LIV Golf applies again for Official World Golf Ranking points
'The OWGR board is committed to a thorough evaluation process of all applications, and LIV's application will be reviewed in accordance with OWGR's criteria to ensure fairness, integrity and consistency,' Immelman said in a statement. 'We appreciate the interest of LIV Golf — and all tours — in contributing to the global landscape of men's professional golf through OWGR. Further updates will be provided as the review progresses.'
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LIV Golf first applied for ranking points in July 2022 and that bid was denied in October 2023 for a variety of reasons, including the lack of a cut in LIV events and limited field sizes.
'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,' then-OWGR board chairman Peter Dawson told the Associated Press.
The bigger concern, however, was the lack of turnover within the circuit's ranks. LIV Golf does have a form of relegation and promotion but it's limited compared to other tours with just one spot available through a promotions event each fall and another spot via The International Series on the Asian Tour. It remains to be seen if the OWGR's stance on LIV being a closed shop has changed since the original denial or if the circuit is poised to create larger pathways for players to qualify.
LIV Golf has a 'drop zone' each season that includes the bottom portion of each year's points list but players with guaranteed contracts are largely immune to relegation and there has been little turnover from season to season.
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The need for world ranking points has grown since LIV Golf launched in the summer of 2022 when it had a dozen players ranked inside the top 50 in the world. Now the circuit has just two players, No. 15 Bryson DeChambeau and No. 22 Tyrrell Hatton, inside the top 50 and many of its original stars — like Brooks Koepka at 276th — have plummeted in the ranking.
The world ranking is one of the main pathways for players to qualify for major championships and LIV Golf's lack of world ranking points have prompted some of the majors, like the PGA of America and USGA, to carve out exemptions into the biggest events for the breakaway circuit's top players.
According to the OWGR, LIV Golf submitted its most recent application for points on June 30 and if the original process is a benchmark, this review could last more than a year.
A request for comment from LIV Golf was not immediately returned.
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