“There’s really only one big loser in the whole thing” - Golf commentators highlight the concerns about the OWGR and its impact on Golf Fans
The OWGR committee announced that LIV Golf players will not be awarded ranking points as the series does not fulfil ranking criteria. The decision did not settle well among the LIV golfers who criticized the OWGR publicly.
Recently, golf commentators highlighted the concern about the LIV players for not getting OWGR points. David Feherty gave his opinion on the decision, emphasizing that it is a significant loss for fans because some of the top players who play on LIV Golf will no longer be able to qualify for major tournaments.
Feherty said:
“There’s really only one big loser in the whole thing, and that’s the golf fan. And the most important fans we have are sponsors that want the biggest names in their tournaments. There’s people above my pay grade who should be able to do the math.”
Jerry Foltz said that the World rankings are truly the PGA Tour rankings and only two LIV golfers sit inside the top 50 and these two players are the ones who won majors in the last 16 months. Foltz said:
“This time last year, 15 players outside the PGA Tour were inside the top 50 of the OWGR. Right now, there are only 2 and both of those are LIV players who’ve won a major in the last 16 months. The only way to break into the top 50 on the OWGR, and thus get into the majors as it currently stands, is to be a PGA Tour member. They are truly just PGA Tour rankings.”
It is important to note that earlier this LIV Golf merged with the PGA Tour. However, the agreement has been investigated by the US government.
"We are not at war with them"- OWGR's chairman on no ranking points for LIV golfers
The Official World Golf Rankings chairman Peter Dawson released a letter in a press conference rejecting LIV Golf's application requesting ranking points earlier this week.
He said that they are not at war with the LIV Golf and there is no political agenda in the decision. He mentioned that the series' format does not match with ranking criteria and thus they are deprived of OWGR points.
Dawson stated:
"We are at war with them. The decision not to make them eligible is not political. It is entirely technical. LIV players are self-evidently good enough to be ranked. They're just not playing in a format where they can be ranked equitably with the other 24 tours and thousands of players trying to compete on them."
It should be noted that the LIV Golf is a 54-hole format series with no cut while other golf series are being played in a 72-hole format.