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Anger and frustration over LIV Golf’s failure to accrue world ranking point status returned after Joaquin Niemann won the Saudi-circuit’s season-opener in Mayakoba.

Niemann defeated Sergio Garcia in a fourth play-off hole in the dying light at El Cameleon Golf Club to bank a $4million winner’s cheque and his first title on the LIV series.

But while Niemann revelled in a dramatic win, his qualification for this year’s majors was still preoccupying his mind.

When told by LIV reporter Dom Boulet that he’s ‘one of the best players in the world’ after sinking his winning putt, the Chilean replied: “But I’m not in the majors.”

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As it stands, Niemann will miss out on both the Masters and the US Open and his victory in Mexico saw him drop from 66th to 74th in the Official World Golf Rankings as LIV’s battle for accreditation continues.

LIV were denied OWGR status last October over concerns about the fledgling league’s format.

And in an impassioned rant about the ranking body, LIV analyst Jerry Foltz has claimed the major championships will become diminished as the league’s stars continue to plummet down the rankings and lose eligibility.

“I think the majors are really close to – if not already on the verge of – becoming asterisk majors, in my opinion.

“If they don’t do what their institutions have always guaranteed – and that is try to gather the greatest players in the world to compete for the most coveted titles – then I think as long as this political stronghold over the world rankings continues to be allowed to be the barometer by which players are entered into the majors, I think they become a little bit lessened to the historical significance of those championships.

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“But it’s not too late. All you’d have to do is create a different category with a fair ranking system and add it to the current system.”

Foltz’s remarks echo the thoughts of new LIV signing Lucas Herbert, who claimed ahead of his debut last week that majors are becoming “more obselete” without a route for the top players on Greg Norman’s enterprise.

“You would hope that the four majors would be our best way to have the best players in the world play against each other,” Herbert told Golf Australia.

“I think if that pathway doesn’t get created at some point, the majors become a little more obsolete than they probably are now. If you don’t have the best players in those tournaments, winning them isn’t as important as it used to be.”

topics

LIV Golf Majors OWGR

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.