LIV Golf boss Greg Norman has questioned the ‘fairness’ of the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), after a message from the Australian to his players was leaked. LIV Golf’s opening three events have yet to receive world ranking points.
This has led to many of the stars who chose to make the controversial switch plummet down the world rankings due to their inactivity. The absence of OWGR points is no doubt a problem for the Saudi-backed series, as it looks to continue to lure in some of golf’s big names.
Writing to his playing quota, Norman believes that without the inclusion of LIV members the world rankings’ integrity and accuracy have been ‘severely compromised’.
In a memo obtained by ESPN , the CEO wrote: “Without LIV’s inclusion, the integrity and accuracy of the rankings themselves are severely compromised. We trust the members of the Governing Board of OWGR will understand and appreciate this key consideration, and that they will treat this development with the respect it deserves and be consistent with their responsibilities as directors of the Official World Golf Rankings and the duties that attend those directorships.”
There is no doubt that since its inaugural event in June the LIV Golf field has become stronger, with the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed joining Phil Mickelson and co. In respect of this growth in quality, Norman has called for his series to be recognised by the OWGR.
Norman wrote: “In view of LIV Golf’s unprecedented strength of field for a tour in its infancy, we have urged that OWGR gain comfort with LIV Golf’s status, because it is plainly in the best interests of the OWGR, players, and the game to do so. Anything less, in our judgement, would reflect an abdication of the OWGR Governing Board’s responsibilities as the leading standard-setting and ratings organisation in golf.”
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In the midst of his battle with both the PGA and DP World Tours, Norman seemingly took aim at his rival circuits – indirectly suggesting the strength of the LIV events has been stronger than the tournaments played on the opposing tours. “The proportion of leading players in the world competing on the LIV series means that, despite smaller fields than some existing tour events and those that took place opposite the LIV invitational events, the [strength of field] remains highly competitive and among the top few in the industry,” he went on.
“Should this continue much longer, the rankings will become even more inaccurate and marginalised, with many of the LIV Golf players having lower rankings than they are rightfully entitled to, as well as non-LIV Golf players enjoying falsely enhanced rankings. Simply put, it will be impossible to consider the OWGR ratings accurate or even relevant if OWGR persists in omitting 48 of the best golfers in the world.”
