LIV Golf has hit out at what it calls an “unprecedented” ruling that may see solely the highest 10 finishers at its occasions awarded world rating factors.
The Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) board revealed on Tuesday its choice to award LIV gamers factors for the primary time.
Nevertheless, whereas the Saudi Arabia-funded circuit, which begins its fifth season in Riyadh this week, has known as the information a “long-overdue second of recognition”, it’s sad on the limits placed on the rankings factors for its 57-man fields.
In all 24 different males’s skilled golf excursions which can be a part of the OWGR, all gamers who make the lower earn factors.
In a press release, LIV stated “this end result is unprecedented”, including “no different aggressive tour or league in OWGR historical past has been subjected to such a restriction”.
“Below these guidelines, a participant ending eleventh in a LIV Golf occasion is handled the identical as a participant ending 57th. Limiting factors to solely the highest 10 finishers disproportionately harms gamers who persistently carry out at a excessive degree however end simply exterior that threshold.”
In its assertion, the OWGR board stated it was awarding factors to LIV “in an effort to replicate the altering panorama of the boys’s skilled recreation”.
Nevertheless, it added that the factors had been being restricted to the highest 10 finishers as a result of it “recognises there are a selection of areas the place LIV Golf doesn’t meet the eligibility requirements set out by OWGR”.
The dimensions of a LIV discipline, at 57, is effectively beneath the 75 set out in OWGR rating standards, whereas the shortage of a lower was additionally a contributing issue.
LIV is evolving although, with every of its 14 occasions in 2026 being performed over 72 holes, up from 54 in earlier years.
“We count on that is merely a primary step towards a construction that totally and pretty serves the gamers, the followers and the way forward for the game,” added LIV in its assertion.
“We entered this course of in good religion and can proceed to advocate for a rating system that displays efficiency over affiliation.
“The sport deserves transparency. The followers deserve credibility. And the gamers deserve a system that treats them equally.”
