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<\/a><\/p>\nWhen the Official World Golf Ranking previously decided against awarding ranking points to LIV Golf, the organization cited the lack of relegation and promotion within the tour\u2019s structure, specifically pointing to a number of players being contractually bound to play the tour regardless of their performance.<\/p>\n
This appears to be a small step toward remedying the situation but LIV will likely need to make more changes to finally be included in the world ranking.<\/p>\n
In July, OWGR chairman Trevor Immelman announced that LIV Golf had reapplied for world ranking points but offered no timetable for when a decision might be finalized.<\/p>\n
\u2022 When the Masters announced earlier this year that it would extend invitations to the champions of a handful of national opens while eliminating the invitations to winners of the fall events on the PGA Tour, it was both a recognition of the game\u2019s global resonance and an acknowledgement that what happens on the PGA Tour after the FedEx Cup playoffs isn\u2019t as impactful as what happens before.<\/p>\n
That means Steven Fisk didn\u2019t qualify for the Masters by winning the Sanderson Farms Championship while Tom McKibbin, who opted to join LIV Golf earlier this year, is now locked in at the Masters and the Open Championship by virtue of his victory Sunday in the Asian Tour\u2019s Link Hong Kong Open.<\/p>\n
The Hong Kong Open is one of six events \u2013 the Scottish Open, the Spanish Open, the Japan Open, the Australian Open and the South African Open are the others \u2013 that now award the winner an invitation to the Masters and an Open Championship exemption.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very excited to go back and play in my third Open and to have that drive down Magnolia Lane for the first time will be even more special. Historic tournaments like this deserve those spots so it\u2019s great to take advantage of those.\u201d \u2013 Tom McKibbin<\/p>\n
For McKibbin, widely considered one of the game\u2019s emerging stars, the victory immediately changes his 2026 plans while Fisk must still earn his way to Augusta.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very excited to go back and play in my third Open and to have that drive down Magnolia Lane for the first time will be even more special. Historic tournaments like this deserve those spots so it\u2019s great to take advantage of those,\u201d McKibbin said after his victory in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a good change to the Masters qualifications (though the Scottish Open by virtue of its PGA Tour status already included an invitation) because of how watered down the tour\u2019s fall schedule has become. While it still produces good stories \u2013 Michael Brennan\u2019s emergence is the latest example \u2013 winning the Bank of Utah Championship or the Baycurrent Championship doesn\u2019t carry the same weight as winning during the regular season.<\/p>\n
\u2022 It\u2019s getting down to the nitty gritty for players trying to secure their full PGA Tour privileges for 2026 with just three events remaining beginning with the World Wide Technology Championship this week in Mexico.<\/p>\n
With the number of full qualifiers dropping to 100 from 125 this year, David Lipsky sits on at No. 100 but needs at least one strong finish to lock down his place.<\/p>\n
Among the players between the 90th and 110th spots, Max Homa, Adam Scott, Billy Horschel, Tom Kim and Austin Eckroat are already exempt for 2026 but others aren\u2019t so secure.<\/p>\n
Beau Hossler is 98th, Scott is 99th, and Horschel is 101st followed by Sami Valimaki, Isaiah Salinda and Patrick Fishburn. Deeper down the line, Brandt Snedeker is 119th and Matt Kuchar is 120th.<\/p>\n
All it takes is one strong week to end the uncertainty but the window of opportunity is closing fast.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The announcement that changes are underway at the Old Course at St Andrews, adding 132 yards and tweaking the placement of a handful of bunkers is one more sign of how the game has changed.<\/p>\n
How the Old Course plays is weather dependent and while the extra yardage will make some difference, it\u2019s likely the bunker work could be more impactful. When the wind blows, the Old Course is brilliantly challenging and strategy comes to the forefront.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve become accustomed to classic courses being stretched and reimagined in recent years but it seems particularly jarring when it\u2019s the Old Course. The game is never going back to the way it was when a 400-yard par-4 was considered long and the Old Course isn\u2019t exempt from reacting to the game\u2019s evolution.<\/p>\n
It will be forever relevant from an historical perspective but the changes are necessary for it to remain competitively relevant. Just another sign of the times.<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2025 Global Golf Post LLC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Will recent LIV Golf changes be enough to convince officials at the Official World Golf Ranking? Justin Casterline,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262947,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-262946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2230344994-700x467.jpg\")
Will recent LIV Golf changes be enough to convince officials at the Official World Golf Ranking? Justin Casterline, Getty Images<\/p>\n