LIV Golf 2026 New Player Analysis: Victor Perez

Cleeks Golf Club made the first splash of the offseason, inking Victor Perez to a contract. With last year’s addition Frederik Kjettrup relegated, Cleeks GM Jonas Mårtensson and Captain Martin Kaymer needed a reliable replacement, and they found one in Perez, who will become the first French player to compete on LIV Golf and represent the 26th different country in league history.

PLAYER BIO

Age: 33
Nationality: French
Data Golf Ranking: 88th
Career Wins: 7 (3 DP World Tour, 2 Challenge Tour, 1 Alps Tour, 1 French Tour).
Career Highlights: Won the 2019 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Best Major Finish: T12 at the 2021 PGA Championship (Oak Hill). Has made 17 major starts.
2025 Results: Six top 20 finishes including a T19 at the U.S. Open at Oakmont.
Major Eligibility in 2026: Has not yet qualified for any major.

2025 PGA TOUR RANKS

Scoring Average: 70.4 (37th)
Driving Distance: 305.4 (77th)
Driving Accuracy: 64.76% (40th)
Greens in Regulation: 72.8% (6th)
Birdie Average (per tournament): 3.99 (59th)
Scrambling: 59.95% (77th)
Strokes Gained: Approach: +0.48 (21st)
Strokes Gained: Off the Tee: +0.09 (84th)
Strokes Gained: Around the Green: -0.22 (151st)
Strokes Gained: Putting: +0.22 (44th)

STATISTICAL PROFILE

Perez is relatively short but accurate off the tee. The biggest strength of the Frenchman’s game is his iron play, ranking 21st in Strokes Gained: Approach and 6th in Greens in Regulation in 2025. He is a solid putter who struggles to chip when he misses the green. Perez is a fantastic wind player who will thrive on both short and coastal tracks.

Statistical look-alike: Paul Casey of Crushers GC

INTERESTING FACTS

- In 2019, Perez became the first French golfer to win on the Old Course at St. Andrews, claiming the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in a playoff. He holed a 45-foot birdie putt to force extra holes, then sealed it with birdies on the first two playoff holes

- At the 2023 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Perez claimed his maiden Rolex Series title by holing out from the greenside bunker shot on the 71st hole (par-5 18th) to save par and win by one stroke.

- At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Perez shot a 29 on the back nine in the final round on home soil, pushing hard for a medal but eventually finishing fourth, three strokes behind the winner Scottie Scheffler.

- During the second round of the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont, Perez made a hole-in-one the 192-yard par-3 third hole. It was the first U.S. Open ace at Oakmont since 1983.

- Perez stands 6’6” tall, tying him with new teammate Adrian Meronk as LIV Golf’s tallest player in the league’s history.

- Perez attended the University of New Mexico from 2011 to 2015. While there, he represented France in the 2014 Eisenhower Trophy, where he was the joint-second lowest individual scorer behind Jon Rahm.

- Perez relocated from France to Scotland in 2017, initially settling in Dundee before moving to Edinburgh in 2023. Living just 14 miles from the Old Course helped him to win the 2019 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, his first DP World Tour victory. He noted in 2019: "The culture of golf in Scotland should make almost every golfer want to come here... People live, breathe golf."

- Perez's father, Michel Perez, is a physical education teacher and rugby coach in Séméac, the small town in the Hautes-Pyrénées department where Victor was born. Growing up in this rugby-mad area, he was immersed in the sport from childhood. His father's coaching exposed him to training drills, team dynamics, and the physical demands of rugby, which Perez has credited with building his early fitness and mental toughness.

BOTTOM LINE

In 2025, Cleeks Golf Club was one of only three teams who didn’t register a podium finish. Perez brings the team a steady veteran who brings a much higher floor than the relegated Kjettrup. He will immediately make the team more competitive and will also bolster the depth for the entire LIV Golf roster.

Perez has the capability to finish in the top 24 of the standings, with upside approaching the top 10 and a legitimate chance to lead his team in points.

This signing may fly under the radar, but he is an excellent addition for Cleeks Golf Club and will fit perfectly with the team's European mix.