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How far have LIV Golf players fallen in the Official World Golf Ranking since they joined?

The LIV Golf and Official World Golf Ranking saga is over. On Tuesday, LIV Golf CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman told players the league had withdrawn its application for OWGR points, ending a nearly two-year fight for accreditation.

The upstart circuit backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund initially applied for points in July of 2022 but was denied last October due to the inability to accurately compare LIV events – which features a mostly-closed field of 54 players playing 54-hole, shotgun start, no-cut events – to other tournaments on the 24 tours under the world ranking wing. Concerns about LIV’s qualifying and relegation methods were also noted in the decision.

LIV players have been plummeting in the ranking since they joined the league, putting their major championship futures in jeopardy. Here’s a look at the 56 players who have competed so far in 2024 and how their OWGR has fallen since they joined LIV Golf.

LIV Golf OWGR movement

Player

OWGR before first LIV event

Current OWGR

Change in ranking

Cameron Smith

2

50

-48

Jon Rahm

3

3

0

Dustin Johnson

15

266

-251

Tyrrell Hatton

16

17

-1

Joaquin Niemann

19

76

-57

Brooks Koepka

19

30

-11

Louis Oosthuizen

21

103

-82

Abraham Ancer

22

173

-151

Paul Casey

31

755

-724

Bryson DeChambeau

31

182

-151

Kevin Na

34

972

-938

Talor Gooch

35

476

-441

Thomas Pieters

35

307

-272

Jason Kokrak

36

702

-666

Patrick Reed

39

105

-66

Adrian Meronk

42

51

-9

Harold Varner III

46

385

-339

Mito Pereira

50

145

-95

Cameron Tringale

55

677

-622

Sergio Garcia

57

645

-588

Dean Burmester

59

99

-40

Marc Leishman

62

418

-356

Richard Bland

67

456

-389

Matt Jones

69

424

-355

Phil Mickelson

72

147

-75

Sam Horsfield

74

710

-636

Matthew Wolff

77

782

-705

Lee Westwood

78

905

-827

Lucas Herbert

82

87

-5

Bubba Watson

86

1,612

-1,526

Scott Vincent

91

416

-325

Anirban Lahiri

92

350

-258

Ian Poulter

92

464

-372

Hudson Swafford

95

1,539

-1,444

Sebastian Munoz

98

457

-359

Carlos Ortiz

119

239

-120

Laurie Canter

119

199

-80

Brendan Steele

122

509

-387

Branden Grace

123

683

-560

Charl Schwartzel

126

344

-218

Charles Howell

169

1,180

-1,011

Pat Perez

170

1,192

-1,022

Henrik Stenson

173

278

-105

Martin Kaymer

215

3,363

-3,148

Wade Ormsby

265

582

-317

Danny Lee

267

672

-405

Kalle Samooja

313

343

-30

Peter Uihlein

327

503

-176

Graeme McDowell

374

697

-323

Kieran Vincent

412

399

13

Jinichiro Kozuma

501

540

-39

Andy Ogletree

1371

195

1,176

David Puig

1751

133

1,618

Caleb Surratt

1903

1,939

-36

Eugenio Chacarra

1,904

427

1,477

Anthony Kim

N/A

N/A

N/A

Of the 56 players to tee it up so far this season, all but six have dropped in the ranking. Jon Rahm, who joined the league this year, has yet to move from No. 3. Anthony Kim, who made his long-awaited return to pro golf last week at LIV Golf Jeddah, isn’t listed in the ranking. Eugenio Chacarra, David Puig and Andy Ogletree have seen their ranking jump more than 1,000 places due to their performances on other tours and the fact they’ve been professionals for less than three years. Kieran Vincent has seen minimal movement in his ranking after he played his way into the league via the Asian Tour (which receives OWGR points) last season.

Martin Kaymer has struggled with injuries over the last few years and been dealt the largest drop of of 3,148 places since he joined as the 215th ranked played back in the summer of 2022.

Only four players are within the top 50: Jon Rahm (3), Tyrrell Hatton (17), Brooks Koepka (30) and Cameron Smith (50).

LIV makes its first appearance in Hong Kong this week, March 8-10, at Hong Kong Golf Club in Sheung Shui.

Story originally appeared on GolfWeek