The China Mail - LIV Golf events to receive world ranking points: official

A statement from OWGR said ranking points would be issued to players who finish in the top 10 of LIV Golf's individual stroke play tournaments from 2026 onwards.

The failure of the Saudi Arabia-financed LIV Golf to secure world ranking points for its events has been a stumbling block since the upstart circuit launched in 2022.

Elite LIV Golf players have seen their world rankings nosedive, complicating their ability to qualify for golf's four major championships, whose fields are largely determined by rankings.

LIV's three-round 54-hole format had also been an issue preventing acceptance by OWGR. LIV has switched to four-round tournaments this season.

OWGR chairman Trevor Immelman said determining a system for awarding ranking points at LIV events had taken several months.

"This has been an incredibly complex and challenging process and one which we have devoted a huge amount of time and energy to resolving in the seven months since LIV Golf submitted their application," Immelman said in a statement.

"We fully recognised the need to rank the top men's players in the world but at the same time had to find a way of doing so that was equitable to the thousands of other players competing on other tours that operate with established meritocratic pathways.

"We believe we have found a solution that achieves these twin aims and enables the best-performing players at LIV Golf events to receive OWGR points."

OWGR said it would continue to evaluate LIV Golf over the next two years.

"As LIV Golf continues to evolve, OWGR will continue to evaluate LIV Golf against OWGR's eligibility standards, which could result in an increase in points, a decrease in points or removal from the system altogether," the OWGR said.

LIV Golf however criticised the OWGR decision, saying it did not go far enough and should be widened to offer points to players finishing outside the top 10.

"Under these rules, a player finishing 11th in a LIV Golf event is treated the same as a player finishing 57th," LIV Golf said in a statement.

"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."

Q.Moore--ThChM