Golf but without ranked golfers will remain true for LIV Golf after the league’s application for Official World Golf Rankings points was rejected by the OWGR board on Tuesday. In a statement to the Associated Press, OWGR chairman Peter Dawson detailed the reasoning behind the denial while explaining that political indifferences did not play a part in the decision.
“We are not at war with them,” Dawson said. “This decision not to make them eligible is not political. It is entirely technical. LIV players are self-evidently good enough to be ranked. They’re just not playing in a format where they can be ranked equitably with the other 24 tours and thousands of players trying to compete on them.”
One of the big problems for players who left the PGA Tour or DP World Tour for LIV is that the path back into major championships proved more difficult than perhaps they imagined. One straightforward way into majors is by being ranked highly in the OWGR. That door has never been open, but when LIV submitted its application to receive OWGR points, it was at least cracked open a bit.
That is until Tuesday’s news came out. The problem is not 54-hole events or small fields but rather the same problem that has always existed: Certain players, no matter how badly they play, are unable to fall out of the league.
For example, in a no-cut league, you could theoretically have players who signed long-term contracts with certain leagues who are shooting in the 90s and 100s and still receiving OWGR points. This is not the case in most instances with other leagues. Below is a brief explanation from the AP:
LIV Golf League has the same 48 players for the entire season (with alternates in case of injury) and not enough turnover. While the top 24 players are assured a spot the following season, LIV Golf signed several players to lucrative contracts that assure them a spot on the roster regardless of their performance.
Still, Dawson did not slam the door shut on LIV players, essentially putting the ball in the league’s court if it wants its golfers to eventually be able to earn rankings points.
“Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, of course they should be in the ranking,” Dawson said. “We need to find a way to get that done. I hope that LIV can find a solution — not so much their format; that can be dealt with through a mathematical formula — but the qualification and relegation.”
This is not out of the question. LIV currently has a tiny qualification method through a promotions tournament and also for the order of merit winner for the International Series on the Asian Tour. It could feasibly expand this qualification to a number that the OWGR deems reasonable enough to be awarded points. However, part of the attraction of LIV is that you’re going to see certain stars all the time. Alternatively, the only reason those stars signed with LIV is because they were guaranteed contracts and roster spots. That’s going to be a difficult thing to reconcile with the OWGR.
Regardless, all of this may be a moot point depending on what happens with the PGA Tour’s relationship with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which currently funds LIV. Following a truce to end the litigation between the Tour and the PIF, the two are engaged in talks over a framework deal that will decide the future of not only the Tour but also LIV Golf. While it was previously expected that that deal would be worked out by the end of the year, recent reports suggest that it might spill over into 2024.
Will that agreement mean LIV goes away? Will it mean LIV merges with the Tour? Will it mean you can play both tours? Nobody knows those answers for right now. What we do know is that LIV is still not a great path into playing major championships, which is not an attractive trait to a league allegedly still trying to grow its footprint.