Olympic LIV Golf stars have pocketed £88m in prize money since PGA Tour decision

Despite some big names missing from the Olympics, a total of seven stars from the LIV Golf league have managed to secure their spots. The Olympic qualification was determined by world rankings, posing a challenge for LIV Golf players as regular league events do not help these stars climb the pecking order.

It means that Bryson DeChambeau, despite his US Open victory in June, ended up sixth in line for a spot on Team USA - with only four slots available per country. Five-time major winner Brooks Koepka and ex-world number one Dustin Johnson failed to qualify for the USA. Former Open winner Cameron Smith also missed out on representing Australia.

Rory McIlroy has argued that these players were aware that joining the breakaway league could jeopardise their Olympic dreams. Nevertheless, seven LIV Golf players are competing in Paris, having all earned substantial sums since switching to the Saudi-backed tour.

Jon Rahm - 10.4m ($13.4m)

Rahm controversially joined LIV Golf in December 2023 after previously stating he would not leave the PGA Tour and criticising the format of LIV Golf tournaments, is among them. Reports suggest that Rahm signed a multi-year deal worth £390m ($500m) to join LIV Golf.

The captain of Legion XIII, who clinched his first individual event on the tour at LIV Golf UK in July, bagged a grand prize of £3.12m ($4m). The Spaniard had to pull out from the Tokyo Games after testing positive for Covid-19 and is now among the top contenders for gold in Paris.

David Puig - £9.6m ($12.3m)

Puig has joined Rahm as part of Team Spain at the Paris Olympics. The 22-year-old decided to leave university early to turn professional when he joined LIV Golf in September 2022.

Despite not having won a LIV Golf event yet, the Spaniard does have two other professional wins to his name. His best LIV Golf performance saw him tie for third place at LIV Golf Houston in 2023, earning him £980k ($1.25m).

Joaquin Niemann - £20.4m ($26.2m)

Niemann is the highest earner from LIV Golf events on this list. The 25-year-old Chilean has won two individual LIV events this year - in Mayakoba and Jeddah - resulting in a combined payout of £6.24m ($8m).

The Torque GC captain reportedly inked a £78m ($100m) contract to exit the PGA Tour in 2022. He is participating in his second Olympics and aims to better his 10th-place finish at the Tokyo Games.

Mito Pereira - £11.2m ($14.4m)

Pereira, a fellow Chilean teammate of Niemann at the Paris Olympics, has yet to secure victory in a LIV Golf event since joining in 2023. However, he did finish as runner-up at Greenbier later that year. The 29-year-old also boasts the strongest Olympic pedigree on this list, having narrowly missed out on a bronze medal in Tokyo.

Abraham Ancer - £15m ($19m)

Ancer will be representing Team Mexico for the second time at the Olympics. The 33-year-old, who joined the breakaway tour in June 2022, recently clinched his first LIV Golf event win in Hong Kong, bagging a hefty £3.12m ($4m) prize in May.

Carlos Ortiz - £17m ($21.9m)

Ortiz has joined Ancer in representing Mexico for a second consecutive Olympic Games. He switched from the PGA to join LIV in 2022 and celebrated his first victory in Houston earlier this year, earning a cool £3.12m ($4m).

Adrian Meronk - £4.6m ($5.9m)

Meronk is representing Team Poland in Paris. His decision to join LIV Golf earlier this year was influenced by his exclusion from the 2023 Ryder Cup team.

Despite only participating in 11 LIV events so far, Meronk has already amassed over £4m in prize money, largely due to his second-place finish in Houston. The two-time Olympian pocketed £1.76m ($2.25m) after finishing just two strokes behind Ortiz.