{"id":1817,"date":"2022-09-07T13:42:05","date_gmt":"2022-09-07T17:42:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/?p=1817"},"modified":"2022-09-13T08:25:45","modified_gmt":"2022-09-13T12:25:45","slug":"liv-golf-top-5-through-boston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/liv-golf-top-5-through-boston\/","title":{"rendered":"LIV Golf: Top 5 Through Boston"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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DJ and Cam Smith Lead the Field<\/strong>
https:\/\/www.si.com\/<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now that the first four LIV<\/span><\/a> events have been completed, it\u2019s a good time to take a look at which players have had the greatest success heading to Rich Harvest Farms<\/span><\/a> in Chicago (September 16-18). We\u2019ve 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<\/span><\/a>). 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rich Harvest Farms, Chicago IL<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Leaders<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dustin Johnson: No. 1 \/ 72.5 Rating<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Late Sunday afternoon at The International<\/span><\/a> 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\u2019s at each of the first 3 events (T2 at Trump National Bedminster<\/span><\/a>, a T3 in Portland and 8th<\/sup> place finish in London), along with a T6 at the Open Championship, Johnson is at the top of the LIV player rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n

Cameron Smith: No. 2 \/ 64.0 Rating<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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

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Talor Gooch, Henrik Stenson and Brandon Grace<\/strong>
https:\/\/progolfnow.com\/
https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/
https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Talor Gooch: No. 3 \/ 56.0 Rating (Tie)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

While Talor has yet to record an LIV win, he has finished among the top 10 in all four events (9th<\/sup> in London, 7th<\/sup> in Portland, T6 at Bedminster and a 6th<\/sup> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n

Henrik Stenson<\/span><\/strong>: No. 3 \/ 56.0 Rating (Tie)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Stenson held off Matt Wolff and DJ at Bedminster to win the only LIV event he\u2019s played thus far. Unfortunately, Henrik had to withdraw from the field in Boston last weekend\u2014but all indications are that he will be ready to go in Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n

Brandon Grace: No. 5 \/ 55.7 Rating (Tie)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Brandon recorded a T3 in the first LIV event in London, and followed that up by winning at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club<\/span><\/a> in Portland. With his T13 at Bedminster and a 12th<\/sup> last week in Boston, Grace has the 3rd<\/sup> 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).  <\/p>\n\n\n

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Louie Oosthuizen and Patrick Reed: LIV Top 10<\/strong>
https:\/\/www.si.com\/<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Notables<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Louis Oosthuizen: No. 9 \/ 49.2 Rating<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Louie is among the Top 10 on the strength of a T10 in London, 5th<\/sup> place finish in Portland, and a T9 last week in Boston. With one of the great golf swings in history, it\u2019s a pretty good bet that Oosthuizen will record his first LIV win before the final event of the season at Trump Doral in October.<\/p>\n\n\n

Patrick Reed: No. 10 \/ 48 Rating<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Reed has recorded 2 top-5 finishes in the 3 events he\u2019s played thus far (T3 in Portland and 5th<\/sup> at Bedminster). Patrick also made the cut at all four of the major championships in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Brooks and Bryson: Need to Kick it in Gear<\/strong>
https:\/\/www.si.com\/<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Treading Water<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brook Koepka: No. 25 \/ 35.3 Rating<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Koepka puts the most stock in major championships, it\u2019s still a surprise that Brooks hasn\u2019t 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\u2019s worst season in memory at the majors with missed cuts at The Masters<\/span><\/a> and The Open Championship, along with a 55th<\/sup> place finish at the U.S. Open and a T55 at the PGA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Brooks hasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bryson DeChambeau<\/strong>: No. 26 \/ 34.7 Rating<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m guessing that \u201cThe Scientist\u201d 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).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Phil: Missing in Action<\/strong>
https:\/\/golf.com\/<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Missing in Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phil Mickelson: No. 60 \/ 15 Rating <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

To say Phil\u2019s 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<\/sup> place finish at Trump National Bedminster (+6).<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it didn\u2019t 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\u2019s hard to believe this is the same Phil who won the PGA only last year\u2014perhaps he\u2019s waiting for the big stage at Trump Doral<\/span><\/a> in October.  <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now that the first four LIV events have been completed, it\u2019s 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\u2019ve 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).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[303,548,555,304,493,455,583,465,582],"tags":[500,157,457,593,580],"class_list":["post-1817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-phil-mickelson-players","category-brandon-grace","category-brooks-koepka","category-bryson-dechambeau-players","category-cameron-smith","category-dustin-johnson","category-louis-oosthuizen","category-patrick-reed","category-talor-gooch","tag-cameron-smith","tag-dustin-johnson","tag-liv-golf","tag-liv-player","tag-liv-player-rankings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1817"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1868,"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817\/revisions\/1868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}