When LIV players taking part in The Masters suffered a collective day of underperformance in round one, the knives were out.
It appeared to back up the accusations that joining the money-laden rebel tour with limited fields had taken their competitive edge away and the effect of that was shown at its strongest in Majors – the most important events in the game.
LIV’s Tyrrell Hatton finishing third at Augusta – his best Masters result – punched a hole in the theory in some eyes.
But there’s no doubt that several players have really dropped off in the Majors since leaving the PGA Tour for LIV.
Here we list the top five.
Dustin Johnson
In seven seasons from 2015 to 2021, Dustin Johnson was an absolute stud in the Majors.
Over the 27 he played in that period, DJ racked up two wins, four second places and a further eight top 10s.
He signed for LIV just prior to the 2022 US Open and finished sixth in the Open Championship a month later.
But in his 13 Majors as a LIV player since then, Johnson has missed six cuts and made the top 20 just once (T10 in the 2023 US Open).
Jon Rahm
Rahm joined LIV at the end of 2023 and it was a huge coup for the breakaway organisation.
In the 10 majors he’d played before the switch, Rahm racked up two wins (2021 US Open and 2023 Masters), a tied second, a tied third and three other top 10s.
Since the move, he’s managed three top 10s in seven attempts but nothing better than seventh.
We’d become used to Rahm being up there in every single Major; now it’s far from uncommon to see him nowhere near page one of the leaderboard.
Cameron Smith
The rumours surrounding Smith were swirling when he achieved his finest moment in golf – winning the 2022 Open Championship at St Andrews.
It was no great surprise to see him lifting the Claret Jug at the Old Course as he’d previously posted second, third and fifth at The Masters.
The move to LIV in the summer of 2023 didn’t stop him making a mark in the Majors in 2023 as he delivered a ninth in the PGA Championship and fourth in the US Open.
But after another good show at Augusta (sixth) in the 2024 Masters, Smith’s form in the Majors has fallen off a cliff.
Indeed, he’s failed to make the weekend in each of the last six. That’s more Majors MCs than he’d suffered in his entire career before switching to LIV.
Louis Oosthuizen
The South African had his golden moment in the Majors when streaking to a seven-shot win in the Open at St Andrews in 2010.
It didn’t stop there. Between 2012 and 2017 he recorded a runners-up finish in all four Majors while in 2021 Oosthuizen went 2-2-3 at the PGA Championship, US Open and Open Championship.
Oosthuizen joined LIV the following year and his form in the Majors since then reads MC-MC-WD-23-MC-MC.
Due to LIV not being given world ranking points, he struggles now to get into Majors and has featured in just two of the last nine.
Brooks Koepka
Maybe Koepka answers the obvious follow-up question: if LIV is detrimental to performance in Majors, should a player move back to the PGA Tour?
Koepka did just that at the start of the year and in his first post-LIV Major he produced a promising tied 12th at The Masters.
Pre-LIV he enjoyed a superb run in the Majors, winning two US Opens and two PGA Championships between 2017 and 2019. In the final three Majors of 2021 he went 2-4-6.
After an initial dip (55-MC) when joining LIV in 2022, Koepka flexed his muscles in the Majors again when finishing runner-up in The Masters and winning his third PGA Championship.
But did no top 10s in the following 10 Majors help persuade him that LIV was hurting his hopes of adding more big titles?
Conclusion
As Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau have both won Majors as LIV players, it’s hard to make sweeping statements.
There are other factors at work such as injuries and natural career dips that would have happened regardless.
But if LIV does come to an end and players like Rahm, Cam Smith and Dustin Johnson suddenly hit form again in the Majors, the obvious conclusions will be drawn.
The post Revealed: The biggest LIV Golf flops in major tournaments appeared first on Golf365.
Article Link: Biggest LIV Golf flops in majors: players who struggled most