LIV Golf is nearing its season end with its final event this week at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia before the Team Championship next week in Miami.
Players are in the 13th event of the season before the finale back in the southeastern United States in the following week.
Official World Golf Ranking board denies LIV golf application
As much as the noise surrounding LIV Golf is on the field, off the field, the Official World Golf Rankings Board announced that it has rejected the LIV’s application to obtain points reflecting their world ranking.
That means LIV Golf players can only receive money and not points toward their world ranking.
As a result, LIV Golf players can only obtain world ranking points when they compete in major tournaments – The Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, Open Championship – which is four times a year, compared to other tours worldwide playing anywhere from five to eight times that much in a calendar year.
LIV Golf first submitted the application to the OWGR board to receive world ranking points in July 2022.
Part of the reason LIV Golf was denied working points for its events was due to the tournament format.
LIV Golf is a 54-hole, no-cut event, whereas tours such as the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, in addition to the majors, are 72 holes with a cut.
One of the ways to receive qualification into each of the four major tournaments is through a player’s place in the world rankings.
The uncertainty of LIV Golf obtaining world ranking points for its events was a reason why some players decided not to hop over to the LIV Golf circuit a couple of years ago.
Some LIV Golf players have been asked about the news from the OWGR board, including Bryson DeChambeau, who currently ranks behind Talor Gooch and Cameron Smith in the individual standings.
DeChambeau said he hopes there can be an avenue for more LIV Golf players to compete at the world’s best events.
“It’s just been par for the course, unfortunately,” DeChambeau told reporters Wednesday. “I think at this point in time, now that they’re not allowing it, we would love to find another way to be integrated into the major championship system since I think we have some of the best players in the world. Top 12 on the list, the money list, at the end of the year, or the points list at the end of the year, would be, I think, obvious for the major championships to host the best players in the world at those four events each year.”
Players need to be inside the top 60 for the Masters and top 50 for the U.S. Open and Open Championships of the rankings to compete in some of the best golf fields.
The OWGR’s letter to LIV Golf also included other reasons not to give world ranking points, including lack of player turnover and limited opportunities for new players, on top of the differing format to the other tours.
Officials from Augusta National Golf Club, PGA of America, the United States Golf Association, and The R&A, which oversee all four major tournaments, were part of the vote against LIV Golf receiving world ranking points at events.
There are only two players ranked inside the top 50 of the latest world rankings, Cameron Smith at No. 15 and Brooks Koepka at No. 18. There are only six players inside the top 100.
DeChambeau, who was as high as No. 4 in the world ranking in June 2021, currently stands at No. 132 after tying for fourth at the PGA Championship and 20th at the U.S. Open.
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