Golf 101: What's happened since the Tokyo Olympics?

LIV Golf divides men's golf

Men's professional golf underwent a seismic shift in the summer of 2022 with the establishment of LIV Golf, a golf league financed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) intended to rival the PGA Tour. 

LIV Golf offered dozens of the sport's top players lucrative contracts — some reportedly as high as nine figures — to join the new league. In response, the PGA Tour ruled that any player who competes in a LIV Golf event would receive at least a one-year ban from participation on the PGA Tour. Major championships, on the other hand, have continued to allow LIV-affiliated golfers to compete.

LIV Golf events are not recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking, which is used to determine qualification to the Olympic Games. As a result, players competing in LIV Golf face a significant disadvantage toward Olympic qualification, essentially limited to just their performances at the four major championships.

Players affiliated with LIV Golf include Americans Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson and Patrick Reed, Mexico's Abraham Ancer, Great Britain's Paul Casey, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter, Spain's Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia, Australia's Cameron Smith, Germany's Martin Kaymer, Chile's Joaquin Niemann and Mito Pereira, South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen, and Rio 2016 silver medalist Henrik Stenson of Sweden. 

Major champions since the Tokyo Olympics