LIV Golf Lost This Bid for World Ranking Points But the Battle May Not Be Over
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The LIV Golf League played its final individual event over the weekend with a Team Championship to come this week in Miami, followed by an offseason of questions about its future beyond 2024 and if there will be an agreement with the PGA Tour that leads to peace.
Whether coincidence or not, during the same week LIV Golf was playing in Saudi Arabia—where Brooks Koepka defended his LIV Jeddah title in a playoff over Talor Gooch, who won the season-long individual title and an $18 million bonus—the league learned from the Official World Golf Ranking that it would not be granted eligible tour status by the organization that administers the points to 24 tours around the world.
The decision was not a surprise as LIV Golf has a glaring issue concerning access and relegation that OWGR chairman Peter Dawson highlighted in his letter to LIV CEO Greg Norman.
Might there be a way LIV Golf can change its format to get world ranking points for Bryson DeChambeau and other top players?
Courtesy LIV Golf
What was interesting, however, was the OWGR making the letter public; Dawson’s insistence in interviews that the OWGR is not "at war" with LIV Golf, going so far as to suggest that some of the reasons offered for not accrediting LIV Golf are actually not deal breakers; and then admitting that not ranking all players is "diminishing the rankings" and we "need to get it fixed."
Wild stuff.
First, the biggest reason LIV’s bid has so far failed: it is considered a closed shop. The avenues on and off the league are not believed sufficient by the OWGR. LIV has plans to "relegate" four players to the Asian Tour—Chase Koepka, Jed Morgan, Sihwan Kim and James Piot—with three advancing from a Promotions event (or Q School) and a fourth coming via the top player from the International Series (who right now is Andy Ogletree). The four players who finished outside of the top 44 in season-long points can also participate in the Promotions event, to be played in December but not officially announced.
But the league has no weekly qualifying and has a number of "contracted" players who cannot be dropped.
"Simply put, the board committee does not believe it is equitable to thousands of players who strive every day to get starts in OWGR eligible tournaments to have a tour operate in this mostly closed fashion," Dawson wrote.
This is fair point and one that appears fixable if LIV is willing to make the changes and the OWGR signs off on them. In fact, Dawson said that LIV could resubmit its application. LIV Golf has previously said it has offered to alter its format but wants to know what will and won’t pass muster. Without that guidance, it seems, the League doesn’t want to make a change, only to be denied anyway.
That would suggest its time for both parties to come together and figure it out: if LIV is willing to change, then be serious about change; if Dawson and the OWGR are really at odds with the idea that there are several LIV players not properly ranked because they can’t earn points, then it needs to offer LIV a specific path to compliance.
The OWGR is also concerned about the team format, specifically noting comments made by Sebastian Munoz after the LIV Orlando event won by Koepka. Munoz had a long birdie putt to tie Koepka in the individual competition but said that he was concerned about running the putt too far by the hole, thus perhaps hurting his team. While it would be impossible to improve intent in every such instance, Dawson also noted that idea of teammates playing together is a problem. That, too, is easily fixed—don’t put players on the same team in the same group.
Dawson did say that other issues with LIV Golf can be accommodated, such as the 54-hole tournaments, only 48 players and a lack of a cut. He said it could be handled through an "appropriate mathematical formula," which again goes to one of the big talking points about OWGR: not every guideline is a must; and the board can approve/disapprove any application at its own discretion.
LIV Golf pushed back with a statement saying "professional golf is now without a true or global scoring and ranking system" and said there is a lack of trust in the OWGR "as long as the best player performances are not recognized."
Sports Illustrated has a proprietary world ranking system which does factor in LIV tournaments, with all pro golfers receiving points based on the most recent 12 months of results rather than 24 months in the OWGR's formula.
Dawson, the former CEO of the R&A, played with Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan at the Dunhill Links Championship, as well as LIV golfer Peter Uihlein. In his letter and in his media comments he was not discouraging to LIV, noting that the issue of quality players not being ranked is a problem for all.
"If LIV could find a way to come up with a more open competition style and relegation, we would certainly consider that," Dawson said. "There should be made more vacancies than perhaps there are. I don’t think it’s fair to the other 24 eligible tours and the thousands of players trying to get a start each week."
If you are of the belief that LIV players should in some form be ranked—and to be clear, there are many who believe they should not—then there is probably some blame here for both sides.
Dawson’s letter suggested there has been correspondence on this issue for months. What’s changed? The format hasn’t so why not deny the application in the summer with the same mandate? Why wait? Or, on LIV’s side, if the idea was broached that changes need to be made, why not go full in on making them, announcing a new format with the intention of implementing them next year, and calling OWGR’s bluff?
LIV could quite easily add 12 players, increase the number who come through the Promotions event (if they went from three to six that would be one more player than advances to the PGA Tour through its Q-School) and even have weekly qualifying. Maybe the worst two players each week sit out an event? That would certainly put to rest any idea that a player has no need to try. Maybe there’s a weekly "qualifying" team?
All of this could be wasted energy anyway, as the "framework agreement" could render it all meaningless. Perhaps it will be used as a negotiation in some way.
But next year, LIV Golf is planning to play its schedule, and those who are part of it will continue to drop to the point that the OWGR for them will be all but useless. It means that some good players are going to have a hard time qualifying for the major championships—unless the majors decide to carve out some spots for LIV Golf.
And that’s another argument that is sure to have some strong takes from either side.