WESTFIELD, Ind. — Anthony Kim may have played his last LIV Golf tournament.
The league wrapped up its individual-event schedule Sunday at The Club at Chatham Hills, finalizing its season-long points list. Players at 49th and lower in points are dropped from the league, with two familiar names among those finishing below the cutoff.
Kim, 40, joined LIV Golf in 2024 as a wild-card player (unaffiliated with a team), a stunning addition to the league given his absence from golf for the previous 12 years. The former PGA Tour star, a three-time winner and member of the victorious 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team, had rarely been seen during a self-imposed exile and the state of his game was unknown when he joined the startup league.
His game was rusty on arrival and didn’t get much better in 2025, where he played a full schedule. Points are awarded to the top 24 finishers in LIV Golf events and Kim never earned a point in 23 events over two seasons, with his best finish being a T29 at LIV Golf Miami in April. He finished T51 at LIV Golf Indianapolis, shooting 2 over in a week where 49 of 54 players shot under par at a soft Chatham Hills.
The most surprising player in the “Drop Zone,” as LIV Golf calls its relegation, is 2016 British Open champion Henrik Stenson. The Swede finished T22 Sunday after a 1-over final round, dropping from 48th to the dreaded 49th position thanks to a teammate. He had been with LIV Golf since its 2022 inaugural season, memorably winning his debut event at LIV Golf Bedminster after having had his 2023 European Ryder Cup captaincy stripped for his departure to LIV.
Ian Poulter, a co-captain of the Majesticks with Stenson and Lee Westwood, shot a final-round 67 including four birdies in his last five holes to finish T17 and leapfrog Stenson into the 48th position and save his job for next year. He finished .39 points ahead of Stenson.
Andy Ogletree, a member of Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers, finished T22 but that wasn’t enough to get out of the Drop Zone, where he began the week.
Mito Pereira, who saw the 2022 PGA Championship slip through his fingers after a disastrous 72nd hole at Southern Hills, failed to rally this weekend, finishing T36. He’ll be dropped from Torque GC, which celebrated a bittersweet team title at LIV Golf Indianapolis.
“To be honest, I was rally happy for Sebastian [Munoz], really happy for Joaco, really happy for Carlos [Ortiz],” Pereira said. “It’s never easy to play bad, but I tried. I gave my best and we move on. Hopefully I’ll have more opportunities in the future.”
Munoz won the tournament in a playoff, but Niemann had the season-long title slip away as he finished T4 while Jon Rahm lost the playoff. And then there was Pereira’s plight, relegated from the league.
Relegated players can return to LIV by winning its offseason Promotions Event or via the Asian Tour points list.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Anthony Kim, Henrik Stenson Relegated Out of LIV Golf League.
