LIV Golf continues to round out its lineup with PGA Tour Q-School participants.
Frederik Kjettrup, a 24-year-old Danish product and Florida State native, has signed with the Saudi-backed league as the newest member of Cleeks GC. It was a move first reported by bunkered.co.uk and confirmed by GolfChannel.com.
LIV is expected to announce the signing of the contract on Friday.
Kjettrup was cleared for the final stage of the PGA Tour Q-School after three victories and finishing second in points on the PGA Tour Americas this season. However, Kjettrup withdrew in the run-up to the competition, which was held earlier this month at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course and nearby Sawgrass Country Club.
South Korea’s Yubin Jang withdrew from the final stage two days before first-round play time, and it was later announced that he would join Iron Heads GC.
Kjettrup finished 11th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings as an amateur and won twice as a Seminole, including winning the ACC title last season. In his final collegiate start last May, Kejttrup opened the NCAA Championship at Omni La Costa in the 84th inning, then pitched three straight innings at or above par to help the Seminoles put together a game where they advanced to the championship game before losing to Auburn.
After turning professional, Kjettrup qualified for the US Open and then set his sights on Canada, where he won in each of his first two starts and had a total of five top-10 finishes. His last start in the world rankings took place in September during the Irish Open DP World Tour. He is currently ranked 241st in the world.
Cleeks also includes captain Martin Kaymer, Richard Bland and Adrian Meronk.
Kaymer spoke exclusively to Bunker about Kjettrup.
“We were attracted to a few things,” Kaymer told the British outlet. “First of all, it’s very difficult to become a professional and win early. I’ve been lucky to win quite early in my career and I know how difficult it is to get your first win above the line. He backed it up with another victory in just a few weeks. I thought that was an amazing achievement for someone who had just graduated. But Frederik and I established a good relationship quite quickly.
“I believe that next year the most important thing will be that we have a well-functioning team in terms of team spirit. All four results will count next year. You can’t relax and give up. I had the impression that his attitude was serious. He had a great passion for the game. He still has youth in him, which is inspiring to our team.
Kaymer added that he believes LIV Golf could open a path to the major leagues in the future: “I hear from the league that it looks pretty good. Hopefully we can qualify for the main competition next year. We can’t say for sure that this will happen. But it didn’t bother him.”
