The number of major wins among LIV golfers has dropped since quitting the PGA Tour, highlighting a sharp decline in relative performance.
Three and a half years have passed since LIV Golf shocked the world with its inaugural event in June 2022, when 44 of the top 150 golfers switched to the Saudi-backed tour.
Qualifying for a major has become more difficult for former PGA players, with LIV events awarding no Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points, but overall performance has also stagnated.
So, how are LIV players now prepared to compete with their major opponents on the PGA Tour?
LIV golfers have won just two major tournaments since the PGA Tour transition.
Brooks Koepka won his third PGA title and fifth major in 2023, a year after Bryson DeChambeau doubled his U.S. Open total.
But how many majors did the LIV golf star win during the same period before switching careers?
LIV players won seven majors in the same span before leaving the PGA Tour.
Koepka and Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship in 2019 and 2021 respectively, while DeChambeau and Jon Rahm won the U.S. Open in 2020 and 2021.
Cameron Smith won his only Grand Slam title at the 2022 Open Championship.
Dustin Johnson and Rahm completed that total at the 2020 and 2023 Masters.
According to data from golf statistician Ron Klos, as of May this year, only DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton have improved their average performance in the majors (at least three appearances) after joining LIV Golf.
Klos also said that among LIV’s 18 golfers, the average ranking in the majors dropped from 44 previously to 59.
At the same time, the ranking of the top ten dropped from 23% to 15%, with two-time major champion Rahm dropping an average of 23 spots and Koepka dropping 20 spots.
What are the reasons for the decline in quality and consistency?
In 2025, the LIV Tour will play a total of 14 tournaments compared to 39 on the PGA Tour, and while not all players will play in every tournament on the PGA, there is a nearly three-fold difference in the amount of tournaments scheduled to prepare players for major tournaments.
Compared with the PGA Tour’s 72-hole format, the Saudi Tour adopts a 54-hole non-elimination format and eliminates about half of the worst-performing players after two rounds.
With such a large difference in the number of holes between tours, there are also significant differences in the format in which LIV golfers prepare to play 72 holes in a major championship.
Despite the drop in performance levels, the LIV Tour has more issues to iron out on the professional side.
Due to LIV’s shorter hole format, closed course format, and no cuts, OWGR will not award points to players during the event.
This has caused LIV players’ world rankings to drop, making it more difficult to automatically qualify for major events, creating a greater obstacle for them to win major championships outside of the PGA.
However, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil is optimistic that the tour will be able to earn OWGR points for players in 2026, as they have previously announced that they will move to 72 holes starting next season to help them solve their problems.
O’Neill told BBC Sport: “We are working with [chairman] Trevor Immelman and the OWGR Board of Directors.
“It’s likely that this will have an impact at some point. We’re having conversations with Trevor and he’s doing an extraordinary and difficult job on solutions that we hope to have in place before next season.”
Smith, who has struggled to maintain the form he was in before LIV, said he wants to get back to his old form and has been thinking about golf.
He has fallen to 354th in the OWGR, and he has also failed to advance in all four majors this year despite earning zero points through LIV events and a ranking that is less representative of performance.
When Smith joined LIV in 2022, fresh off his first major title, he was ranked No. 2 in the world, but said he realized the standard of players on the PGA circuit was declining.
In the three full major seasons since LIV’s inception, 10 of the 12 wins have come by LIV players
The PGA Tour supports Smith’s point about the difference in strength.
Beginning in 2026, players on the LIV Tour may earn OWGR points, so qualifying for majors may become easier.
While moving to 72 holes, players will always compete in the same primary format, preparing all players in the same way on both tours.
So, with these changes implemented, and more adjustments inevitably to come in the future, can we expect the fortunes of these LIV players to change soon? Watch this space.
Read next: Is Rory McIlroy really the best European golfer of all time?
