Outside of one phenomenal player, LIV Golf had a forgettable major season.
Bryson DeChambeau catapulted himself to being among the top few players in the world based on winning the U.S. Open and coming one shot short at the PGA Championship. There is no doubt he is a bonafide threat heading into the 2025 major season.
But beyond DeChambeau’s remarkable play, LIV struggled mightily in the four majors—the only events all year where the best players get together.
It began at the Masters where, despite a limited field and plenty of representation, LIV failed to get anyone in serious contention. No LIV player came within nine strokes of victor Scottie Scheffler as the top five on the leaderboard were all PGA Tour players.
The PGA Championship featured an electric DeChambeau in a battle against Tour players Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland—but the only other LIV golfer in the top 25 was Dean Burmester (T12).
A similar story played out in the U.S. Open when DeChambeau beat Rory McIlroy in a dramatic final round. Sergio Garcia (T12) was the only other player in the top 25, a reflection of what happened in the PGA Championship.
In the Open Championship, no LIV player got into contention on Sunday. Jon Rahm (T7) finished eight strokes behind Schauffele, who became the first player since 2018 to win two majors in the same season. John Catlin (T16) and Burmester (T19) were the next-best LIV players.
If you take DeChambeau off the board, this was a significant step back from 2023 when LIV had a tremendous major season. Last year, the circuit had three players in the top five at the Masters (and would later sign Rahm, the winner of the event). Koepka won the PGA a month later with DeChambeau finishing T4 that week. In the U.S. Open, Cam Smith (4), Rahm (T10) and Dustin Johnson (T10) were all relevant. Rahm also finished T2 in the Open Championship last year.
This year, it was one guy who did all the work.
I have a story coming later this week grading all of the top players for their respective major seasons but here are how some of the notable LIV performers fared in majors this year.
Bryson DeChambeau (A)
- Masters (T6)
- PGA Championship (2)
- U.S. Open (WIN)
- Open Championship (MC)
DeChambeau has greatly benefited from the transition to LIV and it’s way more than monetary gain. The added flexibility and exhibition environment have given him space to turn his image around. Despite a missed cut at the Open Championship, he had the best major season out of anyone not named Xander Schauffele. He’s up to No. 9 in the overall Data Golf ranking.
Jon Rahm (C-)
- Masters (T45)
- PGA Championship (MC)
- U.S. Open (DNP)
- Open Championship (T7)
The golf world holds Rahm to a high standard. He’s the No. 5 player in the world and has won two majors in the past four years. Many thought he would be doing what Scheffler is doing now—so this grade is based on those expectations. Rahm did not look like himself at all this year. I think he’ll make adjustments and be considerably better in the majors next year.
Brooks Koepka (D+)
- Masters (T45)
- PGA Championship (T26)
- U.S. Open (T26)
- Open Championship (T43)
Stinky. Koepka is the major killer of his generation and he appeared to return to that form after winning the 2023 PGA Championship. This was what I consider to be the worst major season of his career. He performed worse in 2022 but admitted to battling injury that year. There are no excuses this time around—Koepka was completely absent from major leaderboards in 2024. Will he bounce back next year?
Tyrrell Hatton (C+)
- Masters (T9)
- PGA Championship (T63)
- U.S. Open (T26)
- Open Championship (MC)
Hatton has no top-five finishes in majors dating back to the 2016 Open Championship. He’s ranked as the third-best LIV player at the moment but has generally been a non-factor in majors throughout his career. I’ll give him slight credit for a T9 at the Masters—and I’ll put him ahead of Rahm because expectations are lower—but Hatton continues to be a disappointment when the golf matters most.
Joaquin Niemann (C-)
- Masters (T22)
- PGA Championship (T39)
- U.S. Open (DNP)
- Open Championship (T58)
Niemann is the No. 14 player in the world but has never finished better than T16 in 22 major starts. His record is worse than Hatton’s. Niemann is only 25 years old so there is time for him to reverse that trend. He is talented enough to contend in majors.
Dean Burmester (B-)
- Masters (DNP)
- PGA Championship (T12)
- U.S. Open (69)
- Open Championship (T19)
Once again grading on a curve here. Burmester put in some effort and qualified for a few majors, turning that into a couple of top-20 finishes. That is more than his Stinger teammate Louis Oosthuizen can say—Oosthuizen only played in one major this year, missing the cut in the Open Championship.
Cameron Smith (C-)
- Masters (T6)
- PGA Championship (T63)
- U.S. Open (T32)
- Open Championship (MC)
Smith has dropped to No. 47 in the world. He felt like a legitimate star after winning the Open Championship in 2022 but it’s been a mixed bag since then. Only one top-30 finish in the past five majors is concerning. Smith might be on the Dustin Johnson track.
Dustin Johnson (D)
- Masters (MC)
- PGA Championship (T43)
- U.S. Open (MC)
- Open Championship (T31)
I think we’ve passed the major-winning window for DJ. It would be great to see him get back into contention but we haven’t seen much from him since moving to LIV—he’s fallen to No. 71 in the world. While it’s understandable given his age (40), there is a sinking feeling Johnson left some major wins on the table.
Top Photo Caption: Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka had a disappointing major season in 2024. (GETTY IMAGES/Kevin C. Cox)
Kap
2 years ago
A lot of LIV players were on their way out anyway. It was a lot easier to take the money and run. That took all the stress away and now there’s no skin in the game for them. No sense of urgency and it shows.
ArchieBunker
2 years ago
So true. The only hope for them in the future would have been the Champions Tour, where they would have to work and compete. Most likely would not make as much money as the Saudis are paying just to show up.