Seven months. That's how long it took for LIV Golf to be accredited for the Official World Golf Ranking.

Even so, for many, including Jon Rahm, it doesn’t give the LIV golfers a fair chance to earn OWGR points. 

During LIV’s broadcast in Riyadh, Rahm acknowledged that it was “fantastic” to get recognized by the OWGR. However, the recognition doesn’t come on equal terms with other tours. 

The Legion XIII captain said, “I don't like how we're not being treated the same as every other tour. It seems like the rules that have been in place aren’t really applied to us, with only 10 of us getting points. It doesn't seem fair.” 

Right now, only the top 10 finishers, out of the participating 57 players, will earn OWGR points and boost their ranking. The reason? The OWGR framework has categorized LIV events as “small field tournaments.” Hence, Jon Rahm admitted that “there’s work to be done.”

“While it's good for some people,” he continued. “It could cost some players to actually lose world ranking points, instead of gaining them. Because finishing in 11th is basically a missed cut, and we're already adding to the divisor.” 

A day ago, Bryson DeChambeau also shared a similar opinion. But he hadn’t digested the news by then. 

Nevertheless, the Spaniard was grateful for LIV Golf to finally find a strong foothold. After all, this enables his fellow LIV golfers to fight for a chance to rise in the OWGR list and be recognized for their competitive edge.  

But why won’t the remaining 47 players receive OWGR points? 

OWGR Released a Statement Answering Jon Rahm’s Claims

The chairman of OWGR, Trevor Immelman, stated, “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.”

It was further backed by the former OWGR chairman, Peter Dawson. Back in 2023, Dawson shared an outline of the criteria that LIV Golf could meet to receive a nod from OWGR. 

And in October, he sent a letter to LIV Golf, highlighting the need of a structure allowing new players to enter the roster based on objective and recent performance.

Additionally, the underperforming players should also be relegated fairly and periodically. 

Scott O’Neil and his team worked hard and finally got a nod from the OWGR.

Do you think the LIV golfers can rise significantly in the rankings? Tell us in the comments!

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Written by

Krushna Pattnaik

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu