LIV Golf's Kevin Na said all LIV winners will secure a spot in the Grand Four, just as PGA Tour winners automatically receive an invitation to Augusta National each year. I would like to guarantee it.
Mr. Na explained his reasoning as follows. Recent interviews in Monthly Golf Magazine.
“Winners should be exempt, and I think it should be around the top 16 players. If they have a season and finish within the top 16, I think they should be exempt from all four majors,” Na said. spoke.
“Many of the players who are exempt at major championships overlap, so just top 10 is not enough. I don't think top 15 is enough, and I think 16th is a good number. I know you do that. [PGA] Take the tour before entering. I think it should be the same in LIV.
“If you win the LIV event, of which there are only 13, you have to play in every major tournament, which is not easy. Plus, there will be multiple winners, so you only have one year to win a tournament. There will only be 10. And you know Jon Rahm is going to win!”
I have to give credit to Na for his efforts on the expedition, but the 41-year-old American is wrong in his assessment. Winners of LIV golf events do not have direct access to all four major championships.
First, LIV events feature just 54 players each week, making the field size much smaller than other professional golf tournaments held around the world. In addition, the four majors – PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Asian Tour – only have 72 holes of competition, while LIV only has 54 holes of competition. Additionally, LIV features a shotgun start, where each group of players starts the round on a separate hole, rather than everyone starting on the first or 10th hole using staggered tee times. I will.
If that's not enough, consider the team element LIV as well. Some players say they changed their strategy when a team match approached. That was the main reason the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) did not award OWGR points for LIV golf events in the first place. Because the element of team play threatened the integrity of the individual competition.
Now critics will say, “But LIV Golf has a lot of major champions!”
There is no doubt that it is. But let's face reality here. Other than Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann, and Tyrrell Hatton, who are the other LIV players with a shot at winning a major championship? Perhaps Sergio Garcia and Louis Oosthuizen? DataGolf currently has all 8 Some of these players, who are ranked within the world's top 55, are still able to compete at the highest level despite being on the Saudi-backed circuit. Koepka and DeChambeau clearly proved that by winning the 2023 PGA Championship and 2024 U.S. Open, respectively. They are the only active LIV players to win a major.
But then again, who else can win a major? Sure, players like Taylor Gooch can do well, but their numbers in the majors aren't that great. His best finish in the majors was a tie for 14th at Augusta in 2022, a month before joining LIV.
The truth is that LIV is still top-heavy at the moment, with these eight players ranking in a category of their own. The other players are either long past the prime of their careers, like Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, or young and unproven in pro events, like Caleb Surratt and Andy Ogletree.
Despite this, the men's game at the highest level remains at risk. The sport is divisive, with major winners competing on both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, playing together only four times a year, if at all. So what's the solution?
Now, this is a different story from the point Mr. Na raised about “exemptions,” but the top four players in the LIV golf season (otherwise not exempt from participating in the four major championships) are the Masters and PGA Champions. You must receive an invitation to the ship (which will be held in two events). The strongest field in golf history. The US Open and The Open are exactly that, open competitions where you can qualify by performing well in qualifying.
Remember, major champions receive automatic invitations to each of the four majors over the next five seasons. There are other exemption systems, which vary depending on the major. However, for simplicity, we can use the 5-year rule as an example. For example, Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship in 2021, so he can play in all four majors in 2025. If Mickelson finishes in the top four in the final standings, the next highest ranked player who was not exempt will receive a spot.
If this system were applied, who would win this honor this year: Joaquin Niemann, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton, Louis Oosthuizen?
Rahm finished No. 1 in the rankings, but thanks to his wins at the 2021 U.S. Open and 2023 Masters, he will be playing in the majors for years to come. Niemann, Garcia and Hatton finished second, third and fourth respectively, qualifying them for all four majors. Of the three, only Garcia has won a major, winning the 2017 Masters. Although Koepka finished fifth, he has won five majors in his career so far and won't be missing any of them anytime soon. Oosthuizen, who won the 2010 St. Andrews Open, finished sixth, earning him the fourth and final spot.
What do you think about this idea? Is it a sufficient compromise to Mr. Na's declaration? Or should LIV players put their doubts to rest? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
