Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau are yet to feel the cost of their move to LIV Golf, enjoying the best of both worlds, but that will not last forever without significant changes.
Two years after leaving the PGA Tour to become founding members of LIV Golf, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau have experienced the benefits of their decision. However, the opportunity for the duo to simultaneously relish the extravagance of LIV’s immense wealth and secure assured participation in the prestigious tournaments is gradually diminishing.
Johnson and DeChambeau have commenced the current LIV season on a remarkable note, as the former triumphed in Las Vegas on February 10, accumulating a substantial $4 million (£3.2m) prize fund following an impressive fifth-place accomplishment in Mayakoba, Mexico just a week earlier. DeChambeau, like McIlroy, has also consistently performed well at the start of the season, but his performance suffered on the final day at Las Vegas Country Club, causing him to drop to 11th place.
Nevertheless, both American golfers will have confidence in their abilities as the major season commences on April 8th at Augusta National.
Both men, like all their LIV counterparts, have plummeted down the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) since making the leap to the Saudi Arabia-bankrolled breakaway tour in 2022. LIV’s 54-hole format and lack of a satisfactory qualifying process mean the tour is not sanctioned by the OWGR, with players receiving no ranking points.
The likes of Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter have shut out of the majors as a result, so drastic has been their fall down the rankings. But LIV’s leading lights like Johnson, DeChambeau, Cameron Smith and Brooks Koepka have been able to rely on their recent major championship success to punch their tickets for the four biggest tournaments of the year.
But that privilege will only last for so long, and if a solution to the proposed merger between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund is not forthcoming, they and face being locked out of the majors.
Two-time major champion Johnson has earned a lifetime exemption for The Masters after his 2020 victory, and he is booked in for the US Open until 2026 thanks to his 2016 win at Oakmont. But his exemptions for the PGA Championship and The Open Championship expire at the end of the 2025 season.
Johnson, who was previously the top-ranked player in the world, currently holds a ranking of 231 according to the OWGR. He has not earned any ranking points since participating in The Open at Royal Liverpool last summer. If the PGA Tour and the supporters of LIV Golf do not come to an agreement, or if the breakaway league fails to meet the OWGR’s requirements, Johnson’s participation in The Open and the PGA Championship is in jeopardy. This puts him in a precarious situation, as he must excel in the upcoming major tournaments this summer.
DeChambeau’s sole victory in a major tournament, the 2020 US Open, grants him an exemption until 2025 for all tournaments, and until 2030 specifically for the US Open. Consequently, he finds himself in a comparable position to his competitor LIV. However, they both face the possibility of ending up in a scenario similar to Sergio Garcia, the winner of the 2017 Masters, who possesses a lifelong invitation to Augusta but is unable to participate in the other three major tournaments.
Koepka, Cameron Smith, and Jon Rahm, on the other hand, find themselves in a favorable position as they have secured major victories over the last two seasons.