{"id":3450,"date":"2025-07-12T05:32:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T05:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/3450\/"},"modified":"2025-07-12T05:32:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T05:32:03","slug":"official-world-golf-ranking-issues-surprise-liv-golf-statement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/3450\/","title":{"rendered":"Official World Golf Ranking issues surprise LIV Golf statement"},"content":{"rendered":"

LIV Golf have submitted a fresh application to be recognised by the sport’s global rankings body.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) confirmed on Thursday the PIF-backed breakaway submitted an application to be accredited on 30 June.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Former Masters<\/a> champion and OWGR chairman Trevor Immelman said the board will review their application with the same scrutiny and fairness as other tours.<\/p>\n

“We appreciate the interest of LIV Golf – and all Tours – in contributing to the global landscape of men’s professional golf through OWGR,” Immelman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Further updates will be provided as the review progresses.”<\/p>\n

LIV Golf<\/a>, which is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, officially launched in June 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Several major champions and such as Phil Mickelson<\/a>, Bryson DeChambeau<\/a>, Dustin Johnson<\/a>, Brooks Koepka<\/a> and Cameron Smith<\/a> were among the first wave of players recruited by LIV.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"OWGR's <\/p>\n

OWGR’s statement<\/p>\n

The golfers received staggering, up-front signing-on fees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The PGA Tour<\/a> responded by indefinitely banning players that left.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just one of the reasons why LIV players received such vast sums of money was because they were potentially giving up eligibility to golf’s four major championships.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As well as illustrating who the best golfers in the world are, the OWGR determines the field for the major championships.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The top 50 players in the OWGR automatically qualify for The Masters whilst this number increases to 100 for the PGA Championship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The top 60 in the OWGR qualify for the US Open<\/a> and The Open<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Former LIV chairman Greg Norman<\/a> claimed the lack of OWGR points would be a short-term problem as the breakaway submitted an application just before the landmark 150th Open at St Andrews in July 2022.<\/p>\n

\"Greg <\/p>\n

Greg Norman<\/p>\n

It took months for the OWGR to review LIV’s first application and, in the meantime, several players cried of a conspiracy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On 10 October 2023, the OWGR said LIV would not receive points ‘at this time’\u00a0<\/p>\n

Peter Dawson was the OWGR chairman at the time and he stressed the governing body was ‘not at war’ with LIV.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Instead, Dawson said the 54-hole, no-cut events for 48 players was an issue, along with limited access for other players.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dawson said that it could be managed via a mathematical formula, although it wouldn’t be perfect.<\/p>\n

\"LIV <\/p>\n

LIV Golf<\/p>\n

He urged LIV make some alterations but a furious Norman confirmed last March the rival league had ended their bid for OWGR accreditation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It is now clear that the best way forward for LIV as a league and you as LIV golfers is not through the current ranking system,” Norman wrote in the letter to players.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“A resolution which protects the accuracy, credibility, and integrity of the OWGR rankings no longer exists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We have made enormous efforts to fight for you and to ensure your accomplishments are recognized within the existing ranking system.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Unfortunately, the OWGR has shown little willingness to productively work with us.”<\/p>\n

It is unclear what, if any, changes the league has proposed in their latest bid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Statement from LIV Golf CEO<\/p>\n

LIV’s chief executive, Scott O’Neil, said he was confident the latest application addresses the aforementioned issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We thank OWGR chairman Trevor Immelman for his continued leadership and willingness to move the sport of golf forward for the benefit of all players and most importantly, the fans,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“LIV Golf is committed to working together with the Official World Golf Ranking and its board to ensure the very best players are competing in the game’s most prestigious events.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We are confident our application addresses the outstanding questions that exist to support a more global, all-encompassing, and accurate ranking system.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We are hopeful the review and approval process can progress ahead of the 2026 major season.”<\/p>\n

Subscribe to our Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LIV Golf have submitted a fresh application to be recognised by the sport’s global rankings body.\u00a0 The Official…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3451,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-3450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}