Category: Patrick Reed

LIV Golf: 2022-23 PGA Wrap-up and Power Rankings

Brooks Koepka: 2023 PGA Champ

After his performance at The Masters, there was no question that Brooks Koepka was back and would be a force at the PGA Championship. At Augusta Brooks dominated early, jumping out to a big lead—but faltered in the final round. The PGA, however, was a different story. Koepka started slowly, gradually building momentum each day before bringing the hammer down on Sunday afternoon.

After posting 2 over in the first round, Brooks lurked in the shadows, 6 shots off the lead held by Bryson DeChambeau at -4. On Friday he glided through the front nine at even par, slowly moving up the leaderboard on the immensely difficult Donald Ross layout at Oak Hill.

And then Brooks kicked it, pouring in 5 birdies on the back nine for 31 and a second round 66, climbing to fifth—3 shots behind the leaders as the championship headed into the weekend.

Oak Hill Country Club: The Ultimate Grind

As if Oak Hill wasn’t tough enough already, Saturday’s weather for the third round featured continuous rain, making the already nasty rough that much more difficult and taking the opportunity to post a low number out of the equation.

It was the perfect storm for Koepka though, who loves nothing more than a hellishly difficult golf course combined with horrendous conditions and maximum pressure. Again, Brooks quietly glided through the front nine with a 1 under 34, and then battered the back with 3 birdies for another 66—going into Sunday with a 1 shot lead over young Victor Hoveland.

Brooks Koepka: 5 Major Championships

Unlike Sunday at The Masters, Koepka put his foot on the gas right out of the box with 3 birdies in the first 4 holes, extending his lead to 3 shots. Hoveland wouldn’t quit though, pulling to within a shot on the sixth hole and staying right there until a double on 16, combined with yet another Koepka birdie, ended his chances.

The win was Koepka’s fifth major championship, one more than Rory McIlroy, and the same number reached by Byron Nelson, Seve Ballesteros and Peter Thomson. It will be hard to bet against Brooks at the Los Angeles Country Club for the U.S. Open Championship in June—although Jon Rahm and Scotty Scheffler won’t just step aside and hand it to him.

On the other hand, Koepka will no doubt relish the competition—and we can look forward to the kind of gunfight not seen at a major championship in a long time.

DJ: Holding onto #1

LIV Power Ranking Update

Players have been rated and ranked on the basis of events played, average finish, wins, runner up, Top-5 and Top-10 finishes–as well as performance at the 2022 and 2023 major championships (LIV Player Rankings).

While seventy-five players have participated in one or more tournaments since the inaugural event in London last year, we’ve included only the top forty-eight. With Brooks Koepka’s win at the PGA and Cam Smith recording a Top 10, a big bite has been taken out of Dustin Johnson’s lead in the Power Rankings—and if either were to win this weekend at Trump National in DC, Johnson may find himself knocked from his perch.

Top 3

No. 1 Dustin Johnson: 95.4 Rating
Dustin is still the only player with a Top 10 average finish (9.6). He has also recorded the most wins (2) and the most top 10’s (7).

Unfortunately, DJ wasn’t sharp at The Masters (T48), and after firing a 67 in the first round of the PGA he followed up with 3 consecutive rounds of 74 to finish far back at T55.

Dustin will have to pick up his game to keep Koepka and Smith at bay—perhaps he’ll put it in gear over the weekend in DC.

Cam Smith: Open Champ plus Two Major Top 10’s

No. 2 Cameron Smith: 89.7 Rating

With a T10 in Singapore, runner-up in Tulsa and final round 65 at the PGA to record a Top 10, Cameron Smith has moved back up into the No. 2 position. If Cam takes home the trophy in Washington and DJ were to finish back in the pack, he can vault past Johnson and grab the top spot.  

No. 3 Brooks Koepka: 87.2 Rating
2023 is shaping up to be a monster year for Brooks Koepka. His second LIV win at Orange County National/Orlando in early April was immediately followed by the fantastic performance at the Masters where he made it clear that the injuries were in the past and his game was back.

Following the runner up at The Masters, Brooks finished 11th at Adelaide, 3rd in Singapore and 5th at Tulsa—and then came his magnificent PGA Championship victory.

It will be fun to see if Brooks keeps the peddle to the metal at Trump National in DC this weekend—and the field better take cover if he does. 

Pat Reed: Masters T4 and PGA Top 20

Notables

Patrick Reed: No. 5—73.5 Rating
While Reed is still looking for his first LIV win, he has recorded 5 Top 5 finishes in 12 starts, including a runner up and 3 third place finishes. Patrick is also second only to DJ in average finish at 12.5.

Reed also followed up his T4 at The Masters with a top 20 finish at the PGA—perhaps this is his week to nail down that first win.

Bryson DeChambeau: Before and After

Bryson DeChambeau: No. 15–52.5 Rating
With only one Top 10 finish in his first 11 LIV events, Bryson was treading water in the middle of the pack—and then he recorded a 5th place finish two weeks ago at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Tulsa and followed that up with a T4 at the PGA Championship.  

Bryson decided to shed much of his bulk toward the end of 2022, and it seems he now feels comfortable in the new slimmed down version of himself—look to see him start packing on more LIV Top-10’s and make some noise at the U.S. Open in LA.

Phil: 100 Major Championship Cuts

Phil: No. 31—40.3 Rating 

Phil is an enigma, no doubt about it. In thirteen LIV events he has recorded only one Top-10—but let him step foot on Augusta National and suddenly he fires a 65 in the final round and adds another runner-up to his amazing major championship record.

And making the cut in the PGA at Oak Hill, as an army of pros half his age packed up and headed home, was yet another milestone in Phil’s illustrious career—the 100th time he made the cut in a major championship.

Only Jack (131) and Gary Player (102) are in front of him—so Phil has a chance to tie Player for second before the year is over.

Now if only he’d stop fooling around and put up some numbers in the regular LIV events…

Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester NY

PGA Championship: Summary

Brooks Koepka WIN
Bryson DeChambeauT4
Cameron SmithT9
Patrick ReedT18
Mito PareiraT18
Harold Varner IIIT29
Thomas PietersT40
Dean Burmester54
Dustin JohnsonT55
Phil MickelsonT58
Sihwan KimT62
Pablo LarazabalT65
Joaquin NiemanMC
Taylor GoochMC
Abraham AncerMC
Anirban LahiriMC
Trump National Washington D.C.

2023 Upcoming LIV Schedule

DC Trump National Golf Club, Washington (May 26-28)

Valderrama Real Club, Spain (June 30-July 2)

London Centurion Club, Hertfordshire UK (July 7-9)

Greenbrier Old White/The Greenbrier WV (August 4-6)

Bedminster Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster NJ  (August 11-13)

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LIV Golf: 2022-23 Power Rankings and Masters Look Back

Brooks Koepka: He’s Back

To the surprise of many, twelve of the eighteen LIV players who were invited to Augusta for The Masters made the cut. On top of that, three finished in the Top 5 (Phil and Brooks Koepka tied for runner-up, while Patrick Reed landed a T4). Young Joaquin Niemann also had a solid week, finishing among the Top 20 (T16).

The big story of the 2023 Masters was Koepka, dominating the field through the first three days of rain interrupted play. When the third round was halted through 6 holes on Saturday, Brooks appeared to be unstoppable in pursuit of his 5th major championship, standing at 13 under par with a 4-shot lead over Jon Rahm.

And as play resumed on Sunday, with both Phil and Pat Reed rocketing up the leaderboard, it looked like the PGA Tour’s worst nightmare was about to unfold.

The golf pundits had universally been saying that the LIV players would have a rough time because they were not used to stiff competition, and LIV tournaments were only 3 rounds. Phil (at 52 years old) closed with a fourth round 65 and Reed fired a 68—both finishing in the top 5 and putting a stopper on that theory.

Although Brooks faltered on Sunday and Rahm was able to overtake him, he exhibited a degree of humility and class worthy of a four-time major champion. There is no question that Koepka is back, and you can expect to see him among the leaders at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill in May.

Dustin Johnson: Giving some Ground

LIV Power Ranking Update

Players have been rated and ranked on the basis of events played, average finish, wins, runner up, Top-5 and Top-10 finishes–as well as performance at the 2022 and 2023 major championships (LIV Player Rankings).

While seventy-five players have participated in one or more tournaments since the inaugural event in London last year, we’ve included only the top forty-eight. Not surprisingly, Dustin Johnson has dominated pretty much from day one. With his T4 at The Masters, however, Patrick Reed continues to move closer to DJ, and Brooks Koepka is beginning to bull his way toward the top with his second LIV win and runner-up at Augusta National.

Top 3

No. 1 Dustin Johnson: 81.9 Rating
After opening with an 8th place finish at the initial event in London, Dustin recorded a T3 in at Pumkin Ridge Portland, a T2 in Bedminster and then won the fourth event in Boston. In the ten stroke play tournaments held thus far, DJ has recorded a win, a runner-up, three top 5’s and two top 10’s with an average finish of 9.1.

While DJ made the cut at Augusta, his T48 finish was very forgettable—and allowed Reed and Koepka to close the gap quite a bit in the LIV Player Rankings.

Patrick Reed: Masters T5

No. 2 Patrick Reed: 67.6 Rating
Reed recorded a T3 in his first LIV event in Portland, and finished among the top 5 in four of the ten events he’s played (including a T3 at Orange County National in March). Patrick is also among the top echelon for consistency with an average finish of 12.4.

On the heels of his Top 5 finish at the Masters, Reed will look to carry the LIV banner through each of the remaining majors in 2023.

No. 3 Brooks Koepka: 67.0 Rating
After a slow start in 2022, Brooks recorded a T8 at Bangkok and followed that up with a win in his next event (Jeddah). After mediocre finishes in the first two events of 2023, Koepka recorded his second win in Orlando last week—making him the only LIV player with multiple wins thus far.

While his Sunday stumble at Augusta was no doubt a major let down for Brooks, he certainly sent a message that he’s far from done—and Rahm will have his hands full at the PGA this year.

Cameron Smith: Looking to Heat Up at the PGA

Notables

Cameron Smith: No. 7–60.6 Rating
After a fast start, Cameron Smith has tumbled from No. 2 at the conclusion of ‘22 to No. 7 after finishing 24th at The Gallery Golf Club in Tucson, 26th in Orlando, and a disappointing T34 at The Masters.

He will be a force at the PGA, however, should he brandish the wand as he did at The Open Championship last year.

Joaquin Niemann: Young Gun

Joaquin Niemann: No. 9–57.3 Rating
At 24 years old, Joaquin Niemann is one of the brightest young stars in golf. After joining the PGA Tour at 19, Niemann recorded 22 Top-10’s including 2 wins in 5 years–making the cut in just under 80% of the events he entered while reaching the Tour Championship in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Joaquin had an excellent Masters with a T16 finish, but we won’t see him at another major until the U.S. Open at The Los Angeles Country Club in June—where you can expext him to make some noise with his precision ball striking.

Mito Pereira: No. 12—55.3 Rating
Virtually unknown in the U.S. prior to bursting onto the scene with a T3 at the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, Pereira’s outstanding play came as no surprise to golf fans in his native Chile. After winning multiple junior titles, including a victory on the Chilean Professional Tour in 2013 as an Amateur, Mito climbed to number 5 in the official World Amateur Golf Rankings in 2015 at twenty years old.

Mito made the cut and had a solid week at Augusta, and we’ll see him at the PGA Championship in May. Like his fellow Chilean, Joaquin Niemann, look for Mito to have a solid season at the majors in 2023.

Phil: Masters Runner-Up

Phil: No. 37–34.6 Rating 
While Mickelson’s LIV career could only be described as a lead balloon thus far, leave it to Phil to pull a giant rabbit out of his hat when you least expect it. The stunning 65 that he fashioned in the final round at Augusta was a flashback to his incredible PGA win in 2021.

While the Masters runner-up finish propelled Phil from No. 46 to No. 37 in the LIV Player Rankings, it also appears to have ignited a flame as we head toward the PGA (Phil fired a solid 2 under round of 70 in the first round at Adelaide in Australia this week, and followed up with 65 in the second round to move into the Top 10).

Could Phil pull off another bit of magic at Oak Hill? We’ll have to wait and see….

The Masters: 12 of 18 Make the Cut
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The Masters: Summary

Brooks Koepka           T2

Phil Mickelson            T2

Patrick Reed               T4

Joaquin Nieman          T16

Harold Varner III        T29

Cameron Smith           T34

Talor Gooch                T34

Abraham Ancer          T39

Mito Pareira                T43

Dustin Johnson           T48

Thomas Pieters           T48

Charl Schwartzel        T50

Sergio Garcia              MC

Bryson DeChambeau  MC

Jason Kokrak              MC

Bubba Watson            MC

Louis Oosthuizen        WD

Kevin Na                     WD

The Grange Golf Club: A Greg Norman Design

2023 Upcoming LIV Schedule

Adelaide The Grange Golf Club, Australia (April 21-23)

Singapore Sentosa Golf Club (April 28-30)

Tulsa Cedar Ridge Country Club (May 12-14)

DC Trump National Golf Club, Washington (May 26-28)

Valderrama Real Club, Spain (June 30-July 2)

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LIV Golf: 2022-23 Power Rankings and Masters Preview

Dustin Johnson: Continues to Dominate

With the 2022 LIV season in the rearview, the first three events of 2023 completed, and eighteen players headed to The Masters, let’s take a look at who tops the charts after the first ten events.

Players have been rated and ranked on the basis of events played, average finish, wins, runner up, Top-5 and Top-10 finishes–as well as performance at the 2022 major championships (LIV Player Rankings).

While seventy-five players have participated in one or more tournaments since the inaugural event in London last year, we’ve included only the top forty-eight. Not surprisingly, Dustin Johnson has dominated pretty much from day one. With his T3 at Orlando last week, Patrick Reed moved from No. 5 at the close of 2022 to No. 2 heading into The Masters, and Brooks Koepka has muscled his way from No. 9 to No. 3.

After a fast start, Cameron Smith has tumbled from No. 2 at the conclusion of ‘22 to No. 8 after finishing 24th at The Gallery Golf Club in Tucson and 26th in Orlando last week—perhaps Augusta National will get his juices flowing again.

Top 5

No. 1 Dustin Johnson: 80.9 Rating
After opening with an 8th place finish at the initial event in London, Dustin recorded a T3 in at Pumkin Ridge Portland, a T2 in Bedminster and then won the fourth event in Boston. In the ten stroke play tournaments held thus far, DJ has recorded a win, a runner-up, three top 5’s and two top 10’s with an average finish of 9.1.

Patrick Reed: Moving Closer to DJ

 No. 2 Patrick Reed: 62.6 Rating
Reed recorded a T3 in his first LIV event in Portland, and finished among the top 5 in four of the ten events he’s played (including a T3 at Orange County National last week). Patrick is also among the top echelon for consistency with an average finish of 12.4.

Brooks Koepka: 2 LIV wins

No. 3 Brooks Koepka: 62.0 Rating After a slow start in 2022, Brooks recorded a T8 at Bangkok and followed that up with a win in his next event (Jeddah). After mediocre finishes in the first two events of 2023, Koepka recorded his second win in Orlando last week—making him the only LIV player with multiple wins thus far.

Don’t be surprised if Koepka makes some noise at Augusta this week.

Uihlein and Wolf: Moving up the Board

No. 4 Peter Uihlein: 61.6 Rating
After a 4-0 record as a member of the 2009 Walker Cup team and then winning the U.S. Amateur in 2010, Uihlein struggled to make it on the PGA Tour, flying largely under the radar with stints on the European Tour (where he recorded a win) and the Korn Ferry Tour (recording 2 wins).

Since joining LIV in 2022, however, Peter’s game has fulfilled the promise of his early career. After opening with a T3 in London, Uihlein recorded five additional Top-10’s including runner-up finishes in Chicago, Jeddah and Mayakoba.

No. 5 Matt Wolf: 61.1 Rating  
At 22 years old, Matt Wolf is one of the brightest young stars in golf. After joining the PGA Tour at 19, Wolf recorded a win at the 3M Championship in his rookie year, a runner up at the 2020 U.S. Open and a T4 at the 2020 PGA Championship.

In nine LIV events, Matt has finished among the Top 10 six times, including a runner-up at Trump Bedminster in ’22 and a T5 in Orlando last week. Wolf also has the best average finish behind DJ at 11.9 for players who have participated in at least 5 LIV events.

Carlos Ortiz and Charles Howell III

Notables

Carlos Ortiz: No. 7—60.1 Rating 
Ortiz opened with a runner-up in his first LIV event in Portland last year and has finished among the Top-10 in five of the nine events he’s played. Thus far in 2023, Carlos has recorded a T7 in Mayakoba, a runner-up in Tucson and a T8 last week in Orlando. He is also tied with Matt Wolf with an average finish of 11.9, just behind DJ.

Charles Howell, III: No. 9–57.3 Rating
Charles won his first LIV event at Mayakoba in February with a dominating four stoke margin over Peter Uihlein, and has finished among the Top-10 in four of the eight events he has played.

Only five players were better than Howell’s average finish of 13.7.

Phil: Poised for a run in 2023

Phil (No. 46—29.6 Rating) 
Mickelson’s LIV career has not been memorable to say the least, dropping even further to No. 46 (he finished 2022 at No. 38).

And Phil’s T41 last week in Orlando, his worst showing ever at an LIV event, does not bode well for Augusta this week—but you never know, perhaps the familiar surroundings and past success will boost him into the weekend.

Augusta National
PGA Tour (https://www.pgatour.com/)

Playing The Masters

Dustin Johnson No. 1 (80.9)

Patrick Reed               No. 2 (62.6)

Brooks Koepka            No. 3 (60.0)

Cameron Smith          No. 8 (59.6)

Sergio Garcia              No. 10 (55.6)

Talor Gooch                No. 11 (55.5)

Mito Pareira                No. 12 (54.3)

Charl Schwartzel        No. 14 (53.2)

Joaquin Nieman          No. 15 (52.7)

Louis Oosthuizen        No. 16 (51.3)

Abraham Ancer          No. 17 (48.0)

Kevin Na                     No. 18 (44.7)

Bryson DeChambeau  No. 23 (41.6)

Jason Kokrak              No. 26 (41.0)

Harold Varner III        No. 30 (37.6)

Phil Mickelson            No. 46 (29.6)

Thomas Pieters           No. 52 (24.0)

Bubba Watson            No. 62 (17.7)

Trump National Washington D.C.

2023 Upcoming LIV Schedule

Adelaide The Grange Golf Club, Australia (April 21-23)

Singapore Sentosa Golf Club (April 28-30)

Tulsa Cedar Ridge Country Club (May 12-14)

DC Trump National Golf Club, Washington (May 26-28)

Valderrama Real Club, Spain (June 30-July 2)

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LIV Golf: 2022 Power Ratings

Dustin Johnson: Dominates in 2022

Now that the first LIV season has been completed, we’ve taken a look at which players had the greatest success heading into 2023. Players have been rated and ranked on the basis of events played, average finish, wins, runner up, top five and top ten’s–as well as performance at the 2022 major championships (LIV Player Rankings).

While sixty-eight players participated at various events throughout the year, we’ve included only the top forty-eight, using finishes in the individual portion of each tournament.

Not surprisingly, Dustin Johnson dominated pretty much from start to finish. Cameron Smith had an immediate impact following his jump to LIV after winning The Open Championship, and Joaquin Niemann played superb golf—at 24 years old, the young gun that LIV hopes will attract other talented PGA stars in their twenty’s.

Top 5

No. 1 Dustin Johnson: 80.9 Rating

After opening with an 8th place finish at the initial event in London, Dustin recorded a T3 at Pumkin Ridge in Portland, a T2 in Bedminster and then won the fourth event in Boston. In the seven stroke play tournaments on the schedule, Johnson recorded four top 5’s, a top 10 and a win—with his worst finish being a T15 in Bangkok. For the season, Dustin’s average finish was 5.1. When you add a T6 at the Open Championship, Johnson is at the top of the LIV power rankings by a wide margin.

Cameron Smith

No. 2 Cameron Smith: 62.2 Rating

Following his brilliant performance at St. Andrews, Cam came up a shot shy of joining the playoff in his first LIV event at The International Club in Boston, settling for a T4 at 14 under par. He kicked it up a notch by winning in his second event at Rich Harvest Farms in Chicago, so in the four events he played, Cameron recorded a win and top 5.

With his Open Championship victory and a T3 at The Masters, Smith is second on the LIV power rankings.

Joaquin Niemann: Young Gun

No. 3 Joaquin Niemann: 58.7 Rating

At 24 years old, Joaquin Niemann is one of the brightest young stars in golf. After joining the PGA Tour at 19, Niemann recorded 22 Top-10’s including 2 wins in 5 years–making the cut in just under 80% of the events he entered while reaching the Tour Championship in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Joaquin joined LIV prior to the fourth event in Boston, and immediately recorded a runner-up finish (losing to DJ in a playoff). With a T4 at Rich Harvest Farms in Chicago and a T3 at the final regular event in Jeddah, Nieman recorder three Top 5 finishes in the four events he played, with an average finish of 7.3–just behind Johnson.

Pat Reed

No. 4 Patrick Reed: 57.2 Rating

Patrick recorded a T3 in his first LIV event in Portland, and finished among the top 5 in three of the five events he played (including a runner-up at Bangkok and a 5th at Trump National Bedminster).

Reed also ended the season with a 10.8 average finish (3rd behind DJ and Niemann).

Charl Schwartzel
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No. 5 Charl Schwartzel: 54.3 Rating

After winning the first LIV event in London, Charl recorded two additional Top 10’s (Chicago and Jeddah.). When you add his Top 10 at The Masters in April, Schwartzel comes in at number 5.    

Notables

Sergio Garcia (No. 6–54.1 Rating)

Garcia got off to a slow start in his first two LIV events, but recorded four Top 10’s in his last five tournaments (including Top-5’s in Chicago and Jeddah). Garcia’s average finish for the year was 12.9 (the 6th highest of the top 48 players who competed in the 2022 LIV events)

Talor Gooch (No. 8–52.4 Rating)

Gooch finished among the Top 10 in each of the first four LIV events in 2022, but dropped off significantly in the final 3 (although he recorded a T12 at the final regular event in Jeddah).

Only seven players were better than Talor’s average finish of 13.6.

Brooks Koepka

Brooks Koepka (No. 9–52.2 Rating)

Brooks’ mediocre play in his first four LIV events is likely due to lingering pain from the knee injury he suffered in 2021, but he finished strong with a T8 at Bangkok and a win at the final regular LIV tournament in Jeddah.

Look for Koepka to make his presence felt in a big way when the 2023 season gets going—particularly at the major championships.

Phil: Poised for a run in 2023

Phil (No. 38—27.6 Rating)

Mickelson’s LIV season was not memorable to say the least, but he showed signs of the old Phil with a T8 at Rich Harvest in Chicago and a T15 in Bangkok.

While the media swarm undoubtedly took a toll in 2022, look for Phil to shake it off and come out strong at the first LIV event in February (Mayakoba).

Should Phil win at Mayakoba, it will be difficult for the powers that be at Augusta National to keep him out again (although they did it last year when he was the reigning PGA champion).

Trump National Doral

Team Championship-Miami

Dustin Johnson, Pat Reed, Talor Gooch and Pat Perez (the Aces) took home the team championship at Trump National Doral with a composite score of -7, one shot clear of Punch GC (Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Matt Jones and Wade Ormsby).

Smash GC (Brooks Koepka, Jason Kokrak, Peter Uhlein and Chase Koepka) finished a distant third with a composite score of +4.

Mayakoba: Greg Norman Design, Mexico

2023 Upcoming LIV Schedule

Mayakoba El Camaleon, Mexico (February 23-26)

Adelaide The Grange Golf Club, Australia (April 21-23)

Singapore Sentosa Golf Club (April 28-30)

Valderrama Real Club, Spain (June 30-July 2)

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LIV Golf: Top 5 Through Boston

DJ and Cam Smith Lead the Field
https://www.si.com/

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
https://www.si.com/

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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LIV Golf: Patrick Reed to Assume Bad Guy Role

LIV: Patrick Reed—The New Bad guy in Town

With Patrick Reed becoming the latest big name to join LIV Golf, Phil Mickelson will have to relinquish the bad-guy role he’s been shouldering thus far. Phil can only claim a few months of questionable decisions and unfortunate remarks after decades of good deed and immense popularity. Reed, on the other hand, can point to a vast resume of unsavory incidents and eyebrow-raising episodes going back a great many years.

Even the swarthy new look that Phil introduced for the LIV event in London, and the testy attitude he displayed at the U.S. Open press conference, won’t change the fact that he will eventually return to his natural nice guy habitat. And while Reed has not done or said anything recently to draw the spotlight, you can be sure it won’t be long—and the media will have an enormous reservoir of ammunition to work with.

Bethpage Black, Farmingdale, NY

The Incidents

Most everyone is aware that Reed has been called out a number of times over the years for skirting the rules to improve his lie and gain an advantage on the field. The first was in 2016 during the Barclays Championship at Bethpage, when he was faced with a 300-yard second shot from heavy rough on the long par-5 13th hole. The ball was sitting down, and it was clear that Reed would have no choice but to lay back with an iron. After placing a wedge behind the ball 4-5 times as if preparing to hit the shot, all the while depressing the tall grass, he suddenly reached into his bag and whipped out a wood—an option that was originally out of the question—and striped it down the fairway to set up a short approach. He didn’t receive a penalty, because there was no official near-by and his playing partners didn’t see it.

Peter Kostis: “By the time he was done, he hit a freaking 3-wood out of there, which when I saw it, it was a sand wedge layup originally.”

2019 Hero Challenge: Building Sand Castles
Golf Digest (golfdigest.com)

Another episode occurred at the 2019 Hero Challenge, when Reed prepared to hit his third shot from a waste area on the par-5 11th hole. Sand was piled behind his ball, so he placed his wedge behind it and took a couple of “practice” back swings, sweeping the sand away to allow a nice clean strike. This time he was hit with a 2-stroke penalty, because it was simply too flagrant and observed by thousands watching the telecast.

Brooks Koepka: “…there’s no room for intentional rule breaking…Yeah. I don’t know what he was doing, building sand castles in the sand. But you know where your club is.”

The most recent blow-up came during the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, when Reed hooked his approach well left into thick, damp rough. After seeing his ball sitting well down in the grass with little chance of getting his third shot anywhere near the pin, he asked a near-by volunteer if the ball had bounced before coming to rest. When told it had flown directly into the grass without a bounce, making it possible for the ball to be embedded (which would justify relief), he quickly scooped it up and began probing with his finger—determining that it “broke ground” and was therefore entitled to a free drop. He then called for an official to examine the area where he had been probing, and received a favorable ruling. The problem is that television coverage clearly showed that the ball took a low trajectory bounce forward before coming to rest, making the chance that the ball would then “embed” in the ground extremely remote. In light of his prior infractions, more than a few eyebrows were raised.

Xander Schauffele: “Obviously, the talk amongst the boys isn’t great, but he’s protected by the Tour and that’s all that matters, I guess.”

Reed then threw Rory McIlroy under the bus, claiming he had done exactly the same thing. Indeed, Rory had taken embedded ball relief on a shot that bounced before coming to rest. The difference was that Rory’s ball had also been stepped on by a volunteer while he was trying to locate it—and of course, there has never been a question about McIlroy’s integrity.

Patrick Reed at Torrey Pines
Photo by WWLG (https://www.whywelovegolf.com)

The Rep

Reed’s tremendous talent and laser focused desire to win have always been unquestioned, as illustrated by the success he’s had at every level of golf—but his tendency for rubbing people the wrong way, combined with an abrasive public persona, have fueled his “bad guy” image. Patrick was born in San Antonio, TX and his family moved to Baton Rouge, LA when he was in his mid-teens. His record as a Junior was outstanding, leading his high school golf team to state championships in 2006 and 2007, and he reached the semi-final of the US Amateur in 2008. After High School Patrick opted to play his college golf at The University of Georgia, where his current public persona began to take shape. Confidence is a critical element for success, and Reed possessed it in abundance. His supreme confidence, however, soon morphed into what might be called “disagreeable arrogance,” impacting team chemistry. Following an alcohol related incident that would not typically result in dismissal, Reed was dropped from the program while still in his freshman year.

Jason Payne (Georgia Golf Coach): “While getting to know Patrick through the recruiting process as a coach, a few character issues came to light, that we as coaches thought we could help Patrick with,” he said. “Once Patrick was on campus for a few months, it became clear that Patrick was not going to mesh with the make-up of the team at that time, and he was dismissed from the team.”

Leads Jaguars to two National Championships
Photo by CBS Sports (https://www.cbssportsf.com)

Reed promptly transferred to Augusta University, where he led the Jaguars to consecutive NCAA Division I golf titles (2010 and 2011), while going undefeated in match play (6-0). The second championship, ironically, came when the Jaguars bested Georgia in the final, with Reed defeating Harris English in the deciding match. The win over English, who also went on to a successful PGA Tour career, burnished Reed’s reputation as a hard-nosed competitor—but his image among peers remained less than stellar.

Kevin Kisner: “They all hate him—any guys that were on the team with him hate him and that’s the same way at Augusta…. I don’t know that they’d piss on him if he was on fire, to tell you the truth.”

Following the second NCAA championship in 2011, Reed turned pro, earning exempt status on the PGA tour by 2013. Throughout his career, Patrick has recorded 9 Tour wins, including a major championship (2018 Masters) and 43 Top-10’s. He has also been outstanding at the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, with a combined record of 11 wins, 6 losses and 4 ties (particularly when he defeated Rory McIlroy in 2016, one of the greatest matches in Ryder Cup history).

His successes, however, have been accompanied by statements and episodes that made Reed less than appealing in the public eye, beginning in 2014 when he declared himself to be one of the top 5 players in world after winning his 3rd tournament at 23 years old (he was No. 44 in the World Golf Rankings at the time, although the win moved him up to No. 20). At Bay Hill in 2018 an official refused to grant him relief when his ball landed in a bush, at which point he turned to the gallery and said “I guess my name needs to be Jordan Spieth.”

As P.T. Barnum said, “there is no such thing as bad publicity,” so Patrick Reed and LIV may well be a match made in heaven.

Brooks Koepka Joins LIV

LIV Update

Brooks Koepka and Abraham Ancer have become the latest PGA Tour players to announce their intention to join LIV Golf. Following a dismal finish at the U.S. Open, in the midst of a disappointing season in which he’s recorded only 2 Top-10’s and missed the cut in 6 of the 15 events played, Brooks’ departure does not come as a complete shock. Koepka has always focused primarily on the major championships, and with 4 major wins at 32 years of age, still has the opportunity to add to his record and etch his name among the greats of the game. While the USGA allowed LIV members to compete at the U.S Open, and the R&A has announced that they will be allowed to compete at the Open Championship in July, the position of the powers that be at Augusta National and the PGA of America are less than clear with regard to the 2023 Masters and PGA Championship. Should joining LIV prevent him from participating in 2 of the 4 majors going forward, Brooks may have deep regrets over his decision to take the money.

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