LIV Golf star earns spot in Open Championship

In the wake of widespread criticism of the Official Golf World Rankings (OWGR), one LIV Golf star has worked his way around it.

Unable to earn ranking points as a result of LIV’s current setup, players have been forced to look for alternative routes into major championships.

First, it was the DP World Tour.

Dean Burmester earned a tilt at the Open this year, thanks to a win at the Joburg Open in November.

Joaquin Niemann, a strong advocate against the ‘unfair’ rankings system, was next. The Chilean lifted the ISPS Australian Open title in January to book his place at Royal Troon.

And now, one of his former teammates will join him in South Ayrshire this July after taking advantage of the same method.

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The Open Qualifying Series offers several spots at tournaments around the world, and last week they were up for grabs on the Asian Tour.

As the third event of the lucrative series, the IRS Prima Malaysian Open attracted two LIV golfers and Spaniard David Puig lifted the title.

The Fireballs GC player was joined by Sam Horsfield in Malaysia, but Puig punched his ticket to the final major of the year after a remarkable weekend.

After making the cut on the number, the 22-year-old carded 18 birdies in the final two rounds to win by two shots.

Consecutive bogey-free rounds of 62 at Mines Resort and Golf Club also earned Puig his second victory on the tour in four months.

“It feels great, weird feeling for sure,” Puig said. “We almost missed the cut.

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“We finished round two good, and 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.”

Jeunghun Wang and Denwit Boriboonsub secured the other two Open Championship berths. The latter finished T3 with John Catlin but earned the spot based on his higher position in the OWGR.

Puig’s fellow LIV star Sam Horsfield finished T22.

Meanwhile, Puig jumped over 100 spots in the OWGR, courtesy of his title win in Malaysia. Formerly world No. 245, he moved up to No. 141 in the rankings.

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.