Marc Leishman is at peace.
The 39-year-old Aussie defected to LIV Golf earlier this year and his world ranking has plummeted to No. 71, putting him outside the threshold to automatically qualify for golf’s four major championships.
A perennial top-50 player in the world since 2017, Leishman has played 30 consecutive majors — recording six top-10s since 2013, including a T-5 at the 2021 Masters. However, with no world ranking points currently awarded at LIV events, that streak may soon come to an end — and Leishman is OK with that.
“(Not playing the majors) was one of the things I had to weigh up when I did make the move (to LIV),” Leishman told the Sydney Morning Herald Monday ahead of the Australian PGA Championship.
Full-field tee times from the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship
“I’ve played at pretty much all the majors for the last 12 or 13 years. I’ve had my chances. Obviously, I want to play them, but I’m fine not playing them.”
Leishman had played on the PGA Tour full-time since 2009 and collected six victories. However, he realized winning on Tour will only become more difficult as he ages.
“I’ve loved my time on the PGA Tour and I certainly enjoyed the transition,” he said. “That was one of the things that drew me to it. I’m not getting any younger and you can play golf forever, but you don’t know how high a level you can play at as you get into your 40s.”
Although Leishman’s world ranking will likely continue to drop, barring him from majors, there’s still an alternative route in which he can claim a spot in half of the major championships.
“I’ll try to qualify for the British Open and the US Open and if the world rankings happen, I’d love to get into the Masters,” he said. “If not, I’ll watch it on the TV and hopefully watch Cam [Smith] win it.”
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