LIV golfers are some of the best players on the planet, but according to the world rankings that’s not the case.
As of January 13, of the 47 players playing on the LIV circuit just three have moved up in the world rankings since the inception of the Saudi-funded, breakaway circuit. LIV is not awarded world rankings points for its events, due to its limited field and three-round format.
The Public Investment Fund (PIF) which finances the LIV Golf tour, is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s state-owned sovereign wealth fund, and the players are handsomely rewarded.
The LIV Golf tour was started in 2021, and has since signed a number of big-name players like Spain’s Jon Rahm and American Phil Mickelson. Rahm has been especially vocal about LIV players not being granted world rankings points.
Rahm, in fact, was world number three when he joined LIV at the end of 2023. It meant LIV had signed the reigning Masters champion, and also a recent world number one.
Many top players joined before Rahm, like SA’s Louis Oosthuizen as well as Americans Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka.
There are many other big name players on the circuit who have seen their world rankings plummet as their bank balances sky rocket.
Since the start of LIV, Rahm, despite being one of the more recent additions, tops the individual winnings charts with a staggering $34,754,488 which is around R639 million.
The man is more than halfway to becoming a rand billionaire from a handful of events over the last year. That’s more than the $29 million and change world number one Scottie Scheffler earned (excluding bonuses) on the PGA Tour in 2024.
Scheffler had a season which has drawn comparisons to that of peak Tiger Woods, as he won seven PGA Tour titles including The Masters.
You don’t have to scroll down too far to find SA’s top LIV earner, which is Dean Burmester in seventh. Burmester has pocketed $8,702,514 which is approximately R163.6 million. Oosthuizen has earned a similar total with his $8,389,167 which works out to R157.7 million.
Of course, the top-50 in the world rankings earn automatic invites to the majors and that’s the main reason for the outcry from LIV golfers.
However, with the vast majority having fallen well outside the top echelon, they will have to console themselves with their bulging wallets and its rather difficult to empathise with them.
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