LOS ANGELES — First off, one question is going to be followed by another. Who are the LIV golfers who qualified for this week’s U.S. Open? Good question, we have that answer. But here’s another: Does it even matter going forward?
Valid point. And the truth is no one knows.
It’s Day 2 of the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, and so far the majority of golf’s stars have one of two opinions on golf’s shocking news of last week, when the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF, which funds LIV Golf, announced they would merge to form one for-profit entity. Either they don’t want to talk about it, or they still don’t have enough information to comment on it anyway.
“There’s still too many questions to be answered,” said Jon Rahm, who said he was at home with his kids when the news dropped. “I thought my phone was going to catch on fire at one point.”
So, what happens to LIV Golf going forward? Will it even exist? Will the team concept play a bigger role on the PGA Tour? We have lots of questions, but we don’t have many answers. So for now, we’ll focus on the U.S. Open, the third major of the year, as LIV golfers will try to continue their hot streak.
At the Masters, three LIV members finished in the top six, including Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka, who tied for second. Koepka did one better at the PGA Championship, winning by two for his fifth major title.
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Koepka headlines the list of 15 LIV members at this week’s U.S. Open. The Masters had 18 LIV golfers, and the PGA had 16 (although 18 qualified, but Martin Kaymer and Paul Casey withdrew).
Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Martin Kaymer and Bryson DeChambeau all qualified as past champions, and Mickelson and Cameron Smith got in via recent major wins. (A handful of players qualified via several categories.)
Other LIV players, like Sebastian Munoz, Sergio Garcia, David Puig and Carlos Ortiz, secured their tickets through U.S. Open final qualifying. Below is a list of the LIV players in the field this week and their qualifying criteria.
LIV Golf players competing at the U.S. Open
Abraham Ancer, OWGR position
Mito Pereira, OWGR position
Thomas Pieters, OWGR position
Patrick Reed, OWGR position
Joaquin Niemann, OWGR position
Sebastian Munoz, qualifying
Sergio Garcia, qualifying
David Puig, qualifying
Carlos Ortiz, qualifying
Dustin Johnson, past champion
Martin Kaymer, past champion
Bryson DeChambeau, past champion
Brooks Koepka, past champion
Phil Mickelson, recent major win
Cameron Smith, recent major win