Trevor Immelman wears many hats. His main job is as CBS\u2019 lead golf analyst, but he\u2019s also the chairman of the Official World Golf Ranking which puts him in an important position in the fractured world of men\u2019s professional golf.<\/p>\n
As chairman, Immelman is working closely with LIV Golf and CEO Scott O\u2019Neil<\/a> as the breakaway league seeks OWGR accreditation. Currently, players on the Saudi-backed league do not receive points for LIV events, but that could change in the coming months as LIV tweaks things to conform to OWGR standards. Immelman spoke to reporters on Friday during the pro-am of the PNC Championship and noted that LIV could be OWGR-accredited by the time the league\u2019s next season starts in February. <\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s a chance,\u201d Immelman said, via Sports Illustrated<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ve been hard at work. I\u2019m in constant communication with my board, who are fairly busy people, as have Scott, and I said no decision has been made yet.\u201d<\/p>\n LIV first submitted a proposal for rankings points in July of 2022. The OWGR board denied that request in October of 2023. OWGR board chair Peter Dawson said at the time that the decision to deny LIV\u2019s request was \u201cnot political.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIt is entirely technical. LIV players are self-evidently good enough to be ranked,\u201d Dawson said at the time.<\/p>\n In March of 2024, then-LIV CEO Greg Norman formally withdrew<\/a> the league\u2019s application for points. But O\u2019Neil and LIV submitted a new application on June 30<\/a>, and Immelman and the OWGR board have been reviewing it. LIV has been communicating with Immelman about getting points as the start of its fifth season nears, and the breakaway league has made alterations to try to boost its chances of earning OWGR points. LIV added a new qualifying route<\/a> by tweaking its Q-School and announced last month that it would be transitioning from 54 holes to 72 holes<\/a> in 2026. While many viewed the format shift as a way to curry favor with the OWGR, Immelman noted that the number of holes was not a sticking point in the OWGR\u2019s eyes. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not exactly certain that the amount of holes that they\u2019ve played has ever been a problem,\u201d Immelman said, via Sports Illustrated. \u201cWhen you look at the OWGR and how it\u2019s made up with 25-plus eligible tours around the world, thousands of golfers that are ranked around the world, it\u2019s about meritocracy. That\u2019s one of the beauties of our sport and the beauty of the professional game is earning your way onto a tour, fighting to keep your job on that tour. So it\u2019s really been more along those lines of working with them on understanding their league from that standpoint: meritocracy, promotion and relegation and the self-selection aspect of how their league is made up.\u201d <\/p>\n Promotion and relegation have always been the bigger concern regarding the OWGR. With only two spots available via the Asian Tour\u2019s International Series and two during the promotions event, the closed-shop nature of LIV has been its biggest impediment to OWGR points, which provide pathways to major championships. <\/p>\n Immelman said that O\u2019Neil and LIV have been working to \u201cevolve\u201d their league since resubmitting their application, and that further changes could be on the way, with field sizes potentially increasing.<\/p>\n