The major championships have served as a barometer for how well LIV players are performing.
LIV golfers play in smaller fields with less competition and on less difficult golf courses than the PGA Tour, so it’s hard to get a gauge on how well they are playing on the tour.
The consensus is that LIV Golf doesn’t properly prepare its players to compete in major championships because of these factors, and that theory has been proven right in 2026.
This is now the second straight season where a LIV player has failed to win one of the major championships, which is a telling sign when the likes of Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau play on the tour.
So after this narrative ran through the entirety of the major season, we’re taking a look at how the five best LIV players performed at the biggest events of the year in 2026.
5. Bryson DeChambeau
Grade: F
Best finish: The Open (T14)
Worst finish: The Masters, PGA Championship, US Open (Cut)
DeChambeau’s struggles at the majors this year are one of the stories of the season. Yes, he performed well at The Open at Royal Birkdale, but don’t allow recency bias to overlook how poor the two-time US Open winner has been at the biggest events of the year.
A triple bogey on the final hole on Friday at The Masters sent him home early from Augusta. DeChambeau struggled with his wedges over the two days and had immense trouble getting out of the sand. He looked like a frustrated figure all week.
It was a similar story at Aronimink for the PGA Championship. DeChambeau made a late charge on Friday but still never troubled the cut line, because through 27 holes he was one of the worst performers in the entire field.
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And at the US Open, he undid a solid start with a poor Friday showing, falling beneath the cut line for another short weekend.
Staring in the face of four missed major cuts in the same year, DeChambeau actually got into contention at The Open. He was one shot back of the lead on Friday, but after receiving a controversial penalty for improving his lie in the rough, he fell back into the pack and never truly recovered.
All in all, a shockingly disappointing major season for DeChambeau, who now has a massive decision to make with his LIV Golf contract expiring soon.
4. Lucas Herbert
Grade: D
Best finish: The Open (T6)
Worst finish: US Open (Cut)
It’s difficult to rate what was a wild major season for Lucas Herbert, but judging by his performance at The Open relative to expectations entering the championship, Herbert gets in above DeChambeau.
Herbert didn’t qualify for The Masters or the PGA Championship, but by winning LIV Virginia he earned a spot in the US Open at Shinnecock Hills. Unfortunately, it was a poor showing over the first two days and the Australian missed the cut.
Then, a second place at the New Zealand Open booked his spot at The Open, and there he put on an incredible showing. Herbert shot a second round 62, tying the major championship scoring record to take the lead into the weekend.
He didn’t fall away from there either. He shot a two-over-par weekend in the most difficult of the conditions at Birkdale to finish T6, which was the best result of any LIV player at The Open. That makes for a successful end to the major season for Herbert.
3. Joaquin Niemann
Grade: C-
Best finish: US Open (T7)
Worst finish: The Open (Cut)
Joaquin Niemann was a young player with bags of potential, and won five times on LIV last year. But he was never able to produce his best stuff at the majors. That changed slightly this year.
After failing to qualify for The Masters, Niemann made his first major appearance of the year at the PGA Championship, where he had a solid week to finish inside the top 20. But it was the US Open where he really made waves.
It was a turbulent week, where the Chilean received a code of conduct penalty for throwing his club 50 yards, but he fought back valiantly to not only make the cut, but go on a run on Sunday.
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Thanks to his penalty, he was never really in the mix to win, but he finished T7 for the best major championship finish of his career.
Niemann didn’t ride this wave of momentum at The Open, as he finished his major season with a missed cut at Royal Birkdale. But this was the best major season of his career, not that this is saying much.
2. Jon Rahm
Grade: C
Best finish: PGA Championship (T2)
Worst finish: US Open (Cut)
Rahm, like DeChambeau, enters every major championship with aspirations of winning it, and he came the closest to taking a major title of any LIV player this year.
He was in the fight for the PGA Championship at Aronimink, but was outperformed by Aaron Rai down the stretch just like the rest of the field.
That made up for a disappointing effort at The Masters, where he finished the week in T38. The Spaniard was anonymous at Augusta National.
Following the PGA Championship, many expected Rahm to continue getting his name in contention at the majors. A missed cut at the US Open was deeply disappointing, therefore, as he fell apart on the back nine on Friday.
And yet another average week at Birkdale saw him finish T46, ending major season with a whimper. He could have won the Wannamaker Trophy, but outside of that showing, Rahm did nothing to inspire in the biggest events of the year.
1. Tyrrell Hatton
Grade: B
Best finish: The Masters (T3)
Worst finish: PGA Championship (Cut)
While Tyrrell Hatton has never contended to win a major championship, he’s been a consistently solid performer for much of his career, and this year was no different.
The Englishman had an incredible final day at The Masters, shooting a final round of 66 to backdoor a top-five finish. The leaderboard flatters him, but he was by far the best LIV Golf performer at Augusta National, with DeChambeau missing the cut and Rahm out of the mix.
Unfortunately, he followed this up with a missed cut at Aronimink at the PGA Championship, but that was by far his worst major performance of the year.
Hatton bounced back with a good showing at Shinnecock Hills, bagging his second top 10 of the season at a major championship thanks to a 67 on the final day. He was the second-ranked LIV player, beaten only by Niemann.
Playing in an Open Championship in his home country, Hatton couldn’t continue his major form, finishing T69 by the end of the week. But his results at The Masters and the US Open are enough to make him the best LIV player at this year’s majors. Not that this is saying much.
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