The Saudi-backed league is unhappy with the Official World Golf Ranking’s decision to award points only to the top 10 in 2026, despite the move to a 72-hole format.
LIV Golf has criticized the “unprecedented” decision to only award world the ranking places the top 10 in another blow for the Saudi-backed league. The beleaguered breakaway tour was rocked by the departures of major winners Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed last month.
But LIV Golf was confident of securing full ranking points for the new 14-event season which begins on Wednesday in Riyadh after a long campaign. Events will now be played over 72 holes instead of 54 and the number of players has been increased to 57 players with more promotion and relegation to make the league less closed. Former Open winner Henrik Stenson lost his place this season.
Yet the Board of Directors of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) announced that LIV golf events would be classified as “small course tournaments” and only the top 10 finishers in individual Stroke Play events would earn points. This is because the league does not currently meet all “eligibility standards.”
A statement from LIV said: “This result is unprecedented. Under these rules, a player finishing 11th in an LIV golf event is treated the same as a player finishing 57th. Limiting points to only the top 10 disproportionately harms players who consistently perform at a high level but finish just outside that threshold, as well as emerging talents working to establish themselves on the world stage – precisely the players that a fair and meritocratic is designed to recognize.
“No other competitive tour or league in OWGR history has been subject to such a restriction. We believe this is simply a first step toward a structure that fully and fairly serves players, 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 rather than affiliation. The game deserves transparency. Fans deserve credibility. And players deserve a system that treats them equally.”
The lack of ranking points had seen LIV Golf stars slide down the rankings since 2022 and miss out on qualifying for the Majors. Tyrrell Hatton is the highest-ranked LIV player at world No.22 thanks to points he earned on the DP World Tour while his Legion XIII captain and former world No.1 Jon Rahm is now at No.97.
LIV chief executive Scott O’Neil has campaigned tirelessly for full recognition since taking over from Greg Norman last year.
But OWGR president and former Masters champion Trevor Immelman said: “We fully recognized the need to rank the best men’s players in the world, but at the same time we needed to find a way to do it that was fair to the thousands of other players competing on other tours that operate along established meritocratic pathways.”
World ranking points are not the only problem for LIV Golf. Bryson DeChambeau is entering the final year of his contract and could demand a huge signing fee to prevent his return to the PGA Tour. After years of big-name signings and big money, LIV’s new players for this season – Victor Perez, Thomas Detry, Elvis Smylie and Laurie Canter – won’t move the needle.
And the lack of spending calls into question how long the Saudi Public Investment Fund – which also owns Newcastle United – will continue to invest in a venture that cost around $5 billion with no return and no immediate prospect of a permanent peace deal with the PGA Tour.
LIV Riyadh – starting at 6:15 p.m. local time – is the first of 14 events taking place across 10 countries and five continents this season. The teams have been rebranded as Iron Heads GC branded as Korean Golf Club under captaincy Byeong Hun An. And TNT Sports will broadcast all events live in the UK.
