The 5 Big LIV Names To Miss The Cut At The PIF Saudi International

With over a third of the 120-man field in the PIF Saudi International coming from LIV Golf there was bound to be some that missed the cut, and so it's proved.

As some big names in the golfing world failed to make the cut at the final International Series event of the season at Riyadh Golf club.

There are plenty challenging for the title, with Caleb Surrat leading the field after 36 holes, and the likes of Thomas Pieters, Tyrrell Hatton and Adrian Meronk in hot pursuit.

Anthony Kim is also in the mix and playing his best golf since returning to the sport, and after suffering relegation after two seasons with LIV Golf, he could be in the sort of form to play his way back in.

So the LIV Golf leaderboard at the PIF Saudi International has a lot of contenders, but also some top stars who have fallen by the wayside, including Major champions and a once dominant player in the team golf tour.

Here's who missed the cut at the Saudi International.

Joaquin Niemann

The Chilean was the defending Saudi International champion after beating Cameron Smith and Caleb Surratt in a playoff last year, but he won't be challenging for the title this time around.

He finished on one under after a second-round 69 saw an improvement on his opening 72, but he missed the cut by one shot.

It's a disappointment for the five-time LIV Golf tournament winner in 2025, who again finished second to Jon Rahm in the individual standings.

Sergio Garcia

Former Masters champion Sergio Garcia also shot 72-69 the same as Niemann to also miss the cut by just one shot in Riyadh.

The Spaniard has had mixed fortunes in Riyadh, as he also missed the cut in this event last year but then finished T6 and the LIV Golf Riyadh event this past season.

Dustin Johnson

The two-time Major champion is also a two-time winner of the Saudi International so you'd expect big things from him - but both of those victories came on a different course.

And Riyadh Golf Club hasn't been as welcoming as Royal Greens, where Johnson won twice and also finished second, as he missed the cut here last year and also finished T44 at the LIV Golf event.

Johnson started round two on one under after an opening 70, but shot 74 on Thursday to miss the cut by four.

Cameron Smith

Cameron Smith could only muster two level-par rounds of 71 in Riyadh to miss the cut by a couple of shots - with a triple-bogey seven on the 18th in round one doing a lot of the damage.

The former Open champion did make the playoff here last year, but was T25 at the LIV Golf event and that so-so form was replicated at the Saudi International.

Talor Gooch

Once the dominant figure in LIV, Talor Gooch shot 72-70 in Riyadh to finish on level par and two shots off the cut mark.

The four-time LIV tournament winner has been busy on the Asian Tour recently when playing in Hong Kong and Singapore - finishing T47 and T24 respectively - but has not clicked with Riyadh Golf Club yet with another disappointing return.

Who else missed the cut at the Saudi International?

Matthew Wolff missed the cut in his first event since the end of the LIV Golf season, with obvious signs of rust in his opening round of 77, while Australian Matt Jones joined him after finishing on level par.

Veteran RangeGoat Ben Campbell also missed out, as did Chieh-po Lee and Yubin Jang, along with a couple of hopefuls trying to play their way back onto the LIV Golf tour by getting one of two 'golden tickets' on offer for the top two eligible in the International Series Rankings after this event.

Wade Ormsby had an outside chance but an opening 75 made that a tough ask, and even despite a decent round of 67 on Thursday he missed the cut on level par.

Yosuke Asaji may have lost the most by missing the cut though, after shooting 72-72, as he started the tournament in second spot in the standings but could now be overhauled by Miguel Tabuena depending on his result.

So it'll be a nervy two rounds viewing for the Japanese.