LIV Golf has withdrawn its bid to have its 54-hole, no-cut occasions recognised by the Official World Golf Rating.
The Saudi-backed tour initially utilized to the OWGR board to acquire rating factors for its gamers again in July 2022, however after greater than a 12 months of deliberation that software was rejected final October.
With no additional motion from both facet, the LIV Golf League formally withdrew its on-going software at the moment (March 5).
“We now have made vital efforts to combat for you and guarantee your accomplishments are recognised inside the current rating system,” LIV Golf CEO and commissioner Greg Norman wrote in a letter to gamers forward of this week’s occasion in Hong Kong. “Sadly, OWGR has proven little willingness to productively work with us.”
When it denied LIV factors, the OWGR claimed the league – which includes a closed discipline of 54 gamers taking part in 54-hole, shotgun begin, no-cut occasions – wasn’t in a position to be in comparison with the opposite 24 excursions below its world rating wing. Additionally acknowledged to be of concern had been the qualifying and relegation strategies employed by LIV Golf.
“We’re not at warfare with them [LIV Golf],” Peter Dawson, chairman of the OWGR board, mentioned on the time of the preliminary rejection. “This determination to not make them eligible isn’t political. It’s fully technical. LIV gamers are self-evidently ok to be ranked. They’re simply not taking part in in a format the place they are often ranked equitably with the opposite 24 excursions and hundreds of gamers making an attempt to compete on them.”
Commissioner Greg Norman and LIV Golf gamers have questioned the world rating system from the bounce and have been important of the board members who might have conflicting pursuits with regards to the upstart circuit backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund. Nevertheless, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley each recused themselves from the LIV determination to keep away from any such battle.
The committee that rejected LIV’s software comprised leaders from Augusta Nationwide, the PGA of America, the USGA and The R&A, which run the 4 majors. The majors use the OWGR as a part of their qualifying standards.
The pathways to LIV Golf are considerably imprecise, with solely final week seeing Antony Kim, who hadn’t performed competitively for 12 years, been invited to hitch the league. He subsequently shot 16 over par for 3 rounds at LIV Golf Jeddah, and completed 33 pictures behind the winner, Joaquin Neimann.
The league did implement a promotions occasion final 12 months which noticed three gamers achieve LIV Golf standing, whereas two gamers misplaced their place within the league. The main participant on the Asian Tour’s Worldwide Sequence Order of Benefit additionally earns a LIV spot for the next season.
