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   

What are your current thoughts of the LIV Golf League? Is it really working? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels, or come and visit us over on the GolfMagic YouTube Channel.