The LIV Golf League has announced that it will no longer be pursuing recognition from the OWGR association. LIV CEO Greg Norman himself wrote a letter about the same to the players. After several requests were made from the breakaway circuit to achieve points, the OWGR turned down all possibilities last year and called out the Norman-led circuit for being a non-eligible golf tour.
On Tuesday, it was reported that the LIV league has withdrawn its application to get OWGR points, due to a lack of recognition since 2022. In 2023, Peter Dawson called out the league as an unconventional tour that didn’t abide by the rules of OWGR like other tours, hence, equal points wouldn’t be credited. Following that, LIV introduced a promotional event to recruit players through a qualification process. But seeing all the efforts going in vain, Norman wrote a letter to players that displayed LIV’s disinterest in getting OWGR points any longer.
Greg Norman’s Elaborate Letter Explaining Why LIV Golf Is Giving Up On OWGR
Norman began the letter stating,
“A resolution which protects the accuracy, credibility and integrity of the OWGR rankings no longer exists…We have made significant efforts to fight for you and ensure your accomplishments are recognized within the existing ranking system. Unfortunately, OWGR has shown little willingness to productively work with us.”
❌ JUST IN: In a letter sent to players this week, LIV CEO Greg Norman says they will no longer pursue OWGR eligibility: “A resolution which protects the accuracy, credibility and integrity of the OWGR rankings no longer exists…. We have made significant efforts to fight for… pic.twitter.com/0nKs6NTxJO
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He continued,
“The rankings are structured to penalize anyone who has not played regularly on an “Eligible Tour” with the field ratings disproportionately rewarding play on the PGA Tour…This is illustrated by the fact only four players inside the top 50 are not PGA Tour players (Jon Rahm (3), Tyrrell Hatton (17), Brooks Koepka (30) and Cam Smith (45)) and by the precipitous decline of LIV players generally, notwithstanding extraordinary performances on the LIV Tour.”
Dawson defended his October decision by stating that it wasn’t to pledge a war with the LIV circuit, and that the decision wasn’t based on political but technical reasons. He further continued to recognize the worth of the LIV golfers but was upset with them for playing in a format that wasn’t favorable.
Joaquin Niemann continually voiced his disappointment at not including him in the men’s majors, but he has finally made a place in the Open Championship, Masters, and PGA Championship through his performances. As of now, LIV has given up on the OWGR ranks but is in talks with the majors to allow their golfers to participate in the coveted events.
