‘Unprecedented’: LIV issues defiant response to world ranking caveat

After years of attempts, LIV Golf was officially recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking this week. But among the good news was one major caveat: only top-10 finishers will receive ranking points.

And the upstart tour is not happy about it.

In an official statement after the news broke, LIV Golf welcomed the world ranking recognition, but it also lashed out against the “unprecedented” restriction LIV faces from the OWGR.

LIV Golf’s world ranking saga comes to end

For the first time this week in Riyadh, a LIV Golf event will award world ranking points. But it’s been a long road to get there.

Ever since its founding in 2022, LIV Golf had failed to get recognition by the Official World Golf Ranking. Why does that matter?

In short, the majors and the Ryder Cup. Qualification for those events, the most important in pro golf, are largely based on world ranking points.

But without LIV Golf events awarding ranking points, many LIV pros nosedived in the OWGR after joining the league, threatening their access to the majors. (One big exception? Patrick Reed).

Last fall, LIV announced a host of changes to its tournaments, many of which were seen as ways to fit into the OWGR’s guidelines to earn recognition. The biggest change among them was increasing LIV events from 54 holes to 72 holes (that change earned a mixed reaction from LIV stars).

It worked. On Tuesday, the OWGR officially announced LIV Golf events would start receiving world ranking points. However, tucked into the announcement was the top-10 caveat, one that left LIV Golf officials none too pleased.

LIV blasts world ranking ‘restriction’ based on top-10 finishers

In its LIV announcement, the OWGR declared that only the top-10 finishers in LIV events would receive world ranking points. The reason the organization provided was that there are still areas where LIV does not match the standards set out by the OWGR.

“Ranking points will be allocated to the top-10 finishers (and ties) in LIV Golf’s individual stroke play events, which recognizes there are a number of areas where LIV Golf does not meet the eligibility standards set out by OWGR.”

In its own statement released on Tuesday, LIV Golf called the OWGR decision a “long-overdue moment of recognition.”

But the tour sharply criticized the top-10 caveat, saying, “this outcome is unprecedented.”

In the statement, LIV argued that due to this rule, there is no difference between finishing 11th and 57th in a LIV event.

As a result, the restriction “disproportionately harms players who consistently perform at a high level but finish just outside that threshold” as well as “emerging talent,” which LIV says is “precisely the players a fair and meritocratic ranking system is designed to recognize.”

Putting a finer point on it, the statement declared “no other competitive tour or league in OWGR history has been subjected to such a restriction.”

In closing, LIV stated they have always approached the world ranking process in “good faith” and that “we expect this is merely a first step” toward full recognition.

You can read the full statement from LIV Golf below.

Full LIV Golf statement on OWGR decision

The stated mission of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) is to “administer and publish a transparent, credible, and accurate ranking based on the relative performance of players participating in the male Eligible Golf Tours worldwide.“

We acknowledge this long-overdue moment of recognition, which affirms the fundamental principle that performance on the course should matter, regardless of where the competition takes place.

However, this outcome is unprecedented. Under these rules, a player finishing 11th in a LIV Golf event is treated the same as a player finishing 57th. Limiting points to only the top 10 finishers disproportionately harms players who consistently perform at a high level but finish just outside that threshold, as well as emerging talent working to establish themselves on the world stage — precisely the players a fair and meritocratic ranking system is designed to recognize.

No other competitive tour or league in OWGR history has been subjected to such a restriction. We expect this is merely a first step toward a structure that fully and fairly serves the players, the fans and the future of the sport.

We entered this process in good faith and will continue to advocate for a ranking system that reflects performance over affiliation. The game deserves transparency. The fans deserve credibility. And the players deserve a system that treats them equally. – LIV Golf