for a while, I wasn’t completely sure what the final decision would be. The moment I clearly understood that I wouldn’t be playing for the Iron Heads moving forward was when I saw the official Instagram post announcing the Korean team [which came on Jan. 12]. That was when everything became clear for me,” he added.

Jinichiro Kozuma secured his spot in LIV Golf through the LIV Golf Promotions event in 2024. He played two seasons in the league before he was not re-signed for the upcoming season. LIV Golf is gearing up for the start of the new season next month.

A look into Jinichiro Kozuma’s 2025 season

Jinichiro Kozuma only played in a limited number of tournaments last season on LIV Golf. He started his campaign at the Mexico City event, where he settled in 21st position. He then tied for seventh at the Korea event. He had some notable finishes, such as a tie for second at the Dallas event.

Here are the results of the tournaments Jinichiro Kozuma played on LIV Golf in 2025:

• LIV Golf Mexico City: 21 (72, 74, 65)
• LIV Golf Korea: T7 (68, 70, 70)
• LIV Golf Virginia: T23 (71, 73, 64)
• LIV Golf Dallas: T2 (72, 70, 68)
• LIV Golf Andalucía: T10 (73, 68, 71)
• LIV Golf United Kingdom: T50 (72, 77, 69)
• LIV Golf Chicago: T47 (72, 72, 73)
• LIV Golf Indianapolis: T40 (69, 67, 71)

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