First LIV Field Announced: DJ Headlines; Michigan’s Piot In The Field

After months of speculation, LIV Golf has announced a partial field list for their inaugural tournament at Centurion Club June 9 – 11.

Dustin Johnson is the biggest name to test the PGA TOUR’s resolve to prevent players from bandying about between the leagues.

Of note to Michiganders is that reigning US Amateur Champion James Piot is also in the field. Piot is a Michigan State star and a resident of Canton. Piot is listed as an amateur in the field notes.

Also of note is who is NOT on the list: Phil Mickelson. I think there’s a lot more going on in Phil’s life than anyone thinks.

Other big names are (in order of relative significance) Sergio Garcia (World Golf Ranking 54), Lee Westwood (74), Charl Schwartzel (120), Lous Oosthuizen (20), Graeme McDowell (376) and Martin Kaymer (210).

Of those, however, only DJ (13) has been any real threat to win a PGA TOUR event in recent years.

Other recognizable PGA TOUR and European Tour players on the list include Talor Gooch (35), Branden Grace (118), Kevin Na (33), Ian Poulter (89) Hudson Swafford (91), Peter Uihlein (319) and Bernd Wiesberger (90).

The average ranking of this field is 106. The median is 98. That’s not exactly a stellar field.

In fact, the LIV field looks a lot like I thought it would when I posted an article on how LIV could actually be good for the PGA TOUR. LIV is for the most part signing hangers-on with the regular tour who are not really threats to win any more.

A lot is going to depend on what punishment the PGA TOUR is prepared to hand to Dustin Johnson.

The complete list of names released by LIV follow:

Last Name First Name Country OWGR Career Highlights 
Bekker Oliver  RSA 93 Seven career wins 
Bland Richard  ENG 66 Two career wins 
Canter Laurie  ENG 114 One professional win 
Chantananuwat (Am) Ratchanon “TK” THA  Youngest to win an OWGR event  
Du Plessis Hennie RSA 128 Three professional wins 
Fisher Oliver  ENG  One professional win; 16 top-10 finishes 
Garcia Sergio ESP 54 Major champion; 36 career victories 
Gooch Talor USA 35 Two professional wins 
Grace Branden  RSA 118 14 professional wins 
Harding Justin  RSA 111 11 professional wins 
Horsfield Sam  ENG 72 Three professional wins 
Johnson Dustin USA 13 Former World No. 1; Two-time major champion 
Jones Matt  AUS 68 Four professional wins 
Kaewkanjana Sadom  THA 125 Former Asian Tour Order of Merit leader (2 wins) 
Kaymer Martin  GER 210 Former World No. 1; Two-time major champion 
Khongwatmai Phachara  THA 133 Youngest player to win pro event (2013) 
Kim Sihwan USA 138 Two Asian Tour wins 
Kinoshita Ryosuke  JPN 87 Three professional wins 
Koepka Chase  USA  Six professional top-10 finishes  
Kozuma Jinichiro  JPN 103 Two professional wins 
Larrazabal Pablo  ESP 65 Eight professional wins 
McDowell Graeme  NIR  Major champion; 16 professional victories 
Morgan Jediah  AUS 235 2021-22 PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit 
Na Kevin USA 33 Nine professional victories 
Norris Shaun RSA 69 12 professional wins 
Ogletree Andy USA  2019 U.S. Amateur Champion 
Oosthuizen Louis  RSA 20 Major champion; 20 professional wins 
Ormsby Wade AUS  Four professional victories  
Otaegui Adrian ESP 162 Three professional wins 
Pettit Turk  USA  2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Champion 
Piot (Am) James USA  2021 U.S. Amateur Champion 
Poulter Ian  ENG 89 19 professional victories; former World No. 5 
Puig (Am) David ESP  Seven top-10 finishes in 2021 (NCAA) 
Ritchie JC RSA 154 10 professional victories 
Schwartzel Charl  RSA 120 Major champion; 23 professional wins 
Swafford Hudson  USA 91 Four professional wins; 12 top 10 finishes 
Tanihara Hideto  JPN 173 16 professional victories 
Uihlein Peter  USA  Former No. 1 Amateur; Four professional wins 
Vincent Scott  ZIM 109 Four professional wins 
Westwood Lee  ENG 74 Former World No. 1; 44 professional wins 
Wiesberger Bernd  AUT 90 13 professional victories 
Windred Blake  AUS 250 Earned first professional win in 2021 

*Note: The final six players will include Commissioner’s invites and berths following the results of The Asian Tour International Series England tournament, June 2-5 at Slayley Hall. Announcements will be made by Monday, June 6.

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