LIV Golf has been trying to receive Official World Golf Ranking points since its inception in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The question, however, has always been: Does the startup tour deserve them?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Peter Dawson, the former OWGR chairman, says no.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Speaking to the Global Golf Post<\/a>, the 77-year-old explained why he didn\u2019t feel LIV met the criteria for its tournaments to award world ranking points to players.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was very disappointed that we could not do so with LIV,\u201d Dawson said. \u201cIt is self-evident that players on the LIV tour are good enough to be ranked because they were before. But OWGR has a duty to ensure that all of the thousands of players in the system are ranked equitably. Some aspects of the LIV format made that impossible. In my opinion, OWGR made the only decision it could at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n The main culprits were that LIV events are only 54 holes, there was a lack of proper relegation and promotion and field sizes are limited to 54 players. Therefore, the OWGR board denied the Saudi-backed circuit\u2019s request for ranking points in 2023.\u00a0And LIV withdrew its application<\/a> in 2024. <\/p>\n Dawson, however, left his position as chairman in April and was replaced by Trevor Immelman, a former Masters champion and current CBS golf analyst. LIV, with a few tweaks to its format, particularly a relegation system, then resubmitted an application to the OWGR<\/a>, which is still under review.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the same issues that plagued LIV while Dawson was at the helm remain.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cLIV has now reapplied to be included in the OWGR system,\u201d he said. \u201cI want all golf initiatives to do well and I can\u2019t see that LIV has been a success by any measure. Yes, it has given great wealth to a very few people, but in terms of engagement, its format of team golf isn\u2019t resonating anywhere near enough with the fan base.\u201d<\/p>\n LIV\u2019s international arm has reported $1.1. billion in losses<\/a> in its first three seasons, and the tour\u2019s television audience in the U.S. has been lackluster<\/a>, despite a deal with Fox Sports that began in \u201825.<\/p>\n Yet, LIV CEO Scott O\u2019Neil, who took over the position at the start of this year, is bullish about the tour\u2019s future.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think that LIV Golf will have a dominant position in global golf [and] will be the place you go for global golf,\u201d he said in July.<\/p>\n Dawson, though, doesn\u2019t necessarily echo that same sentiment.\u00a0<\/p>\n