LIV Golf Should Not Complain About Its World Ranking Points

In a new Fact or Fiction, the SI Golf staff debates the LIV/OWGR decision, two Hall of Fame cases and whether PGA Tour seasons should start with the WM Phoenix Open.

LIV Golf events will receive world ranking points this year but only to top-10 finishers. | Megan Briggs/Getty Images

Welcome back to SI Golf’s Fact or Fiction, where we’re loading up on supplies for one of the best TV Sundays of the year: the final round at TPC Scottsdale followed by the Super Bowl.

Once again, we’re here to debate a series of statements for writers and editors to declare as “Fact” or “Fiction” along with a brief explanation. Responses may also (occasionally) be “Neutral” since there's a lot of gray area in golf.

Do you agree or disagree? Let us know on the SI Golf X account.

The Official World Golf Ranking is finally granting points in LIV Golf events, but only to the top 10 finishers. LIV Golf still wants more but this was a fair solution from the OWGR. 

Bob Harig: FACT. Harsh, but fair. Cutting off points after 10 players is—as LIV Golf itself said—unprecedented. But so, too, is LIV Golf’s format that has been at the crux of this issue since the launch in 2022. Points beyond the 10th place would be minimal, anyway. While a blow to those who rack up a bunch of high finishes, the bottom line is there is now a path to the top 50 in the OWGR for LIV players that did not exist. It is a narrow one and will require excellent play but still gives the league a level of credibility it did not have before being accredited.  

Jeff Ritter: FACT. We can debate whether more or fewer players should earn points in each LIV event, but the top 10 is a fair place to start—and possibly finish. Let’s see the math play out for a full year.

John Schwarb: FACT. I didn’t think this stalemate would ever be broken, but awarding the top-10 finishers for now is enough in a limited-field league that plays without a cut.

Justin Rose continued his strong play in his mid-40s, winning the Farmers Insurance Open for his 13th PGA Tour title. He also has 11 DP World Tour wins plus the 2013 U.S. Open, and he’s a World Golf Hall of Famer even if he never wins again.

Bob Harig: FACT. Rose meets the Hall minimum criteria but his candidacy is tricky. One major, no Players but 13 PGA Tour victories when you’ve also split time on the DP World Tour is impressive. So is his longevity. Throw in his Ryder Cup success and he’s probably going to make it.  

Justin Rose, at age 45, won the Farmers Insurance Open in record fashion for his 13th PGA Tour title. | Abe Arredondo-Imagn Images

Jeff Ritter: FACT. He’s on the bubble, with plenty of worldwide wins (the minimum requirement is 15) and a Ryder Cup record that’s a nice feather in the cap. His Olympic gold medal also doesn’t hurt. He isn’t a slam dunk, but I think he’s in.

John Schwarb: FACT. As Jeff said, the gold medal is important to remember and for the Hall should be considered a second major (it is worth a point in the LPGA HOF). Rose walks in with no trouble.

Speaking of Halls of Fame, Nelly Korda is now seven points away from the LPGA HOF, which grants entry via a point system. With one point for regular-season wins and season awards and two points for majors, she will punch her ticket this year.  

Bob Harig: FICTION. It’s certainly possible, but coming off a year in which she didn’t win—and now shutting it down for the tour’s Asian swing—getting to a minimum of five wins and throwing in a major and or some season-ending aware is far from assured. But she seems destined to make one of the most stringest Halls anyway.

Jeff Ritter: FICTION. To earn seven more points, she’d need to win five more times, including a major, and then pick up the POY award. You can’t rule it out since she had a season like this two years ago, but I’d guess that she’ll win again this year, but not at a pace that would book her HOF ticket just yet. 

Nelly Korda won the LPGA season opener and could get into the LPGA Hall of Fame with a season like her massive 2024. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

John Schwarb: FACT. If Korda picks off two of the five women’s majors this year—not an outrageous scenario—one would think that would also seal up POY honors and that means she would just need two points elsewhere. Winning a Vare Trophy (lowest scoring average) also earns a point and Korda has finished second in that the last two years.

The WM Phoenix Open is this week, with all its craziness leading right up to the Super Bowl. As rumors still swirl about what future PGA Tour schedules might look like, the WMPO should be the opening event of a season.

Bob Harig: FICTION. Only if it’s moved up a week on the schedule, which seems to defeat the purpose of one of its selling points—Super Bowl week. The WM Phoenix Open embraces this week. It doesn’t interfere with the game itself. If you want to make it the first event, say, in the week when Torrey Pines was played, sure. But then which event goes now?

There is no week on Tour like WM Phoenix Open week. | Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jeff Ritter: FACT. Why not? Other sports leagues go out of their way to make a splash on their opening days. Replacing the sleepy, albeit charming, Hawaiian Swing with a Phoenix opener would be a big statement and bold start to a new era.  

John Schwarb: FACT. Tour CEO Brian Rolapp has talked about “scarcity” and “simplicity”—if “cadence” is also in his vocabulary, then why not start with this Daytona 500-like banger of an event? I would still keep Torrey Pines and Palm Springs but shuffle them in later.

All the craziness around LIV Golf this offseason, including player churn and reimagined teams and a move to 72 holes, actually is a good thing for the league and should lead to increased interest starting with this week’s first tournament.

Bob Harig: FICTION. It’s not good losing two of your major championship winners. Certainly that changes to relegation and promotion that create more risk and reward are good. It’s debatable whether 72 holes is necessary, but that helps satisfy the purists. But losing Koepka and Reed is a blow because their replacements won’t come with anything close to the resume.  

Jeff Ritter: FICTION. LIV’s tweaks were smart, but losing Brooks Koepka and, to a lesser extent, Patrick Reed, far outweigh any progress LIV otherwise made this offseason. This week’s OWGR ruling is a small step toward legitimacy, but even LIV is disappointed with it. The league appears from here to be reeling.

John Schwarb: FICTION. There’s maybe a little more of a curiosity factor around what 72 holes will do to the leaderboard and a couple of new-look teams. But there was a net loss in star power and I could even argue that Reed is a bigger loss for LIV than Koepka, as he seemed more bought into the league and is far more polarizing, which drives interest.