LIV Golf's Application for World Ranking Points Rejected by OWGR Board

The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) board has rejected LIV Golf's application for world ranking points.

OWGR chairman Peter Dawson issued the following statement on the matter to the Associated Press' Doug Ferguson.

"We are not at war with them," Dawson said. "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."

The Saudi-backed professional golf tour began play in 2022. The season consists of 54-hole, no-cut tournaments in which there are simultaneous four-player team and individual competitions.

Per Ferguson, OWGR guidelines state that tours should have a 36-hole cut and an average of 75 golfers per tournament field over a season. LIV Golf consists of 12 four-person teams for 48 golfers total.

Dawson said the committee could work around those requirements but that the issue was a "closed shop." For starters, the same 48 players stick around all season unless alternates are needed in case of injury.

In addition, the top 24 players from the previous season are invited back, but exceptions are also made for players who signed lucrative deals with LIV Golf, including Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter, all of whom are outside the top 24.

LIV Golf being excluded from getting world ranking points makes for a situation where the true top players in the world are not properly ranked. For example, Dustin Johnson isn't in the top 100 right now, and only two players (Cameron Smith and Brooks Koepka) cracked the top 20.

"Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, of course they should be in the ranking," Dawson told the AP. "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."

We'll see if any changes are made down the road so that LIV Golf tournaments can be included in the world rankings, but for now, the league still has two 2023 competitions left beginning with a tournament in Saudi Arabia from Oct. 13-15. The team championship will then take place in Miami from Oct. 20-22.