LIV Golf has hit back at the Official World Golf Rankings with a scathing statement after the breakaway tour was denied accreditation in a massive blow to its players
The Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), which denied LIV Golf ranking points for its tournaments on Tuesday, has come under fire from the breakaway league’s executives.
Launched in 2022 with financial support from Saudi Arabia, LIV attracted top PGA Tour players like Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith, and Dustin Johnson in exchange for lucrative contracts. However, during the LIV’s first two seasons, players did not receive any ranking points from the 54-hole competitions.
On Tuesday, the OWGR finally made a decision and stated that LIV’s application had been rejected. Peter Dawson, the OWGR board’s chairman, cited LIV’s closed-door nature as an invitation-only event with few opportunities for qualification and a very low player turnover in the 48-man field as the main justification for the rejection.
Players have historically been required to meet a single world ranking in order to compete in the biggest events, major championships, and earn corporate sponsorship money. No matter where in the world a player plays golf, a ranking that does not fairly represent all competitors denies golf’s fans, players, and other stakeholders the objective basis necessary to properly recognize the best player performances in the world. Additionally, it denies some traditional tournaments access to the strongest fields.
There is currently no accurate or universal scoring or ranking system in professional golf. As long as the best player performances are not acknowledged, there is no benefit for fans or players from a lack of trust or clarity.
LIV will continue to work to level the playing field for fans,
That means the four major championships are most LIV players’ only opportunities of enhancing their ranking. But the rankings are also the primary method of qualifying for The Masters, The Open, the US Open and the PGA Championship.
A problematic cycle has been created as a result, with some LIV players losing their route to the majors. Former Masters champion Sergio Garcia, for example, missed The Open at Royal LiverpLIV is led by commissioner Greg Norman, a two-time major champion, and is owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. Its chairman, Yasir Al-Rumayyan – also the chairman of Newcastle United – played alongside Dawson at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship pro-am in Scotland last week, when it appeared the odds were in LIV’s favour to be sanctioned by the OWGR.ool this summer.
With concerns about the rankings’ accuracy and validity due to LIV players’ inability to consistently accumulate points, Dawson has made it clear that he understands the players’ predicament. But when players accepted, in some cases, nine-figure deals to join a new tour, that risk was always present.
We are not at war with them,” Dawson told the Associated Press, explaining the decision on Tuesday. “This decision not to make them eligible is not political. It is entirely technical. LIV players are self-evidently good enough to be ranked. They’re just not playing in a format where they can be ranked equitably with the other 24 tours and thousands of players trying to compete on them.
Official World Golf Rankings boss Peter Dawson says the primary reason for LIV’s application being refused was the lack of significant promotion and relegation to its roster and its structure as an invitational tour.
“Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, of course they should be in the ranking. We need to find a way to get that done. I hope that LIV can find a solution, not so much their format; that can be dealt with through a mathematical formula, but the qualification and relegation.”
Two-time major champion Greg Norman is the commissioner of LIV, which is run by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. When it looked like LIV would be sanctioned by the OWGR last week, its chairman, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who is also the chairman of Newcastle United, played alongside Dawson at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship pro-am in Scotland.