LIV Golf fuming with Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) decision despite receiving points

LIV Golf will finally receive Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points this season, ending one of the most contentious disputes in modern men’s professional golf — but the Saudi-backed league has made clear it is far from satisfied with the verdict.

The OWGR decision, confirmed on 3 February, comes just days before LIV Golf’s 2026 season opener in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and marks the league’s first inclusion in the world ranking system after years of exclusion.

• What does the OWGR's decision mean for LIV Golf in 2026?

However, the approval comes with significant limitations that have angered LIV officials and are likely to restrict the ranking progress of many of its players.

Limited OWGR points allocation confirmed

Under the newly approved framework, only the top 10 finishers in LIV Golf’s 57-man fields will receive OWGR points. All players finishing outside the top 10 will receive none.

That approach contrasts sharply with other OWGR-recognised tours, where ranking points are awarded to all players who make the cut.

The restricted allocation is expected to limit LIV players’ ability to climb the world rankings and, crucially, to qualify for golf’s major championships through ranking positions alone.

The winner of LIV Riyadh — the first of 14 events on the 2026 schedule — is projected to receive 23.03 OWGR points. That places LIV events broadly in line with PGA Tour opposite-field tournaments and standard DP World Tour events, which typically award around 25 points to the winner.

However, LIV events will lag well behind other elite tournaments, including:

• FedEx Cup Fall events (approximately 37 points)
• PGA Tour Signature Events (66 points)
• The WM Phoenix Open, expected to award around 59 points to the winner

As a result, LIV players are likely to require a sustained run of top finishes simply to make modest gains in the world rankings.

LIV Golf reacts angrily to OWGR ruling

While the inclusion represents progress, LIV Golf has expressed strong dissatisfaction with the decision to limit points to only the top 10 finishers.

In a statement released following the announcement, LIV Golf criticised the framework as unprecedented and fundamentally unfair.

Here is LIV Golf’s statement in full:

"The stated mission of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) is to “administer and publish a transparent, credible, and accurate ranking based on the relative performances of players participating in male Eligible Golf Tours worldwide.”

We acknowledge this long-overdue moment of recognition, which affirms the fundamental principle that performance on the course should matter, regardless of where the competition takes place.

However, this outcome is unprecedented. Under these rules, a player finishing 11th in a LIV Golf event is treated the same as a player finishing 57th. Limiting points to only the top 10 finishers disproportionately harms players who consistently perform at a high level but finish just outside that threshold, as well as emerging talent working to establish themselves on the world stage—precisely the players a fair and meritocratic ranking system is designed to recognize.

No other competitive tour or league in OWGR history has been subjected to such a restriction. We expect this is merely a first step toward a structure that fully and fairly serves the players, the 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 over affiliation. The game deserves transparency. The fans deserve credibility. And the players deserve a system that treats them equally."

OWGR defends its position

OWGR chairman Trevor Immelman acknowledged the complexity of integrating LIV Golf into the ranking system while maintaining fairness across the global game.

“This has been an incredibly complex and challenging process and one which we have devoted a huge amount of time and energy to resolving in the seven months since LIV Golf submitted their application,” Immelman said.

“We fully recognised the need to rank the top men’s players in the world but at the same time had to find a way of doing so that was equitable to the thousands of other players competing on other tours that operate with established meritocratic pathways.

“We believe we have found a solution that achieves these twin aims and enables the best-performing players at LIV Golf events to receive OWGR points.”

Immelman also praised LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil and his team for their cooperation and confirmed that the new framework will be implemented immediately for the 2026 season.

Majesticks GC co-captain Lee Westwood had a short and sweet response to a reporter's post on X once learning the latest OWGR news. 

Where do you stand on the subject?

Get involved in our latest poll: