Dustin Johnson (39, USA) was pushed out of the top 50 in the men’s golf world rankings for the first time in 13 years.
Johnson ranked 51st in the men’s golf world rankings announced on the 13th, down one notch from last week’s 50th. This is the first time in 13 years since January 2010 that Johnson, who once rose to the top of the world, has been pushed out of the top 50.
Johnson is a player who transferred to the LIV Golf Series, which was launched last year. Johnson, who moved to the Saudi Arabian-backed LIV series스포츠토토, made staggering earnings last year.
He left the US Professional Golf (PGA) Tour and signed with LIV, reportedly receiving $150 million in down payment, and swept $35.6 million in prize money from the LIV series. He earned more than 200 billion won last year alone, even excluding the prize money he earned while on the PGA Tour in the first half of last year. However, since there are no world ranking points at stake in the LIV series tournaments, a drop in the world rankings was unavoidable.
Even before leaving the PGA Tour, his ranking, which had been in the top 20, had fallen outside the top 50.
Ranking 50th in the world is often the criterion for qualifying for a major tournament. Fortunately, in the case of the Masters in April this year, he can continue to participate in the future because he won in 2020, and the US Open has secured the right to participate for 10 years by winning in 2016. In addition, by winning the Masters, you can participate in the PGA Championship and The Open until 2024 regardless of ranking.
Johnson tried to participate in the Asian Tour event held in Saudi Arabia earlier this month, but was unable to attend due to back pain. Johnson, who is not appearing in official tournaments this year, is expected to compete in the first tournament of the 2023 LIV Golf season, which opens in Mexico on the 24th. Johnson, who is unable to participate in PGA Tour events due to the LIV transfer, must perform well in DP World Tour or Asian Tour events to obtain world ranking points.