OWGR Refutes Reports of LIV Golf Inching Closer to Earning Points

Newsweek

02-05-2025

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
A few days ago, a rumor spread through the golf world that LIV Golf was in advanced talks with the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) to have its events earn ranking points. The institution quickly came out to say, "No, we're not."
OWGR Chairman, Masters winner Trevor Immelman, gave an interview to the Associated Press in which he assured that as far as LIV Golf and the OWGR are concerned, the current situation is the same as it has been for the past year.
"They have not put any application in. Whether that happens or not, I guess time will tell," Immelman said. "The ball is in their court."
In October 2023, the OWGR rejected LIV Golf's application to be included in the world ranking system. The denial decision was based on fundamental league issues that conflicted with the current ranking points distribution system.
Trevor Immelman of South Africa looks on from the third hole during the Par Three Contest prior to the 2024 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 10, 2024 in Augusta, Georgia.
Trevor Immelman of South Africa looks on from the third hole during the Par Three Contest prior to the 2024 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 10, 2024 in Augusta, Georgia.Several months later, in May 2024, LIV Golf, then led by Greg Norman, withdrew its application. In a letter to his players, Norman alluded to the OWGR's unwillingness to work with the Saudi-backed league.
Since then, the situation has changed little or not at all. In fact, Immelman used the October 2023 rejection letter as a reference to illustrate the current state of affairs.
"I would say that [the situation described in the letter from October 2023] is still case," he said. "But until a new application is put in, there's nothing really we can do about it. If the LIV Golf League is wanting to be part of the OWGR, then they need to go ahead and put another application in. That's really where we are."
The OWGR's denial of points in October 2023 alluded to several reasons, but was explicitly in favor of resolving all but one of them, that of the qualification and relegation process, or more specifically, the lack thereof.
The vast majority of LIV Golf players do not go through a qualifying process, but are recruited directly by the teams.
Only six players have gone through some qualifying process in the entire league's history, Scott Vincent and Anndy Ogletree after winning the Asian Tour International League in 2023 and 2024 respectively, and Jinichiro Kozuma, Kieran Vincent, Kalle Samooja and Chieh-Po Li through the two Promotion Events that have been held.
OWGR chairman Trevor Immelman on report of being in "serious discussions" with LIV about ranking points (via @dougferguson405):
"An interesting choice of worlds... We're in the same position we have been without any application from their side." — Underdog Golf (@UnderdogGolf) May 1, 2025
But even these qualification systems have changed, and not for the better in terms of bringing more players into the league. In 2024, two LIV Golf players finished 1-2 in the International Series, Joaquin Niemann and Peter Uihlein, without the benefit of a contract going to the third-place finisher.
As for the Promotional Events, it went from awarding three contracts for 2024 to only one for 2025. The latter, Chieh-Po Li, did not even receive a team contract, but ended up playing in the league as a wild card.
The league's relegation process is also almost non-existent. In 2024, only five of the 54 active LIV Golf players were relegated (not counting reserve players nor wild cards). Two of them, Branden Grace and Bubba Watson, were re-signed by their respective teams without any form of qualification.
The existence of merit-based systems has historically been one of the pillars of competitive golf (not only professional). The influence of this concept ranges from cuts in most tournaments (including major championships) to loss of membership on the various tours if certain requirements are not met.
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