13 LIV Golfers Who’ve Suffered The Most Dramatic World Rankings Drop Since Leaving The PGA Tour

LIV Golf wrapped up its third season of play toward the end of September, and while it’s safe to assume most guys who secured a massive bag by agreeing to defect from the PGA Tour are still fine with that decision, it has come with its downsides.

LIV Golf still hasn’t managed to make the mark you’d expect given the golfers it’s been able to attract with the help of the billions of dollars that have been funneled into the league by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, and virtually every single player who’s joined has seen their spot on the Official World Golf Ranking list take a significant hit.

Some of those golfers have fared a bit better than others thanks to their performance in majors, on the DP World tour, and other tournaments that award OWGR points, but it’s still hard to ignore how precipitous some of the declines have been.

This list doesn’t include every single player who’s gone from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf, but it does feature the most notable names.

Bubba Watson

OWGR Ranking At Time Of PGA Tour Departure: 86th

Current OWGR Ranking: 4061st

Difference: -4515

Bubba Watson officially resigned from the PGA Tour in August 2022, and there isn’t a single player who’s made the leap who’s fallen further in the OWGR than he has.

 

Kevin Na

OWGR Ranking At Time Of PGA Tour Departure: 33rd

Current OWGR Ranking: 3028th

Difference: -3015

Kevin Na joined LIV Golf in June 2022, and while he was holding his own in the OWGR at the time, that’s certainly no longer the case based on how far he’s fallen.

Lee Westwood

OWGR Ranking At Time Of PGA Tour Departure: 74th

Current OWGR Ranking: 2443rd

Difference: -2369

It was hard to blame Lee Westwood for joining LIV Golf in 2022 when you consider he was firmly in the twilight of his career at that point, but he essentially forfeited the chance to compete in major tournaments by doing so based on how much of a hit his ranking has taken since then.

Pat Perez:

OWGR Ranking At Time Of PGA Tour Departure: 168th

Current OWGR Ranking: 1379th

Difference: -1211

Pat Perez was never really a top contender on the PGA Tour, so he probably didn’t have to think too hard about accepting the offer to join LIV Golf that he received in 2022.

His last major appearance also came three years prior to the move, so even though he’s taken a big dip on the OWGR front, it hasn’t had a major impact on his career.

Talor Gooch

OWGR Ranking At Time Of PGA Tour Departure: 35th

Current OWGR Ranking: 1060th 

Difference: -1025

Talor Gooch has emerged as one of the more vocal advocates of LIV Golf since linking up with the league in 2022, and he went as far as to suggest the winner of The Masters deserves an asterisk next to their name due to the absence of himself and other guys who left the PGA Tour behind.

13 players affiliated with LIV Golf competed at Augusta National in 2024, but he wasn’t one of them thanks to the slide he’s endured.

Ian Poulter

OWGR Ranking At Time Of PGA Tour Departure: 89th

Current OWGR Ranking: 831st

Difference: -742

Like Westwood, Poulter knew his best days were behind him when he joined LIV Golf in 2022, and while he has fared pretty well in the six OWGR Eligible Tournaments he’s competed in, it hasn’t been enough to ward off a significant dip.

Harold Varner III

OWGR Ranking At Time Of PGA Tour Departure: 42nd

Current OWGR Ranking: 689th

Difference: -647

Harold Varner III was refreshingly candid about his motivations for joining LIV Golf by admitting he couldn’t resist the life-changing check that was dangled in front of him, but it does seem like he also cost himself some opportunities on the major front by doing so.

Dustin Johnson

OWGR Ranking At Time Of PGA Tour Departure: 13th

Current OWGR Ranking: 439th

Difference: -426

Dustin Johnson headed to LIV Golf in 2022 knowing he’d be able to take advantage of the five-year major exemption he secured by winning The Masters a couple of years prior, so while he doesn’t have to be overly concerned with his place in the OWGR as things currently stand, it could end up being an issue when it expires.

Sergio Garcia

OWGR Ranking At Time Of PGA Tour Departure: 54th

Current OWGR Ranking: 395th

Difference: -341

Sergio Garcia falls under the same umbrella as Westwood and Poulter, as his career was firmly on the downslope by the time he joined LIV Golf in 2022.

He has appeared in eight OWGR Eligible Tournaments since then, but he’s still dropped hundreds of spots from where he was.

Phil Mickelson

OWGR Ranking At Time Of PGA Tour Departure: 71st

Current OWGR Ranking: 307th

Difference: -236

Phil Mickelson was the first major domino to fall and took an absolute beating on the public image front when he announced he was heading to LIV Golf at the start of 2022.

As you can see, his OWGR status has also taken a similar hit since then.

Patrick Reed

OWGR Ranking At Time Of PGA Tour Departure: 38th

Current OWGR Ranking: 143rd

Difference: -105

It was only natural that Patrick Reed joined LIV Golf when you consider he was anything but a stranger to controversy during his time on the PGA Tour, and while he’s held his own more than some of the other guys on this list, he’s still fallen out of the Top 100.

Cameron Smith

OWGR Ranking At Time Of PGA Tour Departure: 2nd

Current OWGR Ranking: 109th

Difference: -107

Cameron Smith is technically LIV Golf’s biggest coup when you consider he was ranked only behind Scottie Scheffler when he joined the league in the wake of his win at the British Open in 2022.

He’s kept pretty busy on the non-LIV front since then with the help of majors and DP World Tour events, but it hasn’t been enough to prevent him from being listed in the triple digits.

Brooks Koepka

OWGR Ranking At Time Of PGA Tour Departure: 19th

Current OWGR Ranking: 65th

Difference: -46

Brooks Koepka has actually managed to hold his own with the help of a second-place finish at The Masters in 2023 that preceded his win at the PGA Championship that year.

It will be tough to replicate that success on a consistent basis going forward, but he’s shown he has what it takes to step up when it counts.