After a heated battle by LIV Golf to be recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking, the upstart golf league withdrew its bid to garner points in the rankings for its players. LIV players will now have a harder time getting into PGA Tour tournaments, as well as the four majors, though some will be invited or have qualified in other ways.
Some LIV players have since openly criticized the rankings, including reigning Masters champions Jon Rahm.
“I’m going to be honest, I didn’t know they were still trying to get world ranking points. But the one thing I can say is I’m going to back to what I said two years ago in the DP World Tour Championship,” Rahm said, per ESPN. “I didn’t think it was a good system back then. And if anything, the more time that goes on, the more it proves to be wrong.”
News broke Tuesday that LIV Golf was ending its pursuit of ranking points after continuous requests to the World Golf Ranking. LIV CEO Greg Norman wrote a letter to the players expressing the reasoning for the organization’s withdrawal.
The Official World Golf Ranking cited LIV’s style of play – tournaments are 54 holes instead of the PGA’s 72, and there are no cuts – as the reason why their events won’t count.
Things could change if the PGA Tour and LIV can agree on the future of golf after their proposed merger last year. For now, LIV players will have to do their best on their tour to garner prize money and keep their names in the headlines.
The tour won’t be fully absent from the majors though. 13 LIV players are in the Masters field, including Jon Rahm. Another triumph from a LIV golfer in a major would be a surprise.
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