[PHOTO: Getty Images]
Marc Leishman has hit back at suggestions LIV Golf is not preparing its players adequately for majors.
Leishman sat in on a conference call with Australian reporters today to talk about progressing through final qualifying for next week’s US Open at Oakmont Country Club. The Warrnambool pro was asked about recent comments made by TV analysts Brandel Chamblee and Paul McGinley that LIV Golf – comprised of 54-hole tournaments with no cut – is not sending stars such as Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and others to the majors with enough match fitness to compete with the likes of world No.1 Scottie Scheffler.
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At the recent PGA Championship, DeChambeau earned his second consecutive runner-up in the event while Rahm was heavily in contention but faded on the back nine to T-8. Chamblee said on the set of Live From that “when it mattered the most, [holes] 16, 17 and 18, when you had to hit shots, when you had to control your nerves, when you had to control the rhythm of your golf swing, Scottie had it, Bryson didn’t, Rahm didn’t”. McGinley agreed, stating “it’s hard to make an argument that going to LIV is going to give you a better chance of winning a major”.
Leishman feels LIV’s star-studded roster at the upper echelon of the league created an intensity he believes is enough to sharpen players for the majors.
“I would disagree with that; I think the way our schedule is set up actually lends itself to being able to prepare very well for the majors,” Leishman said today. “We’re playing against great fields every single week on tough golf courses. Yes, it’s 54 holes, but it puts a bit of pressure on that first round to get off to a good start because they are a little bit more of a sprint.
“We’re still playing a lot of golf away from tournaments, enjoying golf more. And I think when you are enjoying your golf and it’s not so much of a grind that lends itself to better play. I’m happy to be able to prepare for the qualifier, which I normally wouldn’t have been able to do. I’d be preparing for other tournaments. Obviously we’ve got a tournament this week [LIV Golf Virginia]; [Robert Trent Jones Golf Club is] not a US Open course, but the greens, they’re extremely quick, hilly. I think it’s going to be really good preparation for next week at Oakmont. I would probably disagree with Brandel Chamblee a little bit… a lot.”
The notion that LIV golfers are not as sharp as their PGA Tour peers is complex. On one hand, Brooks Koepka (2023 PGA Championship) and DeChambeau (2024 US Open) have won majors since joining the league. DeChambeau also has six top-10s at the majors, including two runner-ups at the PGA and a T-5 at the Masters, as well as a US Open win at Pinehurst, in that span. But as Betsperts data analyst Ron Klos noted, “Out of the 18 golfers that have signed with LIV and played in at least three majors since joining, 14 have performed worse on average in major events compared to their three-year strokes gained average per round in majors before joining.”
Leishman, a former six-time winner on the PGA Tour, has been in fine form on LIV golf this year, winning the Miami event at Doral’s brutal Blue Monster course in April for his first title on the league. On Monday in the US, he secured his return to the majors after going three years since the 2022 Open Championship at St Andrews without qualifying for one. Leishman played the US Open final qualifier at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland where he shot 70-69 to finish at 139 (three-under-par) before securing one of two spots from a three-for-two playoff.
It will be Leishman’s first US Open since a solid T-14 at the US Open at the Country Club at Brookline in 2022.
When asked why he still wants to tee up in final qualifying, Leishman rejected the idea the enormous prizemoney on LIV golf stifled competitive juices from top players.
“Well, I mean we’re all competitive,” he said. “A lot of people, high level athletes or actors or businessmen or business, whatever you want to say, just successful people. They already have the money in the bank and they just want to be successful and they want to test themselves.
“I want to test myself against the best players and we do that on the LIV events. Yes, there’s no cuts and all that, but once you get into that end of a tournament… you’re not even thinking about all that stuff. So you want to get yourself into that pressure cooker if you call it that and test yourself under the most immense pressure and see if you can handle it. I think that’s why I do it, whether I’m playing the Victorian PGA or the LIV Miami or the US Open. I want to try and win and some days you have your golf game with you and some days you don’t and the days you do, you’ve got to try and make the most of it and yeah, test yourself and that’s why I do it.”
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In total, there were 10 sites across the US others on June 2 (US time), a marathon that has been nicknamed “Golf’s Longest Day”. Leishman was the only Australian to progress.
