SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — At the end of play on Friday at the 2026 U.S. Open, there were 21 players at even par or better, led by Wyndham Clark at seven under.
None of them are currently playing for LIV Golf.
That’s notable—and maybe just a little disastrous—at a crucial time for a league in flux. On June 9, LIV CEO Scott O’Neil appeared on CNBC’s “Halftime Report” to give an update on the league’s attempt to secure $350 million in funding after news came out in April that Saudi Arabia’s PIF was pulling out at the end of 2026.
“The clock’s obviously ticking,” O’Neil said. “While we have incredible business momentum, what we don’t have is a lot of time. So we’re very urgently out there, talking to those who are interested. We like the pool, but you know, we have to get this done through the summer.”
There will be many factors that go into whether they secure that investment, of which player results at a major championship are only one, and yet the quality of the product is not negligible.
From that perspective, it hasn’t been a great week for O’Neil.
The league’s two biggest stars, Bryson DeChambeau (five over) and Jon Rahm (six over), each missed the cut. It’s the third straight missed cut at a major for DeChambeau, who recently said that he’s stuck between two paths—professional golf and content creation.
Five other LIV players joined them in missing the cut, including Carlos Ortiz, Lucas Herbert and Cameron Smith at six over, David Puig at nine over, and Graeme McDowell at 12 over.
In all, six of LIV’s 13 entries into the U.S. Open made the cut, but none of them are higher on the leaderboard than T-35. Tyrrell Hatton led the way at two over, nine shots off Clark’s lead, with Dustin Johnson and Joaquin Niemann trailing him by a shot at three over. (For a time, Johnson was solo second, but a nightmarish back nine that included a quadruple bogey sent him plummeting.) The other three players to make cut did so on the number at four over—Laurie Canter, Peter Uihlein and Caleb Surratt.
Niemann may have made the biggest splash of any player, but not the way he wanted—he was penalized two shots for throwing a club while making an 11 on the sixth hole Thursday, which left him in tears when he found out on Friday morning, and led to an inquiry about whether it could be appealed (the USGA said no). To Niemann’s credit, he fought back from that opening 78 to shoot a 65 and make cut.
Two LIV golfers have won majors while playing in the league—Brooks Koepka at the 2023 PGA Championship, and DeChambeau a year later at the U.S. Open. (Koepka subsequently left LIV at the end of 2025.) This year, Rahm finished T-2 at the PGA Championship and Hatton finished T-3 at the Masters.
If none of the six who made the cut fight back into the top 10 at Shinnecock, it would be a rarity. Since the first major of the LIV era, the 2022 U.S. Open, a LIV player has finished inside the top 10 of every major except two—that first U.S. Open and the 2023 Open Championship.
Discover more from NAIRAVOICE.COM.NG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
