LIV Golf continues to fill out its roster with PGA Tour Q-School entrants.
Frederik Kjettrup, a 24-year-old Danish product out of Florida State, has signed with the Saudi-backed league as the newest member of Cleeks GC. The move was first reported by bunkered.co.uk and confirmed by GolfChannel.com.
The signing is expected to be announced by LIV as soon as Friday.
Kjettrup was exempt into the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School after winning three times and finishing second in points on PGA Tour Americas this season. Kjettrup, however, withdrew in the lead-up to the event, which was contested earlier this month at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course and nearby Sawgrass Country Club.
South Korea’s Yubin Jang withdrew from final stage two days before his first-round tee time and was later announced as joining Iron Heads GC.
Kjettrup reached as high as No. 11 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking as an amateur and won twice as a Seminole, including last season’s ACC Championship. In his final college start last May, Kejttrup opened the NCAA Championship at Omni La Costa in 84 before rallying with three straight rounds of par or better to help the Seminoles to match play, where they’d advance to the championship match before losing to Auburn.
Upon turning pro, Kjettrup qualified for the U.S. Open and then turned his focus to Canada, where he won in each of his first two starts and compiled five total top-10s. His last world-ranked start came at the DP World Tour’s Irish Open in September. He is currently ranked No. 241 in the world.
The Cleeks roster also includes captain Martin Kaymer, Richard Bland and Adrian Meronk.
Kaymer spoke exclusively with bunkered about Kjettrup.
“Several things attracted us,” Kaymer told the U.K. outlet. “First of all, it’s very difficult becoming a professional and winning fairly early. I was lucky enough to win fairly quick in my career and I know how difficult it is to get that first win over the line. He backed it up with another win in just a few weeks. I thought that was an incredible achievement for someone who just finished school. But with Frederik, we had a good connection fairly quick.
“I believe next year it is vital we have a well functioning team in terms of team spirit. All four scores will count next year. You can’t relax and give up. I felt the attitude he had was serious. He had a great passion for the game. He’s still got the youth in him which is inspiring for our team.”
Kaymer added that he believes LIV Golf could have a pathway to the majors in the future: “What I’ve heard from the league is that it looks pretty good. Hopefully next year we have some kind of way of qualifying for majors. We cannot say for sure this will happen. But he was fine with that.”
