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Louis Oosthuizen is teetering on the wrong side of the Official World Golf Ranking. Being too low can be costly for a golfer. Different tournaments have different criteria for inviting golfers to join, but the Masters' criterion is pretty straightforward: the top 50 ranked golfers will be invited.
As of today, Oosthuizen is ranked 49th, but that's a ranking that has dropped recently. To be invited, he has to maintain that ranking through December 31, which is more than a month away.
He was ranked 21st in July, firmly in the qualifying range, but since he joined LIV and faced suspension from the PGA Tour, he has dropped steadily.
The issue is that he's a member of LIV Golf. With the ever-boiling vitriol towards that league, the rankings don't count LIV events. Anything he or anyone does in those tournaments doesn't matter. Even if it would catapult them to the world's top-ranked golfer, it doesn't matter.
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This will potentially keep him out of the 2023 Masters, even though he would have easily qualified before. It was always his choice to join LIV, and there have been consequences like this for those that have.
Still, it does seem like a bit of a punishment for joining LIV. He might still get in by the narrowest of margins, but that looks less likely by the day.
The PGA Tour doesn't like LIV Golf; there's no secret about that. This is another way for them to try and deter golfers from defecting. However, it hasn't worked on Oosthuizen.
If he misses the Masters, he may feel like he made a mistake, but most LIV members are pretty happy with their decision.
Who's in the Golf Ranking's top 50, and who might surpass Louis Oosthuizen?
The top 50 looks like this currently:
- Rory McIlroy
- Scottie Scheffler
- Cameron Smith
- Patrick Cantlay
- Jon Rahm
- Xander Schauffele
- Will Zalatoris
- Justin Thomas
- Matt Fitzpatrick
- Collin Morikawa
- Viktor Hovland
- Tony Finau
- Jordan Spieth
- Sam Burns
- Tom Kim
- Max Homa
- Billy Horschel
- Cameron Young
- Hideki Matsuyama
- Shane Lowry
- Sungjae Im
- Joaquin Neimann
- Tommy Fleetwood
- Brian Harman
- Tyrell Hatton
- Keegan Bradley
- Ryan Fox
- Seamus Prower
- Sepp Straka
- Abraham Ancer
- Kevin Kisner
- Russell Henley
- Corey Conners
- Adam Scott
- Aaron Wise
- Tom Hoge
- K.H. Lee
- Dustin Johnson
- Thomas Pieters
- Talor Gooch
- Alex Noren
- Kurt Kitayama
- Mito Pereira
- Sahith Theegala
- Harold Varner III
- Jason Kokrak
- Kevin Na
- Brooks Koepka
- Louis Oosthuizen
- Daniel Berger
Cam Smith, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Oosthuizen would qualify for the Masters while being part of LIV Golf. However, their positions are in danger, especially those of the latter two.
Mackenzie Hughes is ranked 51st and could leapfrog them. Harris English is 53rd and could do the same. J.T. Poston has seen a rise in his rankings. He's up to 54th and could sneak in ahead of the LIV golfers currently holding on to a few of the last available spots.
There is a possibility that the rules will change and that no LIV Golf members will be able to participate. Under the current regulations, Oosthuizen and a few other LIV Golf members are in danger.
