David Puig of LIV Golf secures The Open Championship berth after winning the IRS Prima Malaysian Open
Qualifying for the Majors is difficult for players on LIV Golf (though not impossible), but David Puig has accomplished it. There are numerous avenues to making it into the field, though the most notable and easiest ones often have to do with OWGR points.
Nevertheless, Puig persisted and earned a spot in the upcoming The Open Championship after securing a victory on the Asian Tour. He shot two straight 62s at the IRS Prima Malaysian Open, which got him a spot in the field.
Even though they're not banned from competition, making it to a Major as a LIV Golf member is a feat in and of itself. For the most part, LIV players are not ranked high enough on OWGR to make a difference since they're not on the PGA Tour.
However, there are various ways to get on, including the method by which Puig locked down his spot at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club. The golfer was two strokes clear of Jeunghun Wang on the final leaderboard.
It is perhaps even more impressive that Puig made it from the rebel tour. Many LIV players will be in Major fields, such as Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, but these are largely off the strength of their careers prior to defection.
Puig doesn't have that luxury, which makes his entry into the Open Championship all the more worthy of praise. Maybe he'll make good on it and put on another show this July.
The young golfer reflected on his performance via SB Nation:
“It feels great, weird feeling for sure. We almost missed the cut... The weekend was just insane. I mean, 18 birdies, no bogeys, in 36 holes was unbelievable. And getting that Open spot is super cool — I came here for that.”
His arrival, as well as a couple of others who qualified through the same tournament, makes 13 LIV members currently in the Open field.
How can LIV Golf players qualify for Majors?
As mentioned, one of the easiest ways for any LIV Golf player to make it into the Masters, the US Open, the Open Championship or the PGA Championship is just by virtue of winning one previously.
That makes it easy for the following players:
- Phil Mickelson
- Dustin Johnson
- Sergio García
- Martin Kaymer
- Graeme McDowell
- Louis Oosthuizen
- Charl Schwartzel,
- Lee Westwood
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Brooks Koepka
- Patrick Reed
- Cameron Smith
- Henrik Stenson
- Louis Oosthuizen
That doesn't leave the rest out. In fact, there are numerous ways to qualify.
For the PGA Championship, LIV golfers can still be added based on the PGA of America’s points system, which differs from the OWGR. For both the U.S. Open and Open Championship, there are 36-hole final qualifying events that LIV players aren't prohibited from. The Open has nine qualifying tournaments of the same nature as the Malaysian Open.
Alternatively, playing events, like those on the Asian Tour, can give LIV players a good OWGR boost, which for some can be enough to boost them into the qualifying range for The Masters and others.