18 out of 156! This seems familiar, doesn’t it? Well, it is the number of LIV Golf Pros that teed up at the 2024 Open Championship on July 18. But, as fate would have it, as in every event, including majors, many of them were sent back home early on Friday for missing the cut, including U.S. Open champ Bryson DeChambeau. However, one look at the number of remaining golfers from the Greg Norman-led league was enough to send the golfing world into a fervor.

NUCLR GOLF shared a tweet on their X handle, which showcased an interview with Joaquin Niemann. The video showed him coming out candidly and looking forward to playing in the year’s major at Royal Troon. Meanwhile, many fans’ focus went to a certain comment under the post, which pointed out how around 60% of LIV golfers (11 out of 18) in the field were set to make the cut. The follower also mentioned how it was a strong showing by LIV players in a major despite many of their best players being snubbed.

A total of 11 players from the Saudi-backed league managed to qualify themselves for the Moving Day. On the other hand, athletes including the likes of Bryson DeChambeau (+9), Henrik Stenson (+8), Louis Oosthuizen (+8), Sam Horsfield (+8), Tyrrell Hatton (+8), Cameron Smith (+12), and David Puig, (+13) failed to make the cutline. This fact was more than enough for many in the community to express their thoughts, throwing the internet into a frenzy!

Bryson DeChambeau and Co.’s exit send fans into a fervor

Justin Rose was one of the many golfers who didn’t automatically qualify for the Open Championship. He had to take part in one of the four final qualifying events at Burnham & Berrow to make himself part of the same. The athlete, fortunately, managed to earn one of the four qualifying spots, following which he hasn’t turned back once. The PGA Tour Pro is currently placed at T2, tied with Daniel Brown on the scoreboard. A fan alluded to the same while taking a poke at the comment, “You are talking utter guff. They can enter via Qualifying like PGA Tour player Justin Rose did. Now Trott On and take your fake grievance elsewhere.” Another enthusiast also backed up the response but with a different stance, “Just like to point out that both 2nd place players QUALIFIED. Like all the LIV golfers could have done, but either weren’t good enough or chose not to.”

Over the two days of play, Bryson DeChambeau could only card one birdie and an eagle each, along with 10 bogeys and a double bogey. This caused him to score a figure of 9 over par, resulting in him missing the cut. A fan of the LIV Golf Pro pointed out the same while adding the effect the weather had on his gameplay: “If Bryson didn’t miss 5 putts under 4 feet and then another 5 or 6 from under ten feet he would have easily been in. Even getting the worst weather to play on both days. Putting is the weakest part of his game when he doesn’t play well.”

Many in the community weren’t too enthusiastic about the comment made under the tweet regarding the LIV golfers getting snubbed. They mentioned how there were qualifiers set in place for the other athletes, including those from the Saudi-backed league, to qualify for the major. A couple of users, thus, responded along similar lines; “It’s… an Open. How’d they get snubbed?” and “They all had the chance to qualify.” 

Interestingly, there were a total of 14 venues for the Regional Qualifying along with 16 Open Qualifying Events in 16 different countries. The likes of Dean Burmester, and Joaquin Niemann had become part of the 152nd Open owing to the same. But will they be able to make it big on Sunday? Only time will tell.