There have been plenty of example of LIV Golf players slipping down the Official World Golf Ranking in recent months, but few highlight the issue more than the latest drop for Sergio Garcia.
That's because the former World No.2 has now fallen out of the top 150 for the first time since 6 June 1999, and currently stands at World No.153.
Even when Garcia first teed it up on the circuit as part of its original intake, there seemed little danger he would suffer such a precipitous drop given he was World No.57 at that point. However, despite trying several approaches, LIV Golf has failed to break the impasse that sees it unable to offer its players world ranking points.
Meanwhile, in the nine months since Garcia joined the project he has only taken part in six ranking events elsewhere. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, he largely struggled in those tournaments, with his only top-10 finish coming in the most recent, February’s International Series Oman on the Asian Tour, where he tied for fifth. That has meant Garcia’s proud run in the top 150 has come to an end after almost 24 years, a period that featured 11 PGA Tour wins including his 2017 Masters victory.
The news follows similar dramatic drops in the world rankings for other LIV Golf players, including Brooks Koepka, who recently fell out of the top 100 after a spell of almost 10 years. Before him, Bryson DeChambeau dropped out of the top 100 in February and is now also on the verge of following Garcia out of the top 150 after a fall of six places last week to World No.149. Meanwhile, former World No.4 Louis Oosthuizen is now languishing at World No.112.
With a packed LIV Golf schedule in 2023, opportunities for Garcia and other LIV Golf players to move back up the rankings are limited. However, at least Garcia has a chance to climb back up the world rankings soon. Thanks to that win at Augusta National six years ago, he is eligible to appear in the first Major of the year.
