LIV Golf officials blasted OWGR’s decision to deny its players World Golf Rankings points, claiming the decision has “robbed” fans of a true or global scoring and ranking system. LIV Golf submitted its application last year, but it has now been rejected due to competitive fairness concerns.
“OWGR’s sole objective is to rank the best players across the globe,” LIV’s statement read. “Today’s communication makes clear that it can no longer deliver on that objective. Players have historically remained subject to a single world ranking to qualify for major championships, the biggest events, and for corporate sponsor contract value.
“A ranking which fails to fairly represent all participants, irrespective of where in the world they play golf, robs fans, players and all of golf’s stakeholders of the objective basis underpinning any accurate recognition of the world’s best player performances. It also robs some traditional tournaments of the best fields possible.
“Professional golf is now without a true or global scoring and ranking system. There is no benefit for fans or players from the lack of trust or clarity as long as the best player performances are not recognized. LIV will continue to strive to level set the market so fans, broadcasters, and sponsors have the assurance of an independent and objective ranking system and the pure enjoyment of watching the best golf in the world.”
OWGR explained that its decision on the Saudi-founded tour was not made for political purposes, instead suggesting that the different format the league adopts means it cannot be included alongside the likes of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
“The board committee met recently to again review your OWGR submission in light of your latest responses to the committee’s questions and concerns,” chairman Peter Dawson wrote. “At the meeting, the board committee unanimously determined that at this time the LIV tour will not be recognised as an eligible golf tour in the OWGR system.”
Dawson added: “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.”
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The LIV Golf application submitted to OWGR was assessed by a committee that includes leaders from Augusta National, the PGA of America, the U.S. Golf Association, and The R&A.
LIV Golf landed an array of superstar golfers last year when it was established as a breakaway tour to rival the PGA Tour. LIV-hosted events around the world have received substantial attention. However, results in those outings do not and will not count for OWGR purposes.
That means LIV Golf members are essentially barred from outside events that use the OWGR leaderboard to determine qualification.
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