'We're Not Just Rushing to Figure This Out': USGA Boss Defends OWGR's Timeframe on LIV Decision

The Saudi-backed league petitioned for points last July. Leaders of other golf governing bodies will decide, but when remains unclear.

When will LIV Golf hear from the Official World Golf Ranking about its inclusion into the club?

It’s a question still waiting for an answer as LIV Golf approaches its first birthday and its players currently only earn ranking points in events outside of LIV.

Related: LIV Players Rise in Sports Illustrated World Golf Rankings Following Singapore Event

When LIV Golf was proposed for membership by the Asian Tour to join the OWGR in July 2022, the process and timeline was unclear.

Maybe purposely so, since those that have the power regarding the rankings and operation are the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and leaders of the governing bodies of the four majors: the Masters, PGA of America, USGA and R&A.

It's those six entities that wield the power and makeup the Governing Board, which will ultimately vote on LIV’s inclusion.

“I'm proud of the fact that the world rankings, we're not just rushing to figure this out, because it is different,” Mike Whan, USGA Chief Executive Officer and a member of the OWGR Governing Board told Sports Illustrated on Monday in Los Angeles during a media function for the U.S. Open.

When LIV’s inclusion was first discussed at the OWGR, the application was sent to its Technical Committee to digest a tour that plays only 54 holes with limited fields, no cut and with a limited pathway for noncontracted players to participate.

And while none of these issues on their own is a deal breaker, the combination has been a major discussion point among golf officials and media alike.

“There are some things about LIV that you could probably address mathematically,” Whan says. "And there's a couple of things at LIV that are a little bit more challenging to just slice a player in and make sure that you're being fair to all the other players, all of the tours around the world.”

LIV Golf’s Greg Norman and the LIV players at first tried to cajole the rankings hierarchy and then tried to do an end-run around the process joining ranks with the MENA Tour in October 2022, just before the LIV event in Bangkok.

In a statement on the eve of the Bangkok event, David Spencer, the commissioner of the MENA Tour, said that none of the communications between the OWGR and MENA pointed toward any technical reason why those who participated in the event in Thailand, which is MENA-sanctioned, should be treated any differently than all other MENA events since its inclusion in the OWGR in 2016.

The day after the MENA request was received by the OWGR, the organization responded.

Calling the MENA request a “significant changes to the MENA Tour’s membership structure,” the OWGR said it would need to review the changes before a decision would be forthcoming.

As with LIV’s application, MENA’s request is also still in the review process.

“At the end of the day, it's not just about how do we factor in LIV, but how do we make sure that we're treating everybody fairly who doesn't play there or plays somewhere else,” Whan says of the focus of the review. “And they have the same opportunities to play their way in. And a couple of those things we still have to work through.”