PGA TOUR, LIV Golf players still in the dark

Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka and others have shown that the players still don’t know what the PGA TOUR deal with the PIF means.

Jon Rahm said on the eve of the US Open teeing off: “The general feeling is that a lot of people feel a bit of betrayal from management.”

The Spaniard, who turned down a reported $200m (£159m) to join LIV, continued: “I think it gets to a point where you want to have faith in management, and I want to have faith that this is the best thing for all of us, but it’s clear that that’s not the consensus.

“I thought my phone was going to catch on fire at one point,” said Rahm.

“I told [my wife] Kelley I’m going to throw my phone in the drawer and not look at it for four hours because I can’t deal with this anymore.”

PGA TOUR players don’t know the details neither do LIV

Two-time US Open winner Brooks Koepka said the issue was no clearer on the LIV side of the fence.

“We didn’t hear anything about it,” he said. “I think that’s the one thing that shocked everybody the most.

“I ran into Rickie [Fowler] and JT [Justin Thomas] after watching the whole thing and I asked if they knew, and they said they didn’t know, either.

“They were kind of learning about it. They were on the back of the range, so I probably saw them 30 minutes after the news broke.” And both Fowler and Thomas are key PGA TOUR figures. As is the next PGA TOUR player mentioned.

World number one Scottie Scheffler is also in the dark. He was at the gym when he heard the news.

“I didn’t really know what was going on, still don’t really have a clue,” he said.

“I don’t really know what’s going to happen but I’m interested to see. Things are barely starting to take form with that whole deal, so I really just don’t know.”

US Open this week to entertain

There will be precious few South Africans in the year’s third Major – the US Open – as the LIV Golf fallout continues to wreck havoc on the OWGR.

As long as the OWGR continues to ignore players in LIV Golf events, this trend will continue.

Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace and Charl Schwartzel all missed the PGA Championship because they slid down the rankings. None are present in the field as it stands for the US Open.

ALSO READ: Sunshine Tour: New Order of Merit sponsor delivers

Dean Burmester managed to get into the PGA Championship, but he’s not in for the US Open.

So while the Stingers GC players make loads of cash, their days in the Majors are numbered.

ALSO READ: Explained: Louis Oosthuizen may never play the Masters again

Only Louis Oosthuizen of the LIV Golf crew will make it to The Open. Charl Schwartzel is a previous Masters winner and can play for as long as he likes.

South Africans in this year’s US Open include amateur star Aldrich Potgieter, qualifiers Deon Germishuys and Wilco Nienaber, alongside DP World Tour member Thirston Lawrence. That’s it.

ALSO READ: Major golf in 2023: When are they and who can play?

Christiaan Bezuidenhout is currently ranked 78th in the world and is South Africa’s top-ranked player, but he’s been unable to get into the 2023 US Open to date.

ALSO READ: Koepka wins fifth Major title at PGA Championship

Tiger Woods has officially withdrawn.

US OPEN PLAYERS (EXEMPT AND QUALIFIED)

Abraham Ancer, 22

Sam Bennett (a), 4

Keegan Bradley, 2, 22

Hayden Buckley, 13

Sam Burns, 11, 22

Patrick Cantlay, 11, 22

Ben Carr (a), 5

Gunn Charoenkul, FQ

Wyndham Clark, 22

Corey Conners, 11, 22

Joel Dahmen, 2

Jens Dantorp, FQ

Cam Davis, 22

Jason Day, 22

Bryson DeChambeau, 1

Alejandro Del Rey, FQ

Wenyi Ding (a), 5

Austin Eckroat, FQ

Harris English, 22

Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira (a), 21

Tony Finau, 11, 12, 22

Ross Fisher, FQ

Matt Fitzpatrick, 1, 2, 11, 22

Tommy Fleetwood, 22

Rickie Fowler, 22

Ryan Fox, 22

Sergio Garcia, FQ

Deon Germishuys, FQ

Brent Grant, FQ

Adam Hadwin, 2

Paul Haley II, FQ

Brian Harman, 11, 22

Padraig Harrington, 3

Tyrrell Hatton, 22

Russell Henley, 22

Lucas Herbert, 22

Tom Hoge, 11, 22

Max Homa, 11, 12, 22

Billy Horschel, 11, 22

David Horsey, FQ

Viktor Hovland, 11, 22

Mackenzie Hughes, 13

Sungjae Im, 11, 22

Ryo Ishikawa, FQ

Dustin Johnson, 1, 6

Martin Kaymer, 1

Si Woo Kim, 22

Tom (Joohyung) Kim, 12, 22

Chris Kirk, 22

Kurt Kitayama, 22

Brooks Koepka, 1, 7, 22

Matt Kuchar, 22

Thirston Lawrence, 15

Hank Lebioda, FQ

K.H. Lee, 11, 22

Min Woo Lee, 16

Shane Lowry, 8, 10, 22

Hideki Matsuyama, 2, 6, 11, 22

Denny McCarthy, 2, 22

Matthew McClean (a), 5

Rory McIlroy, 2, 11, 12, 22

Adrian Meronk, 22

Phil Mickelson, 7

Keith Mitchell, 22

Francesco Molinari, 8

Taylor Montgomery, 13

Taylor Moore, 22

Collin Morikawa, 2, 7, 8, 11

Ryutaro Nagano, FQ

Joaquin Niemann, 11, 22

Wilco Nienaber, FQ

Alex Noren, 22

Matthieu Pavon, FQ

Mito Pereira, 22

Victor Perez, 22

Thomas Pieters, 22

J.T. Poston, 22

Aldrich Poltgieter (a), 18

Seamus Power, 22

Andrew Putnam, 13

Jon Rahm, 1, 6, 11, 12, 22

Patrick Reed, 22

Justin Rose, 1, 22

Xander Schauffele, 11, 12, 22

Scottie Scheffler, 2, 6, 9, 11, 12, 22

Adam Scott, 11, 22

Roger Sloan, FQ

Cameron Smith, 8, 9, 11, 22

Jordan Smith, 15

Jacob Solomon, FQ

Jordan Spieth, 1, 11, 22

Scott Stallings, 11

Sepp Straka, 11, 22

Justin Suh, 14

Adam Svensson, 22

Nick Taylor, 13

Sahith Theegala, 11, 22

Justin Thomas, 7, 9, 11, 22

Aaron Wise, 11, 22

Gary Woodland, 1, 2

Cameron Young, 11, 22

Carson Young, FQ

NOTE: Tiger Woods and Will Zalatoris both qualified for the championship but will not play due to injury.