LIV Golf received some good news on the eve of opening its 2026 season, but the fifth-year golf league is still not happy.
While its golfers will start receiving Official World Golf Ranking points this season – and LIV acknowledged a “long-overdue” recognition for its golfers – the league also made it clear it does not like limiting those points to only the top 10 finishers.
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All players who make the cut in the other 24 men’s professional golf tours that are part of the OWGR earn Ranking Points.
Having lost Brooks Koepka, who returned to the PGA Tour recently, LIV likely was hoping for better news from OWGR.
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The league made changes – including replacing Greg Norman with Scott O’Neil as CEO – with the hopes of receiving those points before the start of its 2026 season, which opens this week in Saudi Arabia. The subject has been a sticking point for the Saudi-backed league since it was initially rejected in October 2023.
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Here is LIV’s statement following the Feb. 3 OWGR announcement:
“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 performances of players participating in 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.
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“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.”
Captain Bryson DeChambeau of Crushers GC watches his shot from the fifth tee during the first round of LIV Golf Virginia at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on Friday, June 06, 2025 in Gainesville, Virginia. (Photo by Chris Trotman/LIV Golf)
OWGR points out LIV Golf still does not meet standards
In its statement on the ruling, OWGR noted that LIV Golf does not meet certain standards and operates differently from other ranked tours in several ways.
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According to the OWGR release, “This includes LIV Golf’s average field size of 57 for 2026 versus the minimum of 75 set out in OWGR Regulations; exclusively no-cut events; the restrictive pathways to join LIV Golf with two spots filled from the Asian Tour’s International Series and three from a ‘closed’ promotions event which does not offset the turnover of players exiting the league; self-selection of players with players being recruited rather than earning their place on the tour in many cases and, in recent days, the addition/removal of players to/from teams based on their nationality rather than for meritocratic reasons.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Why isn’t LIV Golf happy getting Official World Golf Ranking points?
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