Meet The Big Guns

THE LIV GOLF FIELD HAS GROWN STRONGER WITH NINE OF THE LAST 21 MAJOR WINNERS NOW IN THE FOLD — MEET THE TOP NAMES

Bryson DeChambeau

Age: 28 Born: Modesto, California Turned professional: 2016 Professional wins: 10 Highest ranking: 4 ‘The Scientist’ announced his arrival during the London event. Probably the biggest hitter on tour — he smashed it 403 yards at the 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions — he is renowned for his meticulous studying of the game. The 2020 US Open champ has recovered from a hand injury and is ready to play.

Patrick Reed

Age: 31 Born: San Antonio, Texas Turned professional: 2011 Professional wins: 9 Highest ranking: 6 The man known as ‘Captain America’ for his Ryder Cup heroics in the 2014 and 2016 Ryder Cups has plenty of notable trophies among his nine pro titles, including the two WGCs and, of course, his famous victory in the 2018 Masters Championship at Augusta, where he held off Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler to claim the green jacket.

Phil Mickelson

Age: 52 Born: San Diego, California Turned professional: 1992 Professional wins: 57 Highest ranking: 2 The six-time major winner has been the focus of much of the LIV Tour in the buildup to its launch in London, with many PGA Tour members criticising his move to the series. However, he has stuck to his guns and, despite his age, he is out to add more silverware to his trophy cabinet to sit alongside the astonishing 57 big trophies already on display.

Dustin Johnson

Age: 37 Born: Columbia, S Carolina Turned professional: 2007 Professional wins: 28 Highest ranking: 1 DJ is another huge hitter and certainly raised eyebrows across the golfing world when he announced he would be playing at Centurion. Alongside his 2016 US Open and 2020 Masters triumphs, he has six WGC victories — only a certain Tiger Woods has more — and he is the first player to win each of the four WGC events.

Ian Poulter

Age: 46 Born: Hitchin, England Turned professional: 1995 Professional wins: 17 Highest ranking: 5 While ‘The Postman’ has yet to win a major, he is a fan favourite around the world, thanks to his colourful outfits during tournaments. He is arguably most famous for his Ryder Cup exploits, having won the trophy five times, with 16 points in seven appearances. He has also won the 2010 WGC Match Play and the 2012 WGC Champions.

Lee Westwood

Age: 49 Born: Worksop, England Turned professional: 1993 Professional wins: 44 Highest ranking: 1 Despite winning 44 titles in an almost 30-year pro career — including the 2009 Dubai World Championship and the 2020 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship — Westy has the unwanted distinction of having played the most majors (90) without ever winning one. He is also the man who famously ended Tiger Woods record reign as World No. 1 in 2010.

Sergio Garcia

Age: 42 Borrn: Borriol, Spain Turned professional: 1999 Professional wins: 36 Highest ranking: 2 The thinning hair suggests ‘El Nino’ is no longer a little boy. He finally got over the line at a major at Augusta in 2017 after five agonising near-misses (second in the PGA in 1999 and T2 in 2008; T3 in US Open 2005; second in Open Championship 2007 and T2 in 2014). The Spanish superstar has a record 28.5 points in 10 Ryder Cup appearances.

Brooks Koepka

Age: 32 Born: Florida, US Turned professional: 2012 Professional wins: 15 Highest ranking: 1 We already had a Koepka in the field at Centurion for the first LIV event, but Brooks is a stellar signing. Chase’s big brother brings a huge draw. He was US Open champ in 2017 and 2018 and did the double at the PGA Championship in 2018 and 2019. His much-publicised rivalry with Bryson DeChambeau will guarantee box office viewing.

Abraham Ancer

Age: 31 Born: San Antonio, Texas Turned professional: 2013 Professional wins: 3 Highest ranking: 11 Despite being born in Texas, Ancer plays under the Mexico flag, where he was raised before moving back to the Lone Star State. Among his top titles are the 2018 Australian Open and the 2021 WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational. He also finished in the top 10 of the past two PGA Championships and is regarded in the prime of his career.

LIV Golf players

(As of June 28)

Ancer, Abraham Bland, Richard Buranatanyarat, Itthipatx Canter, Laurie Chacarra, Eugenio DeChambeau, Bryson Du Plessis, Hennie García, Sergio Gooch, Talor Grace, Branden Harding, Justin Horsfield, Sam Inamori, Yuki Johnson, Dustin Jones, Matt Kaewkanjana, Sadom Kaymer, Martin Khongwatmai, Phachara Kim, Sihwan Kinoshita, Ryosuke Koepka, Brooks Koepka, Chase Kozuma, Jinichiro McDowell, Graeme Mickelson, Phil Morgan, Jediah Na, Kevin Norris, Shaun Oosthuizen, Louis Ormsby, Wade Ortiz, Carlos Otaegui, Adrián Perez, Pat Pettit, Turk Piot, James Poulter, Ian Reed, Patrick Schwartzel, Charl Smyth, Travis Snyman, Ian Swafford, Hudson Tanihara, Hideto Uihlein, Peter Vincent, Scott Westwood, Lee Wiesberger, Bernd Windred, Blake Wolff, Matthew