Breaking: LIV Golf denied Official World Golf Rankings factors

Gamers competing in LIV Golf occasions is not going to obtain Official World Golf Rating (OWGR) factors.

In line with Doug Ferguson of the Related Press, the OWGR board has denied LIV Golf’s software to the OWGR.

That software was first submitted in July 2022, when now LIV golfer Cameron Smith gained The Open Championship at St. Andrews.

“We’re not at battle with them,” Peter Dawson, the previous CEO of the R&A and present chairman of the OWGR board, mentioned to the Related Press.

“This determination to not make them eligible isn’t political. It’s fully technical. LIV gamers are self-evidently ok to be ranked. They’re simply not enjoying in a format the place they are often ranked equitably with the opposite 24 gamers and hundreds of gamers attempting to compete on them.”

Photograph by Ross Parker/Getty Photos

LIV Golf options 54-hole occasions, shotgun begins, no cuts, and only a 48-man area—not like {most professional} occasions all over the world.

But, the Saudi-backed tour options many main champions, together with Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Brooks Koepka, who gained the 2023 PGA Championship.

Louis Oosthuizen, who gained The Open at St. Andrews in 2010, not too long ago blasted the OWGR, calling it a “PGA Tour rating system” and never a “world-ranking system.”

Nevertheless, the OWGR committee, which incorporates leaders from Augusta Nationwide, the US Golf Affiliation, the PGA of America, and the R&A, feels that LIV Golf’s construction and format don’t function a good comparability to different excursions.

The committee additionally expressed concern with the crew side of LIV Golf, an enormous element of the Saudi-backed tour.

As an example, final April, the week earlier than the Masters, Sebastian Muñoz’s Torgue GC held a one-shot lead within the crew competitors.

In the meantime, Muñoz confronted a one-shot deficit to Koepka within the particular person portion of the occasion.

On the 18th gap, Muñoz wanted to make a birdie to power a playoff with the now five-time main champion. However as an alternative of being aggressive and going for the person victory, he lagged his putt and thus secured the victory for his crew.

Photograph by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Photos

That distinctive scenario triggered the OWGR to lift some eyebrows.

The committee additionally expressed fear in regards to the league’s relegation and qualification components, as all 48 gamers compete in every of the 14 occasions.

LIV Golf doesn’t count on a lot turnover into 2024, as solely three gamers can be added for subsequent season.

That starkly contrasts the PGA Tour, which not too long ago awarded tour playing cards to 30 gamers who not too long ago graduated from the Korn Ferry Tour.

However, Dawson affirmed that main champions need to be ranked within the system, however the arithmetic of learn how to rank these on the LIV Golf circuit have but to be established.

“We have to discover a technique to get that completed,” Dawson added to the Related Press. “I hope that LIV can discover a resolution—not a lot their format, that may be handled by a mathematical components—however the qualification and relegation.”

After all, Tuesday’s announcement comes simply days after Yasir al-Rumayyan, the Governor of the Saudi Public Funding Fund (PIF) and benefactor of LIV Golf, performed a spherical with Dawson on the Alfred Dunhill Hyperlinks Championship at St. Andrews.

The day earlier than, al-Rumayyan performed alongside Martin Slumbers, the CEO of the R&A.

Regardless of that, LIV Golf is not going to obtain OWGR factors, no less than for now.

Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By. You’ll be able to comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko for extra golf protection. Remember to take a look at @_PlayingThrough too.