Why have LIV Golf’s players struggled at majors – and could that change in 2026?

Callum Milne 12 Dec 2025

LIV Golf: The numbers don't make for pretty reading

Major wins for LIV Golf players have fallen since their exits from the PGA Tour, highlighting a steep decline in relative performance.

It’s now three-and-a-half years since LIV Golf shocked the world and held its first event in June 2022, with 44 of the top 150 golfers at the time making the switch to the Saudi-backed tour.

Qualifying for majors has become harder for the ex-PGA players, with Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points not rewarded at LIV events, but overall performances have also stagnated.

So, how prepared are the LIV players now to compete against their PGA Tour rivals in majors?

LIV Golf players have won just two major tournaments since making the switch from the PGA Tour.

Brooks Koepka secured his third PGA Championship and fifth major in 2023, as Bryson DeChambeau doubled his U.S. Open tally a year later.

But how many majors did the LIV Golf stars win in the equivalent period before switching tours?

Seven majors were won by the LIV players in the same timeframe before they left the PGA Tour.

Koepka and Phil Mickelson each triumphed at the PGA Championship in 2019 and 2021, with DeChambeau and Jon Rahm victorious at the U.S. Open in 2020 and 2021.

Cameron Smith won this only major title at the 2022 Open Championship.

And Dustin Johnson and Rahm completed the total, with the Masters in 2020 and 2023.

Only DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton have improved their average performance in majors (minimum three appearances) after joining LIV Golf up until this May, data from golf statistician Ron Klos revealed.

Klos also stated that of the 18 LIV golfers combined, there was an average place finish drop at majors to 59, from 44 previously.

Meanwhile, the top 10 finishes had reduced from 23% to 15%, with two-time major winner Rahm down 23 places on average, and Koepka down 20 places.

What is this drop in quality and consistency down to?

The LIV tour totalled at 14 events in 2025, compared to 39 on the PGA Tour, and although not all players compete in every event at the PGA, there is nearly a triple difference in events scheduled to prepare players for major competitions.

The Saudi tour has a 54-hole and no cut model, compared to a 72-hole format on the PGA Tour, and a cut after two rounds eliminating around half of the lowest performers.

With such a variation in the number of holes played between tours, there has been a clear difference in format for LIV golfers to be ready for 72 holes at majors.

Despite performance levels dropping, the LIV tour has more problems to address around majors.

Due to the shorter hole-format at LIV, closed-field model, and no cuts, the OWGR doesn’t award points to players at events.

This has caused the LIV players to drop in the world rankings and has made it harder for them to qualify for major tournaments automatically, which creates an even bigger barrier for them to lift major titles outside of the PGA.

However, LIV Golf chief executive Scott O’Neil is optimistic the tour can secure OWGR points for players in 2026, as they have previously announced a change to 72 holes will commence from the start of next season to aid their case.

O’Neil told BBC Sport NI: “We are working very closely with [chairman] Trevor Immelman and the board of OWGR.

“It’s likely that it will have an impact at some point. We are having conversations with Trevor, who is doing an extraordinary and difficult job towards a solution that we hope to have in place by next season.”

A man that has struggled to continue his pre-LIV form, is Smith, citing he wants to get back to where he was and that he’s been thinking about golf a lot.

He has dropped to 354th in the OWGR, and despite gaining zero points through LIV events and the rankings being less representative of performance, he has also failed to survive the cut in all four majors this year.

When joining LIV in 2022 fresh off the back of his first major title, Smith was flying at world number two, but said he was aware of the calibre of players being a drop down from the PGA competition field.

And in the three full major seasons since the birth of LIV, 10 out of 12 of the victories have been from players on the
PGA Tour, supporting Smith’s point on the difference in strength.

With the potential of OWGR points being available to players on the LIV tour from 2026, majors could be easier to qualify for.

Parallel with the move to 72 holes, players will be consistently competing in the same format of major competitions, preparing all players across both tours in the same manner.

So with these changes being implemented, and inevitably more tweaks in the future, can we expect an imminent turnaround in the fate of these LIV players? Watch this space.