EXCLUSIVE: LIV Golf is considering abandoning the sport’s traditional ranking system amid frustrations over being frowned upon by the OWGR…as Saudi’s breakaway tour is an alternative to their new qualifying school ahead of the 2024 season
- LIV has become annoyed with the continued refusal to recognize ranking points
- Saudi-backed rebel tour is considering turning its back on the traditional system
- Comes amid growing concerns that world golf rankings are no longer accurate
The LIV breakaway circuit is considering turning its back on golf’s traditional ranking system amid growing annoyance at how their request for recognition in the official standings has so far been overlooked.
While the Saudi Arabian-backed league has no plans to withdraw its long-standing submission to the official World Golf Ranking body, which if successful would open a path to the majors for many of their players, they are exploring the possibility of a to use alternative ranking. system to determine eligibility for the new qualifying school they are launching in November ahead of their 2024 season.
Sportsmail understands that LIV monitors both the newly launched Sports Illustrated World Golf Rankings and the Universal Golf Rankings, both of which award points to performances on Greg Norman’s controversial tour, as opposed to the OWGR.
After launching their second season last week without OWGR recognition, it’s clear that LIV may be moving to one of those less established systems if they continue to get rejected at their next two events, in Tucson later this month and Orlando in early April.
The situation with the OWGR has caused LIV’s star names to slide down the leaderboard, with Dustin Johnson’s latest ranking of 54th proving that the existing structure has become far too imprecise.
The Greg Norman-led LIV Tour is considering turning its back on golf’s traditional ranking system
Dustin Johnson (L) has been typical of GC trouble since the breakaway
While Johnson remains eligible for majors, the problem is greater for players further down the LIV pecking order who are close to, or have already done so, the limits for the four major tournaments.
LIV’s last filing with the OWGR was filed in October, and a return letter earlier this year would have outlined that they still don’t meet the criteria.
The specific details of the criteria were unclear as the OWGR declined to comment on pending applications, but sources told Sportsmail that a major obstacle is their circuit’s predominant absence of ‘relegation’.
LIV has tried to solve that problem for the 2023 season by introducing the demotion of four golfers from their 48-man squad – three of the four promoted players in their place would be from qualifying school – but there is considerable confusion within the sport about the guaranteed participation of certain players.
A source pointed to Talor Gooch’s contract, which was made public in court proceedings in the US last year and revealed a non-relegation clause until the end of the 2025 season.
