HyFlyers rookie La Sasso embracing life as LIV Golf’s youngest player

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Michael La Sasso’s birthdate is March 25, 2004, which is nine days after Caleb Surratt was born. That means La Sasso, the newest member of HyFlyers GC, now assumes the role of LIV Golf’s youngest player as the league begins its 2026 season this week at Riyadh Golf Club.

The two 21-year-old players not only are close in age but also enjoy a close friendship. They both grew up in the same state – North Carolina – and competed against each other in junior events.

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At one time, both were committed to playing collegiately at North Carolina State; Surratt eventually opted for Tennessee while La Sasso transferred after one year to Mississippi, where he won the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Individual Championship.

Two years ago, Surratt left Tennessee to turn pro and join LIV Golf’s first expansion team, Legion XIII, to play for captain Jon Rahm. During those early days, Surratt stayed at La Sasso’s house in Raleigh, N.C, where they share the same swing instructor, Chase Duncan.

It was during that time that La Sasso heard about life as a LIV Golf player. What Surratt told him was very intriguing.

“Everything that he had to say, it made me excited,” La Sasso recalled Tuesday on the eve of his first professional round at this week’s ROSHN Group LIV Golf Riyadh. “For a very early start, hearing about LIV and every perk that it had and hearing him talk so highly about it … 

“I asked him a bunch of questions and kind of from the start, everything that he had to say and people that I talked to, everything was so, so good.”

La Sasso and Surratt are part of LIV Golf’s young guns, emerging stars who are developing their skills while competing against – and learning from – a league roster that includes 11 major champions. They are among the four players (including the Fireballs GC Spanish duo of David Puig and Josele Ballester) competing this year who turned pro specifically to play on LIV Golf.

Puig and Ballester are being mentored by Sergio Garcia. Surratt is learning from Rahm. The opportunity to pick the brain of LIV Golf’s most decorated player – six-time major champion and Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson – was too good to pass up.

“I feel like he’ll be able to answer any question that I throw at him,” La Sasso said. “To have the ability to be able to ask somebody like that on a daily basis, that played a very big part in it for me. Not every 21-year-old has the opportunity to be able to ask questions to those people. That was a big factor.”

La Sasso first met Mickelson on the range at Oakmont at last year’s U.S. Open. Their first lengthy conversation, however, was only recently, as Mickelson pitched the benefits of joining LIV Golf.

Recalling that conversation, La Sasso said: “I was definitely pinching myself a little bit. My parents were right near me and my mom was freaking out. She was like, ‘Holy cow, you’re talking to Phil Mickelson right now.’ I think my mom and dad were a little bit more excited than I was. It felt comfortable speaking to him.”

Like his fellow American Surratt two years ago, La Sasso has very little experience playing golf outside the U.S. His flight to Riyadh was the longest of his life; he pulled a veteran move, though, sleeping for eight hours. And his first tournament is an eye-opener – night golf in the Saudi capital.

After Riyadh, he’ll travel to Australia for next week’s event in Adelaide, with the potential of record crowds for all four days. In March, he goes to Hong Kong, Singapore and Johannesburg in South Africa in three consecutive weeks. It’s quite the introduction to life as a professional golfer.

“Being able to look at different cultures and the way that they are in day-to-day life – I feel like we are so sheltered with the amount of exposure we really get,” La Sasso said. “So, to actually be here and to be able to see it for myself and to share those stories one day to my children, that’s pretty cool.

“Being able to be here, play under the lights, being able to travel the world at such a young age – the experience that I’ll get from this, you can’t really pass up.”