Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson Continue to Plummet Due to Massive Setback

2022 saw a huge addition to the sport of golf when LIV Golf came into the picture. The Saudi-backed league began its tournaments early in June. Since then, many world-class players have left the PGA Tour to sign with LIV Golf. The first few to defect were golfing superstars Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. Both signed deals with LIV Golf in the first week of June this year.

Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson’s rankings take a hit.

Phil Mickelson signed a 200-million-dollar deal with the Saudi-backed series. Dustin is not far behind, with his contract being worth $125 million. The monetary appeal of LIV Golf was huge, but it wasn’t without cost.

LIV Golf events have not yet been approved by the OWGR to issue points. so all the players who defected to LIV Golf haven’t seen their efforts rewarded on the ranking charts. The PGA Tour has banned these defected golfers from participating in their events, further limiting their options to collect ranking points.

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Before joining the league, Dustin ranked 13th and Phil ranked 70th in the world. It has been five months since then, and the legends have seen their ranking fall. Johnson now ranks 35th, whereas Mickelson is no longer in the top 100 and ranks 165th.

LIV Golf’s appeal to the OWGR

Dustin Johnson has had quite a successful career with LIV Golf. Maybe even ensuring he momentarily forgets his ranking crisis. In the eight events this year, he has earned over $35 million, $18 million of which came from winning the LIV Golf Individual Championship. Phil, on the other hand, hasn’t had as much luck and has won only $1.8 million over the 2022 season.

LIV Golf understands the crisis its players are facing and has hence had multiple discussions with the OWGR board to try and get the series approved to give ranking points. The players, along with the LIV Golf executive, also wrote a letter to the OWGR.

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The letter mentioned that the players depended on these points to qualify for events like the majors and the Olympics. It said, “We urge you – as one of the true statesmen of sports – to act appropriately to include, on a retroactive basis, the results of LIV Golf events in OWGR’s ranking calculations.” 

Will LIV Golf see their appeal approved? If so, how many more players from the PGA Tour will defect since ranking points will no longer be a problem? Only time will tell; stay tuned to find out.