The article below was written by George Cooper and Matt Chivers of National Club Golfer.
With the LIV Golf world rankings debacle causing havoc within the breakaway league, we track just how far has defector fallen in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).
LIV Golf world rankings
While the growing list of players defecting to LIV Golf continues to produce an endless amount of controversy, backlash, and legal conflict over their future endeavours, one of the biggest issues facing the league’s rebels is their plummeting positions in the OWGR.
As it stands, the Greg Norman-led series has not received OWGR accreditation, meaning players have been unable to collect world ranking points for playing in the LIV Golf invitational events.
Couple this with the PGA Tour indefinitely banning LIV’s rebels from returning to their circuit (for now), and we’ve already seen the defectors begin to plummet in the OWGR.
But just how far are we talking? Well, here’s a table showing where LIV’s stars ranked prior to joining the breakaway series, and where they sit today…
OWGR of LIV Golf players
| Player | Pre-LIV ranking | Current ranking | Difference |
| Cameron Smith | 2 | 5 | -3 |
| Dustin Johnson | 13 | 65 | -52 |
| Brooks Koepka | 19 | 106 | -87 |
| Joaquin Niemann | 19 | 27 | -8 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 20 | 104 | -84 |
| Abraham Ancer | 20 | 30 | -10 |
| Paul Casey | 27 | 102 | -75 |
| Bryson DeChambeau | 29 | 143 | -114 |
| Jason Kokrak | 32 | 80 | -48 |
| Kevin Na | 33 | 88 | -55 |
| Talor Gooch | 35 | 50 | -15 |
| Harold Varner III | 42 | 51 | -9 |
| Patrick Reed | 38 | 66 | -28 |
| Sergio Garcia | 54 | 149 | -95 |
| Cameron Tringale | 55 | 87 | -32 |
| Marc Leishman | 63 | 101 | -38 |
| Richard Bland | 66 | 110 | -44 |
| Matt Jones | 68 | 132 | -64 |
| Shaun Norris | 69 | 174 | -105 |
| Phil Mickelson | 71 | 374 | -303 |
| Sam Horsfield | 72 | 141 | -69 |
| Lee Westwood | 74 | 276 | -202 |
| Matthew Wolff | 77 | 188 | -111 |
| Bubba Watson | 86 | 208 | -122 |
| Ian Poulter | 89 | 151 | -62 |
| Bernd Wiesberger | 90 | 154 | -64 |
| Hudson Swafford | 91 | 144 | -53 |
| Anirban Lahiri | 91 | 97 | -6 |
| Scott Vincent | 109 | 121 | -12 |
| Laurie Canter | 114 | 194 | -80 |
| Branden Grace | 118 | 218 | -100 |
| Sadom Kaewkanjana | 118 | 83 | +35 |
| Carlos Ortiz | 119 | 274 | -155 |
| Charl Schwartzel | 120 | 201 | -81 |
| Phachara Khongwatmai | 136 | 184 | -48 |
| Sihwan Kim | 164 | 235 | -71 |
| Adrian Otaegui | 165 | 85 | +80 |
| Pat Perez | 168 | 245 | -77 |
| Charles Howell III | 171 | 324 | -153 |
| Henrik Stenson | 171 | 178 | -7 |
| Hideto Tanihara | 173 | 220 | -47 |
| Martin Kaymer | 210 | 638 | -428 |
| Wade Ormsby | 265 | 323 | -58 |
| Peter Uihlein | 311 | 426 | -115 |
| Turk Pettit | 600 | 747 | -147 |
| Thomas Pieters | 35 | 42 | -7 |
| Danny Lee | 267 | 267 | – |
| Brendan Steele | 118 | 120 | -2 |
| Dean Burmester | 59 | 74 | -15 |
| Mito Pereira | 46 | 53 | -7 |
| Sebastian Munoz | 93 | 108 | -15 |
And, if the stats weren’t alarming enough for these players, the trend appears in no danger of slowing down soon.
While Greg Norman’s series is undergoing an application to obtain accreditation from the OWGR board, the hurdles couldn’t be greater at this moment in time.
Approval can take anything between one and two years, and even then, LIV’s field size is not greater than 75, LIV Golf events are not contested over 72 holes, and they do not involve a cut – just a few of the compulsory elements the OWGR requires in its rules and regulations.
At the end of the LIV Golf League 2023 season, the LIV Promotions Event will take place which takes a Q-school-type form to allow a pathway for external players to join the league.
Four players at the bottom of the LIV Golf individual leaderboard will be relegated and four spots will be up for grabs in the 2024 season.
