LIV Golf responds to OWGR’s decision to reject points in a lengthy statement 

LIV Golf has responded to OWGR's decision not to award them points, stating that professional golf no longer has a true or global scoring and ranking system.

On Tuesday, October 10, OWGR rejected LIV Golf's application to receive ranking points, citing the technical reasons behind the ruling. As per the Associated Press, OWGR was unable to compare the event formats of the Saudi-backed circuit with those of the other 24 tours to grant them points. It also questioned the qualification and relegation systems for its events.

The PIF-sponsored league issued a statement in response to OWGR's decision, which read:

"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. Players have historically remained subject to a single world ranking to qualify for Major Championships, the biggest events, and for corporate sponsor contract value.

"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. It also robs some traditional tournaments of the best fields possible."

It added that not having a true or global ranking system was of no benefit to the fans and players if the best players were not getting recognized anymore.

The statement further read:

"LIV will continue to strive to level set the market so fans, broadcasters, and sponsors have the assurance of an independent and objective ranking system and the pure enjoyment of watching the best golf in the world."

Since the PGA Tour and PIF jointly announced the merger in June this year, it was expected that LIV-associated professionals would finally receive ranking points after being denied for nearly two seasons. However, the recent decision means that their wait is going to be a bit longer.

As of now, Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith are the only two players associated with LIV who are inside the top 20 of OWGR. Many big names have seen their rankings plummet since joining the Saudi-backed circuit. Prominent players such as Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Sergio Garcia are well outside the top 100.

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What's next on LIV Golf?

The second season of the LIV Golf League will host its penultimate event this week at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, located 100 km north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The LIV Golf Jeddah will run from Friday, October 13, to Sunday, October 15, and it will be the last event before the Team Championship in Doral. Currently, Cameron Smith leads the season standings with 170 points. Talor Gooch, who has won three events this season, is 21 points behind Smith. PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka is in third place with 112 points.

In the team standings, Dustin Johnson's 4Aces GC leads with 172 points. Joaquín Niemann leads Torque GC by nine points. Stinger GC, captained by Louis Oosthuizen, is in third place with 156 points.