The League Itself - A LIV Golf Fan Podcast · The League Itself Podcast

Who is REALLY playing well through 2 events? A look at the stats... The League Itself Podcast - Episode 61

·1 hr 4 min·5 clips

Anthony Kim went from losing nearly 2.5 strokes to gaining about 1.33 strokes per round.

1. The League Itself - A LIV Golf Fan Podcast examines player performance through the first two 2026 LIV Golf events. 2. Live Golf Buff and Liver and Onions host a two-person discussion about Riyadh, Adelaide, and the upcoming Hong Kong event. 3. The episode asks whether early strokes-gained data can identify who is genuinely playing well rather than merely benefiting from two results. 4. Data Golf's first-two-event top five consists of John Rahm, Peter Uihlein, Anthony Kim, Abe Ancer, and Lucas Herbert. 5. The hosts describe Uihlein, Kim, Ancer, and Herbert as unexpected top-five names compared with their 2025 positions. 6. Anthony Kim improved from losing almost 2.5 strokes to the field last year to gaining about 1.33 strokes this year. 7. Anthony Kim's tee-to-green results changed from losing 2.25 strokes to gaining 1.25 strokes through two events. 8. Lucas Herbert moved from roughly average strokes gained last year to about 1.12 strokes gained through two 2026 events. 9. Brandon Grace went from negative strokes gained in 2025 to 1.21 positive strokes gained and consecutive T8 and T9 finishes. 10. Brandon Grace rose to sixth in approach and third around the green after ranking 27th and 24th in those categories last year. 11. Anthony Kim leads the early fourth-round comparison with plus 8.4 combined strokes gained. 12. Dean Burmester and Luis Masaveu each have plus 6.4 fourth-round strokes gained, while Dustin Johnson has plus 5.4. 13. Sam Horsfield ranks last among full-time players at roughly minus one total strokes gained, with negative numbers across nearly every category. 14. Bubba Watson fell from 11th in the 2025 standings to 51st after losing roughly 2.5 strokes against last year's average. 15. Jason Kokrak currently ranks first in putting at plus 1.63 strokes gained, compared with plus 0.28 last year. 16. Graeme McDowell improved from minus 0.88 strokes gained in 2025 to plus 0.42 this season, including a putting rise from 47th to sixth. 17. Joaquin Niemann remains competitive at 22nd in Riyadh and 12th in Adelaide despite dropping from top-15 positions across last year's categories. 18. The hosts treat two-event trends cautiously and suggest reassessing them after five events, while also proposing team-level strokes-gained averages. 19. LIV Golf statistics followers will enjoy the data-heavy debate. 20. Casual viewers uninterested in LIV Golf performance metrics may skip this episode.

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