Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) have turned down LIV Golf’s request to receive official world golf ranking points.
The request has been rejected due to the format of competitions with OWGR chairman Peter Dawson saying the 54-hole, no-cut events for 48 players was an issue, along with limited access for players to join the venture. However, he said it could be managed through a “mathematical formula.”
Dawsons letter to LIV GOLF said “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.”
LIV responded by saying golf is “now without a true or global scoring and ranking system. OWGR's sole objective is to rank the best players across the globe. Today's communication makes clear that it can no longer deliver on that objective. A ranking which fails to fairly represent all participants, irrespective of where in the world they play golf, robs fans, players and all of golf's stakeholders of the objective basis underpinning any accurate recognition of the world's best player performances.”
OWGR have said that if LIV GOLF makes significant changes to the format then the application can be resubmitted.