Who are the LIV Golfers in the Top 50 rankings of the OWGR?
The LIV Golf series has long faced an uphill battle with the Official World Golf Ranking Board to secure ranking points for its golfers. Any and all golfers that have joined the LIV Golf Series have stopped receiving OWGR points.
This has caused all golfers to drop down the rankings list. The likes of Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson and Joaquin Niemann have fallen down several positions, effectively going out of consideration and contention on a global level.
There are only a few golfers who have managed to remain in the top 50 rankings. Here is a list of these golfers:
1) Cameron Smith
- Ranking before joining LIV: World No. 2
- Current Ranking: World No. 50
2) Jon Rahm
- Ranking before joining LIV: World No. 3
- Current Ranking: World No. 3
3) Tyrrell Hatton
- Ranking before joining LIV: World No. 16
- Current Ranking: World No. 17
4) Brooks Koepka
- Ranking before joining LIV: World No. 19
- Current Ranking: World No. 30
Other golfers who were in the top 50 but are no longer there include Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Adrian Meronk and Kevin Na, among others.
LIV Golf announces that it will stop its bid to attain OWGR points
LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman recently announced that the league would stop its bid to attain OWGR points after several failed attempts. The bid to attain points was primarily to keep golfers in contention for the Major championships. Greg Norman said in a release (via Sports Illustrated):
"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."
The main criticism of the LIV Series came from the 54-hole, no-cut format that the tournament provides. OWGR board chairman Peter Dawson said that the rejection of LIV was purely for technical reasons.
“This 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 to compete on them.”
With LIV stopping its bid to attain OWGR points, more and more golfers will face an issue when attempting to qualify for the Major championships in the future.