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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Liam Llewellyn

19 players already axed by LIV Golf after first event and the huge sums they’ve earned

LIV Golf has shaken up the sport in ways never before imagined as they continue to pose a viable threat to the PGA Tour.

Since holding their first event at the Centurion Club in June, some of golf’s top players have competed for the new titles while securing a massive pay-packet at the same time.

LIV Golf today welcomed six debutants to its fourth tournament of the season in Boston this week, none bigger than World No.2 and Open champion Cameron Smith.

However, since the inaugural LIV event, 19 players are already no longer competing for Greg Norman’s promotion. Mirror Sport has taken a look at them as well as the mammoth amounts they have already earned in a relatively short space of time.

Hennie du Plessis

Du Plessis was axed after the last Bedminster tournament and won a total of £3,038,166 after competing in the first three LIV events.

The South African has had three career wins since turning pro in 2015. His best LIV finish came when he came agonisingly short of the win by one stroke in the inaugural Invitational event in London to Stinger GC teammate Charl Schwartzel.

Du Plessis won his first pro event on his 21st birthday and cracked the top 150 in the world rankings for the first time in April 2022 and reached a career-best 122 a month later.

Justin Harding

The 36-year-old played in the first three LIV tournaments, with his best finish only being ninth place in Portland. He still managed to secure an impressive £1,172,615.

The South African has 11 wins on three different tours since turning pro in 2010 and won four times during a six-start stretch in 2018.

In July of that year, Harding cracked the world’s top 100 rankings for the first time and has been a top 100 player for nearly 100 weeks in his career.

Justin Harding is no longer part of LIV golf (Getty Images)

Jinichiro Kozuma

With two wins and three runner-up finishes in his last 38 starts, Kozuma took his game to the next level with LIV Golf.

The Japanese star competed in all three LIV events and earned £1,041,900 for his efforts - with his best performance coming in Portland where he finished sixth.

With his most recent win in April, he moved inside the world’s top 100 for the first time in his career.

Travis Smyth

Smyth has one professional win since turning pro in 2017. He finished second in the International Series England to secure qualification for LIV Golf’s inaugural event in London.

He failed to finish inside the top 20 in any of the LIV events and managed to bag £731,361 before he was axed ahead of LIV Boston.

The Australian is ranked inside the top 50 on the Asian Tour Order of Merit in 2018 and 2019 and has represented his native Australia in several team events.

Oliver Bekker

Bekker has never made a cut at a Major, but the South African did impress in the first LIV Golf event.

He was tied sixth, earning more than £666,000 - easily the biggest payday of his career.

Despite this showing, his name was omitted from the second event, as the likes of Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau made their LIV debuts. He returned to the DP World Tour and made the cut at the BMW International Open.

Bekker won more than earning more than £666,000 playing LIV Golf (Getty Images)

Ryosuke Kinoshita

The Japanese player finished inside the top 20 in the inaugural LIV event, but could only manage a 24th place finish in Portland, a lowly 38th in Bedminster and will not be competing in Boston. He did manage to amass £575,697 however.

He has three career wins since turning pro in 2013 and emerged victorious in consecutive starts in June 2021, moving inside the world’s top 100 for first time in his career.

After a period away he returned to top 100 in September 2021 and remained there for 44 consecutive weeks and posted seven top 10s during a nine-start stretch late in 2021 into 2022, as well as reaching a career-best 69th in the world rankings in January 2022.

Yuki Inamori

Inamori joined LIV for the event in Portland and managed a 12th place finish.

He had a tournament to forget in Bedminster, however, as finished 45th and will now not feature in Boston.

The two-time Japan Open winner finished £431,213 and has five professional wins since turning pro in 2012. Back in June, he reached career-best 73rd in world rankings in June 2022.

Pablo Larrazabal

The Spaniard had the summer of his life as he was tied-13th at Centurion, pocketing a handy £300,000.

He lined his pockets further by finishing fifth at the BMW International Open, although it was worth a meagre £70,000 by comparison.

A ban from the Scottish Open followed, before a missed cut at The Open in St Andrews.

Pablo Larrazabal was tied-13th at LIV's event at Centurion, pocketing £300,000 (Getty Images)

Blake Windred

The Australian entered the inaugural LIV tour and tied 38th at St Albans, landing himself £117,000.

He was then straight back to the Challenge Tour, and didn't make the weekend at the Euram Bank Open.

JC Ritchie

Tied 17th, and £193,000, seemed to represent a solid three days for the South African, whose best finish at a Major is 40th at the 2021 US Open.

It wasn't enough for a second invite though, and his next event was the English Open next month - where he finished tied-52nd.

Viraj Madappa

Madappa was another from the Asian Tour who played in Hertfordshire, then promptly returned to his parent organisation.

He was tied-30th at Norman's inaugural celebration, making him £130,000.

Kevin Yuan

It was a short and sweet stint with LIV for Yuan, who was ranked 1050 in the world when he announced he would be competing at St Albans .

He finished tied-33rd, made £125,000, and immediately headed back to the Asian Tour, but missed the cut in the Korean Open.

Oliver Fisher

The English golfer, who in 2018 shot the first ever 59 on the European Tour, was tied 38th at The Centurion Club, earning himself more than £116,000.

He was swiftly back on the DP World [European] Tour though, failing to make the cut at the BMW International Open.

England's Oliver Fisher earned himself more than £116,000 with LIV (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

Ratchanon Chantananuwat

The amateur star was tied 38th after accepting an invitation from Norman.

He pocketed £120,515 but rather than push for more big bucks though, he duly returned to non-pro events, citing more to achieve at that level.

Andy Ogletree

Ogletree attempted to conquer LIV, but it sadly didn't work. Though he still got paid £100,000, before disappearing.

Ogletee was the first ever 'last place' finisher with LIV Golf, ending up 24 over par for his 54 holes. The 2019 US Amateur winner was duly axed, and has barely been heard of since.

Hideto Tanihara of Japan, has won 17 worldwide tournaments (REUTERS)

The remainder of the players, including Hideto Tanihara, a winner of 17 worldwide tournaments, most of those coming in his native Japan, pocketed £418,100. All the Japanese players were booted from LIV ahead of the next event.

Ian Snyman, who only competed in London and Portland, won £274,657 for his performances but David Puig (am), finished 40th and 42nd after playing in Portland and Bedminster, won £230,746.

Thailand's Buranatanyarat has three wins on the Asian Development Tour and has 23 other top 10 finishes in Official World Golf Ranking events. He qualified for LIV Golf’s inaugural event via his standing in the International Series Order of Merit and secured £214,387.

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