LIV Golf fires scathing attack on OWGR after ranking points dispute turns sour
LIV Golf's bosses have furiously hit back at the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) after the breakaway league was denied ranking points for its tournaments on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia-backed LIV launched in 2022, luring top players from the PGA Tour including Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith and Dustin Johnson in return for mega-money contracts. But through its first two seasons, LIV players have not earned ranking points from the 54-hole events.
A decision was finally announced by the OWGR on Tuesday, confirming LIV's application had been denied. Chairman of the OWGR board Peter Dawson explained that the primary reason for the refusal was LIV's its closed shop nature as an invitational competition, with limited qualifying opportunities and a very limited turnover of players in the 48-man fields.
LIV issued a scathing response in the wake of the announcement. A statement read: "OWGR's sole objective is to rank the best players across the globe. 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.
Bubba Watson shares details of horror knee injury ahead of LIV Golf debut
"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 recognised.
"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."
The OWGR decision is a massive blow to LIV and its players. LIV has just two players – Koepka and Smith – in the top 50 in the rankings, with the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Johnson plummeting out of the top 100 since joining the tour.
LIV Golf chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan and his colleagues have hit out at the OWGR decision. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)LIV players have only been able to accrue ranking points at events sanctioned by other tours, but players have been banned from entering PGA Tour and DP World Tour events since joining the rebel league.
That means the four major championships are most LIV players' only opportunities of enhancing their ranking. But the rankings are also the primary method of qualifying for The Masters, The Open, the US Open and the PGA Championship.
A problematic cycle has been created as a result, with some LIV players losing their route to the majors. Former Masters champion Sergio Garcia, for example, missed The Open at Royal Liverpool this summer.
Dawson has made clear he sympathises with the players' situation amid a problematic saga for the credibility of the rankings, with questions over their accuracy and validity with LIV's players unable to regularly accrue points. But that was always an inherent risk when players accepted, in some cases, nine-figure deals to join a new tour.
"We are not at war with them," Dawson told the Associated Press, explaining the decision on Tuesday. "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.
Official World Golf Rankings boss Peter Dawson says the primary reason for LIV's application being refused was the lack of significant promotion and relegation to its roster and its structure as an invitational tour."Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, of course they should be in the ranking. We need to find a way to get that done. I hope that LIV can find a solution, not so much their format; that can be dealt with through a mathematical formula, but the qualification and relegation."
LIV is led by commissioner Greg Norman, a two-time major champion, and is owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. Its chairman, Yasir Al-Rumayyan – also the chairman of Newcastle United – played alongside Dawson at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship pro-am in Scotland last week, when it appeared the odds were in LIV's favour to be sanctioned by the OWGR.
LIV Golf snap up PGA Tour winner who bases his game on fellow rebel Mickelson
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
