LIV Golf’s bid for world ranking points DENIED by OWGR board

LIV Golf has been denied access to world ranking points over “technical” issues surrounding the league’s format. 

The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) board has determined that LIV should not be granted accreditation as the 48-player circuit could not be reasonably measured against the 24 other verified tours. 

“We are not at war with them,” Peter Dawson, chairman of the OWGR board, told the Associated Press.

 “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.”

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Dawson added: “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.”

Only last week, Dawson provided bunkered.co.uk with an update on LIV’s OWGR application.

The Saudi-funded circuit’s ongoing battle to acquire ranking points has been a key bone of contention in its bid to gain legitimacy in the men’s professional game.

Each LIV player signed an open letter to Dawson last September pleading for immediate inclusion into the system.

During last week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Dawson played alongside Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund which bankrolls LIV.

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“Yasir and the Public Investment Fund are putting a lot of money into the game and it is to be embraced and welcomed,” Dawson declared.

Elsewhere in St Andrews last week, one of LIV’s most high-profile players, Louis Oosthuizen, told bunkered.co.uk of his frustration at LIV’s ongoing fight for OWGR recognition.

“It’s not a world ranking system,” the South African told us. “You can say it’s more PGA Tour ranking than anything else.

“It’s ridiculous that, if you’re top 50 in the world on the PGA Tour and you play all those elevated events… I don’t see how you can get out of the top 50 in the world – even by playing poorly. If that’s a good system, I’m glad I’m not a part of it.

“It’s frustrating for everyone because you used to measure yourself on that and where you are. It’s not just being a LIV player. It’s being a South African player on the Sunshine Tour, being in Asia, all over the world, you’re not getting rankings now unless you’re playing PGA Tour.”

LIV stages the final event of its regular season in Jeddah this week.

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.