Why is the Official World Golf Ranking so important to LIV Golf? And how do pros qualify for majors?
When stars like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau joined LIV Golf, many focused on the nine-figure contracts these major champions reportedly signed, and their suspensions from the PGA Tour. Then Brooks Koepka signed with LIV, followed by Bubba Watson, Joaquin Niemann and the 2022 Players Championship and British Open winner, Cameron Smith.
But starting in September, the conversation shifted to the value of something that money can’t buy, at least not yet — Official World Golf Ranking points. In a statement on Sept. 21, LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman stated that not only should LIV Golf competitors start getting OWGR points for their performances, but they should also retroactively get points for LIV events they had already played.
In the following weeks, Patrick Reed, Graeme McDowell and other LIV golfers questioned the legitimacy of the rankings if LIV players continued to be denied points for LIV events.
The rankings are crucial to LIV Series golfers for reasons that go beyond pride. Maintaining a high spot on the OWGR allows golfers who have never won a major championship to earn exemptions into future majors, and while each championship uses slightly different criteria to create its field, they each reward golfers with a high rank at specific times with an exemption into their tournament.
As of now, the governing bodies of golf’s four major championships — Augusta National Golf Club, the PGA of America, the United States Golf Association and the R&A — have not announced any changes to qualifying criteria for 2023. If nothing changes, the exemption lists below will be how professional golfers get into the field of next season’s Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and British Open, along with the ways that professional golfers who compete on the LIV Series have already earned spots.
2023 Masters
A view of The Masters trophy during the final round of the 2021 Masters Tournament. (Photo: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports)
If tradition holds, there are 10 LIV Series golfers who can expect to get invitations to play in the 2023 Masters: Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Joaquin Niemann, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel, Cameron Smith and Bubba Watson.
It is important to remember that the Masters is an invitational event run by the Augusta National Golf Club, which maintains the right to invite whomever it wants to play, but based on history, here is how golfers get invitations along with the LIV Golf competitors who meet each criteria:
Former Masters champions
Sergio Garcia, 2017
Dustin Johnson, 2020
Phil Mickelson, 2004, 2006, 2010
Charl Schwartzel, 2011
Patrick Reed, 2018
Bubba Watson, 2012, 2014
Last five PGA Championship winners (2018-2022)
Brooks Koepka, 2018, 2019
Phil Mickelson, 2021
Last five U.S. Open winners (2018-2022)
Brooks Koepka, 2018
Bryson DeChambeau, 2020
Last five British Open winners (2018-2022)
Cameron Smith, 2022
Last three Players Championship winners (2020-2023)
Cameron Smith, 2022
First 12 and ties from 2022 Masters
Charl Schwartzel, T-10
Dustin Johnson, T-12
First 12 and ties from 2022 PGA Championship
First 12 and ties from 2022 U.S. Open
First 12 and ties from 2022 British Open
Cameron Smith, 1
PGA Tour winners between the conclusion of the 2022 Masters and the start of the 2023 Masters
Qualifiers for 2022 Tour Championship
Cameron Smith
Joaquin Niemann
Top 50 in OWGR on December 31, 2022
Top 50 in OWGR published the week prior to the 2023 Masters
2023 PGA Championship
The Wanamaker trophy is awarded to the winner of the PGA Championship.
Past winners of the PGA Championship earn a lifetime exemption into the field of future PGA Championships, so two LIV Series golfers, Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka, can expect to be seen at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., next May, but only four other LIV Series players have already locked up traditional exemptions. Here is the historical criteria for getting into the PGA Championship along with the LIV Golf competitors who meet each criteria:
Each former PGA Championship winner
Phil Mickelson, 2005, 2021
Brooks Koepka, 2017, 2018
The last five Masters winners (2019-2023)
Dustin Johnson, 2020
The last five U.S. Open winners (2018-2022)
Bryson DeChambeau, 2020
Brooks Koepka, 2017, 2018
The last five British Open Championship winners (2018-2022)
Cameron Smith, 2022
The last three Players Championship winners
Cameron Smith, 2022
The previous-year’s Senior PGA Championship winner
The low 15 scorers and ties in the 2022 PGA Championship
Abraham Ancer, T-9
The top 70 in money standings on the PGA Tour (from a week before the previous year’s PGA Championship to two weeks before this year’s PGA Championship)
Players from the most recent U.S. and European Ryder Cup teams, as long as they’re in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking as of May 9.
Bryson DeChambeau, 2021
Dustin Johnson, 2021
Brooks Koepka, 2021
Any tournament winner co-sponsored or sanctioned by the PGA Tour since the last PGA Championship.
Cameron Smith, 2022 British Open
The PGA of America can invite additional players not included in the categories listed above.
The total field is no more than 156 players. Players beneath 70th place in official money standings can also receive an invite.
2023 U.S. Open
The U.S. Open Trophy as seen on the 11th hole at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo: John Mummert/USGA)
If the USGA does not change the exemption criteria, seven LIV Series golfers have secured a spot in the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club: Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Phil Mickelson, Joaquin Niemann and Cameron Smith.
However, any golfer with a handicap index of 1.4 or better can try to qualify for the tournament by going through local and sectional qualifying events where numerous spots into the U.S. Open are awarded. Here are the other ways to get into a U.S. Open along with the LIV Golf competitors who meet each criteria:
Winner of the last 10 U.S. Opens (2013-2022)
Bryson DeChambeau, 2020
Brooks Koepka, 2017, 2018
Dustin Johnson, 2016
Martin Kaymer, 2014
10 lowest scores and ties from 2022 U.S. Open
Last five Masters winners (2019-2023)
Dustin Johnson, 2020
Last five PGA Championship winners (2019-2023)
Brooks Koepka, 2019
Phil Mickelson, 2021
Last five British Open Championship winners (2018-2022)
Cameron Smith, 2022
2022 BMW PGA Championship winner
2022 Tour Championship qualifiers
Cameron Smith
Joaquin Niemann
OWGR Top 60 as of May 23, 2023 (two weeks before Sectional Qualifying
OWGR Top 60 as of June 6, 2023 (Day of Sectional Qualifying
2023 British Open
The Claret Jug, the trophy for the Champion Golfer of the Year, is pictured on the 18th Tee, during a preview ahead of the 150th British Open Golf Championship at The Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland on April 26, 2022. (Photo by GLYN KIRK / AFP) / EDITORIAL USE ONLY (Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)
The oldest of golf’s four major championships has the most ways for a player to qualify. In addition to the traditional criteria listed below, the R&A reserves spots in the British Open for players who either win or contend in Open Qualifying Series events (there were 12 events globally in the series in 2022). Typically, two or three golfers get entry into the Open Championship from each Open Qualifying Series tournament. Sixteen additional spots were also reserved in 2022 for golfers who competed in Final Qualifying events.
Listed below are ways professional golfers can anticipate earning a spot in the British Open field, along with the seven LIV Golf competitors who meet each criteria:
Previous winners of the British Open that are aged 60 or under
Phil Mickelson, 2013
Cameron Smith, 2022
Henrik Stenson, 2016
Masters winners for 2019-2023
Dustin Johnson, 2020
PGA Championship winners for 2019-2023
Brooks Koepka, 2019
Phil Mickelson, 2021
U.S. Open winners for 2019-2023
Bryson DeChambeau, 2020
Winners of the Players Championship (2020-2023)
Cameron Smith, 2022
BMW PGA Championship winner
Open de Argentina winner
Japan Open winner
Senior British Open winner
Top 10 or better in 2022 British Open
Cameron Smith, 1
Dustin Johnson, T-6
Bryson DeChambeau, T-8
Top 30 in Race for Dubai
Top 30 in FedEx Cup rankings
Top two in Japan Tour rankings
Top two in Australiasia Tour ranking
Top in Sunshine Tour
Be inside the top 50 of the OWGR on week 21 (Open week 29)
