Which players have been AXED before start of 2023 LIV Golf League season?!

Six players have been axed from this week's opening event of the new LIV Golf League season after the Saudi-bankrolled circuit this week confirmed a number of new signings from the PGA Tour. 

Thomas Pieters was the shock announcement on LIV Golf this week, just days after he was denied entry into Tiger Woods' Genesis Invitational on the PGA Tour.

Did he really p*** off, Tiger?!

Six-time European Tour winner Tony Johnstone spoke about Pieters on this week's GolfMagic 'From The Tips' Podcast episode, which you can watch here: 

Other players to join LIV Golf from the PGA Tour include Mito Pereira, Sebastian Munoz, Brendan Steele, Danny Lee and Dean Burmester.

Click on the following link to check out the full new LIV Golf League Teams ahead of the first of 14 tournaments in Mayakoba.

Here's the LIV Golf League Schedule, too. 

Some team names have been altered, whilst some logos have been re-designed. 

Cameron Smith liked Ripper GC more than Punch GC. Bubba Watson ditched Niblicks GC and opted for RangeGoats GC. 

Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia have this week seen adidas rip up their long-term contracts. 

Six players who competed in the LIV Golf Team Championship in October 2022 have now been AXED for the LIV Golf League opener in Mexico: 

The following six players could still very much be part of the LIV Golf League in 2023, but just not right now. 

LIV Golf recently revealed each of the 12 teams will receive one substitute player, to step in when there are injuries, personal reasons or simply just being out of form. 

So all is not lost for the below six: 

Laurie Canter

Canter played in all eight LIV Golf events in 2022, so his omission from the first event of 2023 would seem a harsh one. 

Perhaps the Englishman wanted to concentrate his efforts on earning a maiden DP World Tour title. 

But given he's not in the Indian Open field this week, we would have to suggest that is likely not the case. 

It would appear he was given the cold shoulder by both the Majesticks and the Cleeks, the two teams he played for in 2022. 

Let's not feel too sorry for him, though. 

Canter galloped his way to $2.9 million in LIV Golf earnings in 2022, so he probably will be able to afford his electricity bill this week. 

Wade Ormsby

Ormsby competed on Smith's all-Australian team in 2022 but he has been dropped in favour of Jediah Morgan for the latest event.

Morgan played on Torque GC last year but has been picked up by Smith for 2023. 

Perhaps Ormsby will be subbed in for Morgan at a later date, if Smith feels it necessary, but for now there is no place in Ripper GC for him. 

Smith's team also comprises Marc Leishman and Matt Jones, players who likely won't be dropped anytime soon given they are PGA Tour winners.

Ormsby accumulated a very tidy $3 million on LIV Golf last year, so he certainly performed fairly well. 

Hennie du Plessis

South African du Plessis can probably feel the most hard done by of all six players in this list given he performed admirably for Louis Oosthuizen's Stinger team in 2022.

du Plessis finished a very respectable second in the first ever LIV Golf event at Centurion in England back in June. 

He went on to pocket a whopping $4.5 million in 2022, ranking him 17th for the season in tournament earnings. 

But Oosthuizen has booted du Plessis out and brought in Burmester, a new signing for LIV Golf in 2023. 

Stinger GC also comprises fellow South Africans Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace. 

Adrian Otaegui

Otaegui played in half of the LIV Golf events in 2022, and caused further controversy in the process. 

The Spaniard returned to the DP World Tour to become the first LIV Golf player to win on the former European Tour circuit. That came on home soil at the Andalucia Masters. 

Otaegui pocketed $1.2 million in LIV Golf tournament earnings in 2022. 

Not bad for just four starts. 

Sadom Kaewkanjana

Thailand's Kaewkanjana played in all eight LIV Golf tournaments in 2022, just like Canter. 

He was part of the Iron Heads team led by Kevin Na, but has now been shunned ahead of the first event in Mexico. 

Kaewkanjana earned $1.3 million, which might seem decent, but given he played in all eight tournaments you could argue he did very little to impress his teammates. 

As a result, he's out. 

Phachara Khongwatmai

The same story above applies for fellow Thai player Khongwatmai, who was also on the Iron Heads in 2022. 

He performed a little better, earning $1.8 million in earnings, but if truth be told, neither he or Kaewkanjana set pulses racing for Na's team. 

Na has stuck faith with Sihwan Kim, and added Scott Vincent (who was part of Torque GC in 2022) and new signing Danny Lee. 

Here's how much all the players won on LIV Golf in 2022 (tournament earnings only): 

1. Dustin Johnson - $35,637,767
2. Branden Grace - $16,634,666
3. Peter Uihlein - $12,814,786
4. Patrick Reed - $12,210,714 
5. Talor Gooch - $10,374,500 
6. Brooks Koepka - $8,276,100 
7. Charl Schwartzel - $8,135,000 
8. Pat Perez - $8,023,500 
9. Cam Smith - $7,378,500 
10. Eugenio Chacarra - $6,932,000 
11. Carlos Ortiz - $6,135,314 
12. Sergio Garcia - $6,128,786 
13. Henrik Stenson - $5,566,000 
14. Louis Oosthuizen - $5,395,167 
15. Paul Casey - $4,543,367 
16. Joaquin Niemann - $4,524,286 
17. Hennie du Plessis - $4,530,000 
18. Abraham Ancer - $4,445,500 
19. Chase Koepka - $4,328,964 
20. Lee Westwood - $4,272,914 
21. Matthew Wolff - $4,226,167
22. Anirban Lahiri - $4,226,000 
23. Jason Kokrak - $3,959,500 
24. Richard Bland - $3,545,833 
25. Sam Horsfield - $3,534,000 
26. Bryson DeChambeau - $3,511,750 
27. Matt Jones - $3,404,700 
28. Wade Ormsby - $3,069,500 
29. Ian Poulter - $3,003,333 
30. Charles Howell III - $2,995,333 
31. Marc Leishman - $2,968,000 
32. Laurie Canter - $2,906,950 
33. Sihwan Kim - $2,382,000 
34. Graeme McDowell - $2,373,381
35. James Piot - $1,936,000 
36. Kevin Na - $1,914,286 
37. Martin Kaymer - $1,911,800 
38. Phachara Khongwatmai - $1,858,333 
39. Bernd Wiesberger - $1,843,500 
40. Phil Mickelson - $1,825,350 
41. Turk Pettit - $1,691,000  
42. Scott Vincent - $1,498,700 
43. Harold Varner III - $1,457,500
44. Jediah Morgan - $1,395,000 
45. Justin Harding - $1,319,167
46. Sadom Kaewkanjana - $1,312,286 
47. Adrian Otaegui - $1,294,500
48. Hudson Swafford - $1,241,000 
49. Jinichiro Kozuma - $1,205,000 
50. Cameron Tringale - $1,091,200 
51. Shergo Al Kurdi - $1,044,000
52. Shaun Norris - $1,006,000 
53. Travis Smyth - $846,000 
54. Hideto Tanihara - $752,600 
55. Oliver Bekker - $737,500 
56. Ryosuke Kinoshita - $624,000 
57. Yuki Inamori - $501,000 
58. David Puig - $405,000 
59. Ian Snyman - $316,000 
60. Pablo Larrazabal - $315,000 
61. Blake Windred - $263,000  
62. Itthipat Buranatanyarat - $249,000 
63. JC Ritchie - $226,000 
64. Viraj Madappa - $154,000 
65. Kevin Yuan - $146,000 
66. Oliver Fisher - $136,000 
67. Ratchanon Chantananuwat - $136,000 
68. Andy Ogletree - $120,000   

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