Golf

LIV Golfers Given a Golden ‘Open Championship’ Ticket Despite Recent Greg Norman-OWGR Disappointment

Published

9 months ago

March 7, 2024

With the inception of LIV Golf, many PGAT pros chose to defect to the breakaway league. But their choice came at a cost—the loss of OWGR points. The disruptive league has been repeatedly denied OWGR points, which has had major repercussions on the world rankings of LIV golfers. Subsequently, it has also made their road to the majors extremely difficult.

The LIV Golf CEO, Greg Norman, has repeatedly spoken about this very disparity faced by the golfers of the new league. However, a piece of recent news alludes to the fact that things might be a bit more hopeful for the LIV pros when it comes to participating in the British Open.

The British Open to expand their qualifying format

Bob Harig recently took to his official X handle (formerly known as Twitter) and shared a post regarding the expansion in the qualifying opportunities for the British Open made by the R&A head, which could positively impact the LIV Golfers and stated, “British Open Expands Qualifying Opportunities, Which Could Benefit LIV Golf.”

British Open Expands Qualifying Opportunities, Which Could Benefit LIV Golf https://t.co/s6ZB0YnQ1e via @SInow

Martin Slumbers, the CEO of R&A, said, “We decided to create those opportunities. And I’d add there are a minimum of 16 players in final qualifying (two weeks prior to the Open). We felt that is the next best step of progression on this road.” However, he even added that they are pretty much neutral about the leagues and only want the most deserving players to get the spots.

He further spoke about the change in OWGR methodology two years ago that led to the creation of the federated list. The said list was created to ensure that there was a significant separation of the rankings for the non-main tours. LIV Golfers haven’t shied away from sharing their plight about their rapidly falling world ranking or their slim chances of playing in the prestigious majors. Sharing the same sentiments, the Shark had recently taken yet another jibe at the OWGR, calling the ranking system ‘laughable.’

Greg Norman throws jabs at OWGR once again

Now, why did the LIV Golf CEO call OWGR laughable? Greg Norman recently shared a post on Instagram and captioned it “Laughable. LIV would have 2 players in the top 50 OWGR if you exclude recent signees!” The post demonstrates the top 50 golfers in the world according to different world ranking systems.

Among them were the Universal Golf Rankings, which had 10 LIV golfers in the top 50; the Sports Illustrated Rankings, which also had 10 of the defected golfers; and the Data Golf Rankings, which had nine but the OWGR only had five. He uploaded all four lists, drew a comparison between them, and highlighted how the denial of the OWGR points has drastically affected the LIV golfers’ Official World Rankings. All the while sharing his disapproval of the decision to deny points to the PIF-funded league. Do you think the LIV golfers should be granted the OWGR points? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.