Category: Brandon Grace

LIV Golf: Top 5 Through Boston

DJ and Cam Smith Lead the Field
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Now that the first four LIV events have been completed, it’s a good time to take a look at which players have had the greatest success heading to Rich Harvest Farms in Chicago (September 16-18). We’ve rated and ranked players based on events played, average finish, wins, Top-10 finishes (including runner-up, top-5 and top-10) as well as performance at the 2022 major championships (LIV Player Rankings). To date, 68 players have competed in one or more of the LIV tournaments played thus far, and each has been rated on the performance criteria outlined above to provide a basis for our rankings.

Rich Harvest Farms, Chicago IL

The Leaders

Dustin Johnson: No. 1 / 72.5 Rating

Late Sunday afternoon at The International in Boston, DJ found himself in a sudden death playoff with newly minted LIV players Joaquin Niemann and Anirban Lahiri. When DJ rammed in a lengthy putt for eagle on the opening playoff hole, he raised the trophy for his first LIV tournament win. Having already recorded top 10’s at each of the first 3 events (T2 at Trump National Bedminster, a T3 in Portland and 8th place finish in London), along with a T6 at the Open Championship, Johnson is at the top of the LIV player rankings.

Cameron Smith: No. 2 / 64.0 Rating

Although Cam came up one shot shy of joining the playoff in Boston, a T4 (14 under) along with his Open Championship victory in July and T3 at The Masters back in April vaulted him all the way to Number 2, just behind Dustin.

Talor Gooch, Henrik Stenson and Brandon Grace
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Talor Gooch: No. 3 / 56.0 Rating (Tie)

While Talor has yet to record an LIV win, he has finished among the top 10 in all four events (9th in London, 7th in Portland, T6 at Bedminster and a 6th place finish in Boston). Gooch also made the cut in 3 of the 4 majors he played in 2022 (including a T14 at Augusta), which places him in a tie for No. 3 with Henrik Stenson.

Henrik Stenson: No. 3 / 56.0 Rating (Tie)

Stenson held off Matt Wolff and DJ at Bedminster to win the only LIV event he’s played thus far. Unfortunately, Henrik had to withdraw from the field in Boston last weekend—but all indications are that he will be ready to go in Chicago.

Brandon Grace: No. 5 / 55.7 Rating (Tie)

Brandon recorded a T3 in the first LIV event in London, and followed that up by winning at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland. With his T13 at Bedminster and a 12th last week in Boston, Grace has the 3rd highest average finish (7.3) of any player who has competed at all four LIV tournaments (behind DJ at 3.5 and Taylor Gooch at 7.0).  

Louie Oosthuizen and Patrick Reed: LIV Top 10
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Notables

Louis Oosthuizen: No. 9 / 49.2 Rating

Louie is among the Top 10 on the strength of a T10 in London, 5th place finish in Portland, and a T9 last week in Boston. With one of the great golf swings in history, it’s a pretty good bet that Oosthuizen will record his first LIV win before the final event of the season at Trump Doral in October.

Patrick Reed: No. 10 / 48 Rating

Reed has recorded 2 top-5 finishes in the 3 events he’s played thus far (T3 in Portland and 5th at Bedminster). Patrick also made the cut at all four of the major championships in 2022.

Brooks and Bryson: Need to Kick it in Gear
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Treading Water

Brook Koepka: No. 25 / 35.3 Rating

While Koepka puts the most stock in major championships, it’s still a surprise that Brooks hasn’t made a bigger showing in his first three LIV events (a T16 in Portland, T11 at Bedminster and a T26 last week in Boston). 2022 has also been Koepka’s worst season in memory at the majors with missed cuts at The Masters and The Open Championship, along with a 55th place finish at the U.S. Open and a T55 at the PGA.

Although Brooks hasn’t made any excuses, it looks like the knee injury he suffered back in 2021 is a likely a factor in his mediocre performance thus far in 2022.

Bryson DeChambeau: No. 26 / 34.7 Rating

Bryson recorded a T8 at The Open Championship and a T10 in his first LIV event in Portland, but followed that up with a T31 at Bedminster and a T17 last week in Boston. Given his tremendous length from the tee, those performances are significantly below what most would expect.

I’m guessing that “The Scientist” will be heading for the lab, however, and will soon come up with a potion to improve his average finish number (currently at 19.3).

Phil: Missing in Action
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Missing in Action

Phil Mickelson: No. 60 / 15 Rating 

To say Phil’s first four LIV tournaments have been a struggle is an understatement. In twelve rounds, Mickelson has carded only two under 70 (a first round 69 in London and a second round 69 last Saturday in Boston). At the first event in London, he finished at T33 (+10). In Portland he came in at T40 (+10), and then followed that up with a 35th place finish at Trump National Bedminster (+6).

Unfortunately, it didn’t get any better in Boston where he finished with a T40 (+2). When you throw in missed cuts at the two major championships he played this year, it’s hard to believe this is the same Phil who won the PGA only last year—perhaps he’s waiting for the big stage at Trump Doral in October.  

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LIV Golf: Reality Check

Henrik Stenson and Charl Schwartzel: LIV Winners

As the final round of the FedEx Cup playoffs gets under way this afternoon at East Lake Golf Club to determine if Rory or Xander Schauffele can chase down Scottie Scheffler, much of the media’s attention has been focused on LIV. Conjecture abounds concerning Cam Smith’s imminent departure from the PGA Tour, the identity of a large contingent of “big names” rumored to be on the verge of making the move, where that will leave the future of the Tour, and Tiger’s plan to thwart the attack.

While these are hot topics, perhaps it’s a good time to take a step back and examine the facts as they currently stand. Rory McIlroy, the highest profile player in the world, isn’t going anywhere. Should Scotty Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth or Xander Schauffele suddenly announce an intention to defect—well, that could certainly change the landscape. Don’t expect it to happen.

Unless LIV moves from 3 rounds/54 holes (similar to the Champions Tour) to 4 rounds/72 holes (in line with all significant professional golf tours worldwide), and can bolster field depth, the OWGR (Official World Golf Rankings) will be justified in viewing their events as glorified exhibitions—offering no WGR points for LIV tournament finishes.

Jon Rahm: Committed to the PGA Tour

One of the primary criteria for gaining entry to major championships, the most important events in golf, is a player’s position in the World Golf Rankings—and lucrative sponsorship opportunities inevitably go to major championship winners. Performance at the majors is also the biggest factor in determining where a player will be viewed among the all-time greats of the game.

Golf professionals have a limited window of opportunity to build their record, with major championships and tour wins coming at far lower frequency as a player moves into their mid to late 30’s (the “prime” years for a PGA Tour pro is 25-35). Jack and Tiger won 28 of their 33 major championships before reaching 36 years of age.

The reality is that the vast majority of players who have moved over to LIV are either at the tail end of their prime or beyond it, with little to lose and a great deal to gain by taking the money.

DJ and Koepka: Cashing Out

The Biggest Names

Dustin Johnson, at 38 years old, has his prime years behind him. 2021 was the first season since coming out on Tour in 2008 that Dustin failed to record a win, and 2022 wasn’t looking any better with just 2 top 10’s in 12 events. While Johnson still had an opportunity to move into the top 20 players all-time, the window was beginning to close—so his decision to cash out was not all that surprising.

Brooks Koepka, now 32 years old, had a solid year in 2021 with 3 major Top-10’s and a win at the Phoenix Open, but his 2022 season was looking pretty dismal with just 2 top 10’s in 17 starts. And while Brooks is known for coming up big at the majors, he recorded just 4 wins at regular tour events in his career. To move into the top 50 players all-time, Brooks would need a number of muti-win seasons on Tour with another major championship or two in the next few years—so like Johnson, his decision to opt for big guaranteed money should not be a shocker.

LIV Winners

Charl Schwartzel, winner of the first LIV event in London, is 37 years old, and like Johnson, his prime years are behind him. Through age 33, Charl made the cut in over 80% of his starts on the PGA Tour while finishing in the top 10 almost 20% of the time. His win at the Masters, however, came back in 2011 and his last Tour win was in 2016.

Since 2018, Schwartzel made the cut in only 34 of the 67 Tour events he entered, with a total of just 8 Top 10’s—so his opportunity with LIV could not have come at a better time.

Brandon Grace: Wins in Portland

The Portland event was captured by Brandon Grace. At 34, Brandon has entered the final years of his prime—and while he’s recorded 2 PGA Tour wins and 9 wins on the DP World Tour in his career, the last 2 years have been difficult for him with 20 missed cuts in 46 events and only 4 top 10 finishes. No doubt LIV has provided welcome relief.

Winner of the New Jersey event at Trump National Bedminster, Henrik Stenson reportedly received $50 million to join LIV—and that’s a lot of money to walk away from at 46 years old. Henrik had an outstanding career with 5 wins on the PGA Tour, 9 wins on the DP World Tour plus a major win (2016 Open Championship) as well as 13 major Top-10’s.

The last 3 years, however, have been a struggle for Henrik as he made the cut in just 12 of the 36 PGA events he entered, without recording a Top 10 in any of them. While Stenson is among the top 75 players in the history of the game, and his epic battle with Phil on Sunday at Troon in 2016 will always be remembered, his ability to compete successfully on the PGA Tour was winding down—so LIV was a dream come true.

Patrick Reed: Playing the Asian Tour

The Wrap Up

Other players who have reached their twilight years and opted for LIV include Sergio Garcia (42), Paul Casey (46), Louis Oosthuizen (39) and Charles Howell III (43)—not to mention Phil at 52 years old.

Patrick Reed, who stated that his primary motivation for joining LIV was to have more time with his family, has begun entering tournaments on the Asian Tour in order to secure WGR ranking points and maintain his position among the top 50 in the world (he recorded a T31 in Singapore last week).

Unless LIV endeavors to make changes to their tournament structure and is recognized by the OWGR on a similar basis to the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour (or at the very least on par with the Asian Tour), LIV will have a difficult time luring the brightest young stars away from the PGA Tour. And its life span will be extremely limited.

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