LIV Golf emerged onto the scene back in June 2022, with a whole host of stars jumping ship from the PGA Tour to join the Saudi-backed outfit.
Three years down the line and the PGA Tour are still in a very strong position, despite all of the money that LIV have ploughed into their product.
The PGA Tour and LIV Golf have no plans to merge right now, with no further talks planned as things stand.
Those who initially made the jump from the PGA Tour to join LIV would surely have believed that the two entities would have reached some kind of an agreement by now.
However, things haven’t worked out in that regard whatsoever.
What should be the punishment for LIV golfers who want to return to the PGA Tour?
In fact, the PGA Tour and LIV appear to be further apart than ever before when it comes down to their respective stances.
If a merger never happens, certain players over on LIV may well be looking for a way out. That will certainly be the case if the Saudi-backed league isn’t able to obtain world ranking points.
Three players who made terrible mistakes joining LIV Golf
The harsh truth of the matter is that the PGA Tour is simply far more competitive than LIV Golf at the moment, and it has been for the past three years now.
Here are three players whose games have regressed badly since making the move to join the Saudi-backed league.
Dustin Johnson
It was only five years ago when Dustin Johnson was the best player in the world.
The 41-year-old had just won the 2020 Masters in November and he seemingly had many more major wins lying on the horizon.
However, just 18 months later he made the move to join LIV Golf and the truth of the matter is that he simply hasn’t been the same since.
Johnson’s major record makes for grim reading since his first appearance on LIV in June 2022.
He has just two top-10 finishes to his name in 13 starts with his best result a T-6.
Now, Johnson is a very laid back character, and he has enough money to do what he wants with his life now.
He may not regret joining LIV, but it’s hard to argue that leaving the PGA Tour wasn’t a big mistake.
Johnson would surely have more PGA Tour wins and major championship titles to his name now, had he simply stayed put.
Cameron Smith
The Australian has endured real struggles since joining LIV Golf not long after he won The Open Championship in 2022.
After his victory at St Andrews, Smith was widely regarded as one of the best golfers on the planet. He emerged victorious at the Players Championship as well in 2022.
However, three years down the line now and we’re looking at an absolute shell of the player he once was.
Before the Australian Open this week, where he has actually played really well, he had missed seven cuts in a row in four-round tournaments.
Smith missed the cut at every single major championship in 2025, and after a T-6 at The Masters in 2024, he missed one cut and recorded T-32 and T-63 finishes at the US Open and the PGA Championship respectively.
His confidence seems to be completely shot right now, although the encouraging form he showed in his home country this week will hopefully lift his spirits ahead of the 2026 season.
That said, it’s still very fair to argue that Smith made a shocking decision by joining LIV, certainly when it comes down to adversely affecting his chances of winning majors.
Louis Oosthuizen
The winner of the 2010 Open Championship, Louis Oosthuizen’s form has fallen off the edge of a cliff over the past three years or so.
Since he won at St Andrews 15 years ago, the South African has recorded six runner-up finishes in the majors.
However, the last of those came at the US Open in 2021.
Since he joined LIV in June 2022, Oosthuizen has only played in six major championships. His best finish in those events was a T-23 at The Open in 2023 and he has missed four cuts with one withdrawal to his name.
It’s such a shame because at 43, Oosthuizen should still have plenty of years left playing at the very highest level, but it just doesn’t seem like he possesses the skillset to compete any more.
The South African is still one of the best swingers of the golf club in the game, but his move to LIV Golf has clearly played a part in his drastic regression as a player.
There aren’t many success stories on LIV Golf, in truth.
Bryson DeChambeau is the only golfer who has either improved or retained his form since making the move.
Brooks Koepka won a major in 2023 while playing on LIV but his overall form has been nowhere near good enough.
Jon Rahm continues to struggle in majors while Joaquin Niemann has flattered to deceive in the big four tournaments.
LIV are surely not where they thought they’d be right now back when they started in 2022, and many of their players may well be wondering whether they made a big mistake by jumping ship from the PGA Tour.
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