LIV Golf has officially withdrawn its application to join the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points distribution system. The announcement was made by Commissioner Greg Norman in a letter to all players on the circuit.
The fact has led to a large number of players speaking out to criticize the working system of the OWGR. The most curious thing is that an important part of these players belong to the PGA Tour.
Viktor Hovland stated the following
“Obviously, now when you have a huge chunk of really, really good players who are not getting any ranking points, it definitely devalues that ranking.”
His colleague Patrick Cantlay, who also serves as Player Director of the PGA Tour Policy Board, said:
“I think the World Rankings has a very particular set of criteria, and I don’t know if broken is the right word, but I think that there’s been so much uncertainty and change in the last couple years that it’s inevitable that things need to be updated or things need to be changed. I don’t know if we’ve worked through all the changes necessary, compared to all the changes that have happened in the last couple years.”
A third opinion came from English major champion Matt Fitzparick, who said:
“I don’t think the world rankings are a true representation of the golf game at the minute…. I think it’s partly a sign that there’s plenty of depth on here which we’ve known that for years on the PGA Tour, there’s always been a lot of strength and depth, but I certainly think nowadays the ranking side of it is a little bit skewed.”
The reading is that more and more players are finding that LIV events should distribute points for the OWGR. The formula to achieve this is not simple, but there is a growing view that the quality of the top LIV players warrants it.
The withdrawal of LIV Golf from the race for world ranking points leaves many questions open. Will they now fight for the majors to use a new system? Will they look for another world ranking, such as TUGR or Data Golf, to prevail? Settling for the refusal of the OWGR does not seem to be an option.
Everything seems to indicate that the real fight will now be in suppressing the role played by the OWGR in defining places in the field of the majors. LIV Golf will try to get a system designed so that its players will be considered to fill part of those slots.
The truth is that, in his own message to the players, Greg Norman made it clear that they are working to open lines of communication with each of the majors. The strategy appears to be, at least initially, to seek to have the majors grant special invitations to LIV players, regardless of their place in the OWGR. This has already happened this season with Joaquin Niemann.
What was the content of Greg Norman’s letter to LIV Golf players?
The LIV Golf commissioner, Greg Norman, used the days prior to the Hong Kong event to inform his players about the decision not to continue pursuing points for the OWGR.
This was part of what Norman had to say
“A resolution which protects the accuracy, credibility and integrity of the OWGR rankings no longer exists. We have made significant efforts to fight for you and ensure your accomplishments are recognized within the existing ranking system. Unfortunately, OWGR has shown little willingness to productively work with us.”
“Even if LIV Golf events were immediately awarded points, the OWGR system is designed such that it would be functionally impossible for you to regain positions close to the summit of the ranking, where so many of you were prior to joining LIV, and deserve to remain based on your performance.”
The LIV Golf application was submitted in July 2022. The OWGR denied it in October 2023, citing the lack of a promotion and relegation system for the circuit as the primary reason. Recall that LIV players do not qualify to play in this league, but are contracted with the right to play all events on the schedule in a given season.
LIV Golf created a promotion and relegation system for the end of the 2023 season, but only four players are relegated and four others are promoted. In contrast, there are at least 13 players who cannot be relegated even if they have the worst performance of the season because they are team captains.