Pep Guardiola's all-conquering Blues go into the final day of the season on Sunday with a two-point cushion over the Gunners thanks to an eight-game winning streak
sports1 day ago
A glance at the current Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) shows some obvious anomalies that have been widely acknowledged by all parties in the current uneasy world of global golf.
Greg Norman, Commissioner and CEO of LIV Golf, recently announced that LIV Golf are withdrawing their application for OWGR points for LIV Golf.
Norman said on the sidelines of LIV Golf - Hong Kong: “Unfortunately, OWGR has shown little willingness to productively work with us.
“We have made significant efforts to fight for you and ensure your accomplishments are recognized within the existing ranking system.”
In July, 2022, LIV Golf originally sent through an application for OWGR Points.
In October, 2023, LIV Golf’s application was formally rejected.
When it denied LIV points, the OWGR claimed the league, which features a mostly-closed field of 54 players playing 54-holes, with a shotgun start, with no-cut events – wasn’t able to be compared to the other 24 tours under its world ranking wing.
Also of concern were the qualifying and relegation methods employed by LIV Golf.
“We are not at war with them,” Peter Dawson, chairman of the OWGR board, told AP. “This decision not to make them eligible is not political,” he added. “It is entirely technical. LIV players are self-evidently good enough to be ranked.
“They’re just not playing in a format where they can be ranked equitably with the other 24 tours and thousands of players trying to compete on them.”
The pathways to LIV Golf are few and far between, but the league did implement a promotions event last year in Abu Dhabi, which saw three players gain status. The leading player on the Asian Tour’s International Series Order of Merit also earns a LIV spot for the following season.
What is the solution?
The golf Majors currently use the OWGR as one of the entry options for their events.
The acknowledgement by The Masters of the recent form of Mexico’s Joaquin Niemann on LIV Golf by granting an invite to him along with the DP World Tour’s Thorbjorn Oleson and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune follows historical precedents to keep ‘developing interest in the game of golf across the world.’
None of the other Majors have so far made comment on whether they will follow this invite policy.
Let’s all hope that common sense can soon prevail.
Many of the leading players already have Majors to their name – with appropriate exemptions to all the Majors – but these soon run out.
With how the world of golf has changed so much in the last year or so – let’s hope we can all see the best players in the world playing together in the same event - sooner rather than later.
ALSO READ
If OWGR points were granted to LIV Golf with immediate effect – it would not be that meaningful, as LIV Golfer Talor Gooch commented – with only four LIV Golf players in the current top 50 of the OWGR.
We will watch and wait to see what happens next.
The Rankings were established in 1986 – ironically with Greg Norman achieving the number one spot in that year.
Pep Guardiola's all-conquering Blues go into the final day of the season on Sunday with a two-point cushion over the Gunners thanks to an eight-game winning streak
sports1 day ago
Brazilian Fabio Lima strikes twice in Dubai club's emphatic 4-0 victory at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain
sports1 day ago
Jon Rahm, Wyndham Clark, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods were among the stars packing their golf bags and leaving the famed Kentucky course after a testing second round on Friday
sports1 day ago
Top players can compartmentalize their lives, shut out all other outside distractions and can just focus on their game, says renowned golf coach Peter Cowen
sports1 day ago
The maverick West Indies' wicketkeeper-batsman hit eight sixes in his 29-ball 75 to set-up a comfortable win over the pre-tournament favourites
sports2 days ago
Bengaluru needs to win the match by at least 18 runs if they score a minimum of 200 runs batting first or win in 18.1 overs if they are chasing 200
sports2 days ago
The American is faces four criminal charges with assault of a police officer, criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from an officer directing traffic
sports2 days ago
It is the first meeting between the world No.1 and No.2 in the tournament's history with a winner's purse of €699,690 at stake
sports2 days ago