The Top 5 LIV Tour Golfers

The world of professional golf faced a tumultuous year in 2022. The creation of LIV Golf – a breakaway organization from the traditional PGA and European Tours created an unprecedented rift in the game. Fronted by wealthy backers from Saudi Arabia, the concept of LIV was to create a new tour, attracting the best players in the world with huge prize money. Some players jumped at the chance to earn mega money, whereas others, like Rory McIlroy, decried that LIV would ruin the
game.

To be frank, though, LIV started slowly, with most of the best players in the world deciding to stay with the main tours. However, bit by bit, some of the world’s best players started to drift to join the “rebels”. These players can still play the Majors, but they will no longer be represented in events like the PGA Tour. While arguably the majority of the best players remain on the PGA Tour, it has been rattled by some departures. Below we pick out the best five players who are now considered LIV
golfers:

  1. Cameron Smith
    Arguably, Cameron Smith’s departure to LIV was the one that rocked traditional golf the most. He was the form player throughout most of 2022, and he is among the favorites with William Hill online betting for Majors like the Masters and The Open 2023. He is exactly the type of player that the PGA did not want to lose to the rival tour. Smith is young and coming into the peak of his powers, and it flies in the face of the perception that LIV was only able to attract the has-beens and the never-weres.
  2. Dustin Johnson
    The second most decorated golfer on this list, and arguably the one that hurts as much as Cameron Smith’s exit. Dustin Johnson has been one of the world’s best golfers in the last decade. In fact, when Johnson is “on his game”, there isn’t anybody beyond a peak Tiger Woods that could stop him. The only consolation that the traditional tours will have is that Johnson’s form was really poor in the year leading up to his defection. Still, the American is still capable of taking the world’s biggest prizes.
  1. Bryson DeChambeau
    Another one that hurts. DeChambeau is seen as something of a golf revolutionary, a man who pioneered the concept of power over accuracy. Like Johnson, DeChambeau’s form was somewhat iffy before he decided to join LIV, so that will offer some consolation. But he, too, is capable of becoming one of the world’s best again, and that will rankle with the traditionalists. DeChambeau’s studious nature – he’s nicknamed The ‘Mad’ Scientist – means he will plot his way to the top again.
  2. Bubba Watson
    Bubba Watson is a two-time Masters winner, so you can expect a frosty reception from the crowds when he returns to Augusta for the first Major of the year in April 2023. At 44 years old, Watson is arguably not going to get any better, however, and, with all due respect, it’s probably not the biggest loss for the PGA Tour to see the American go. Still, the man with two Green Jackets can expect to earn a lot with LIV.
  1. Phil Mickelson

The last name on this list is arguably the most contentious. Is Phil Mickelson one of the top five players on LIV? That’s debatable, given his age. But we do know that Mickelson is regarded as one of the best players of the modern era – his six Majors and 45 PGA Tour wins will attest to that. Indeed, he showed in 2021 that he can still turn it on when needed by winning the PGA Championship, making him the oldest player in history to win a Major.