LIV Golf on Wednesday confirmed its strategic alliance with the MENA Tour (short for Middle East and North Africa). The newly announced collaboration means that players from the Saudi-backed league will finally get world ranking points. The move comes only weeks after 48 LIV golfers penned a letter to the Official World Golf Rankings officials demanding their inclusion in the ranking system.
Ahead of LIV Golf’s sixth event in Bangkok, the Saudi-based series has signed a deal with the MENA Tour, a Dubai-based golf tour. Having been recognized by OWGR in 2016, the alliance will see LIV golfers get added to the MENA roster. The accreditation will allow LIV golfers to attain ranking points without LIV’s application being approved.
The MENA Tour–LIV Golf alliance comes as a major development in the golf world. While LIV golfers and fans of the series seem stoked by it, not everyone is equally happy. The new alliance, which allows LIV golfers to gain points from the LIV event in Bangkok, Thailand this weekend, seems to have annoyed some fans.
It is pertinent to note that the move comes amid the raging PGA Tour–LIV Golf debate. The controversial series’ “shortcut” to OWGR points seems like a masterstroke coming only weeks after it accused the PGA of using its powers against LIV golfers gaining points.
How Twitter reacted to the MENA Tour-LIV Golf alliance
While many came out lauding LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman and his series for the move, others have openly slammed the latest alliance. Some even laughed it off, claiming that the Saudi-backed series is taking extreme measures to favor its players in the ranking system.
All about the MENA Tour-LIV Golf alliance
The MENA Tour is a Dubai-based golf tour launched in 2011. The tour, which primarily hosts events across the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia, was recognized by the Official World Golf Rankings in 2016. It is considered a pathway for players into the Asian Tour and the Asian Development Tour.
On Thursday, The 54-hole event tour made an official announcement confirming its alliance with the newly introduced LIV Invitational Series. It is pertinent to note that LIV has been looking for ways to grow. The latest collaboration is expected to gain LIV players points while boosting the MENA Tour’s development programs.
Making the announcement through a press release, Atul Khosla, the President and COO of LIV Golf, said:
“We are taking this mutually beneficial action to support the game at the developmental level and because of the importance and fairness of LIV golfers qualifying for OWGR points... We’re pleased to create pathways that give more opportunities for young players, while also giving fans rankings that include all the world’s best golfers.”
MENA Tour Commissioner David Spencer reciprocated the Saudi-backed series official’s sentiment and said that the alliance is aimed at enhancing the opportunities of golfers on both sides. The alliance will come into immediate action and will see LIV golfers in Bangkok and the opening event of the 2022/23 MENA Tour season gain OWGR points, without the points regulating authority’s direct approval of LIV.