LIV gives defiant response to world ranking warning

After years of effort, LIV Golf was officially recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking this week. But among the good news was a big caveat: only the top-10 finishers will receive ranking points.

And the starting tour isn’t happy about it.

In an official statement after the news broke, LIV Golf welcomed the recognition of the world ranking, but also railed against the “unprecedented” restrictions LIV faces from the OWGR.

LIV Golf’s world ranking saga comes to an end

For the first time this week in Riyadh, a LIV Golf event will award world ranking points. But it’s been a long road to get there.

Since its establishment in 2022, LIV Golf had failed to receive recognition from Official World Golf Ranking. Why does this matter?

In short, the majors and the Ryder Cup. Qualification for those events, the most important in pro golf, is based primarily on world ranking points.

But without LIV Golf events awarding ranking points, many LIV pros were relegated to the OWGR after joining the league, threatening their access to major titles. (One big exception? Patrick Reed).

Last fall, LIV announced a host of changes to its toursmany of which were seen as ways to fit into OWGR guidelines to gain recognition. The biggest change between them was the increase in LIV events from 54 holes to 72 holes (that change earned a mixed reaction from LIV stars).

It worked. On Tuesday, the OWGR officially announced that LIV Golf events will begin receiving world ranking points. However, in the announcement was the top-10 warning, which did not leave LIV Golf officials satisfied.

LIV rejects the ‘limitation’ of world rankings based on top 10s

In its LIV announcement, OWGR stated that only the top 10 finishers in LIV events would receive world ranking points. The reason the organization gave was that there are still areas where LIV does not meet the standards set by OWGR.

“Ranking points will be awarded to the top 10 finishers (and ties) in LIV Golf’s individual stroke play events, which recognizes that there are a number of courses where LIV Golf does not meet the eligibility standards set by the OWGR.”

In its own statement released on Tuesday, LIV Golf called the OWGR’s decision a “moment of overdue recognition.”

But the tournament slammed the top-10’s warning, saying, “this result is unprecedented.”

In the statement, LIV argued that because of this rule, there is no difference between finishing 11th and 57th in an LIV event.

As a result, the restriction “disproportionately hurts players who consistently perform at a high level but end up just outside that threshold,” as well as “emerging talent,” which LIV says “are the very players a fair and meritocratic ranking system is designed to recognize.”

Putting a finer point on it, the statement stated “no other tournament or competitive league in the history of the OWGR has been subject to such a restriction.”

In closing, LIV stated that they have always approached the world ranking process in “good faith” and that “we expect this is merely a first step” towards full recognition.

You can read full statement from LIV Golf below.

LIV Golf’s full statement on the OWGR decision

The stated mission of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) is to “administer and publish a transparent, reliable and accurate ranking based on the relative performance of players participating in eligible men’s golf tournaments worldwide.“

We welcome this long-overdue moment of recognition, which affirms the fundamental principle that performance on the course should matter, no matter where the competition takes place.

However, this result is unprecedented. Under these rules, a player who finishes 11th in a LIV Golf event is treated the same as a player who finishes 57th. Limiting points to only the top 10 finishers disproportionately hurts players who consistently perform at a high level but finish just outside that threshold, as well as emerging talents working to establish themselves on the world stage – the very players that a fair and meritocratic ranking system is designed to recognize.

No other competitive tournament or league in OWGR history has been subject to such a restriction. We expect this to be just a first step towards a structure that fully and fairly serves players, fans and the future of the sport.

We entered this process in good faith and will continue to advocate for a ranking system that reflects performance over affiliation. The game deserves transparency. Fans deserve credibility. And players deserve a system that treats them equally. – LIV Golf