Reviewing the Hurdles LIV Golf Faces in Its Ongoing Fight for Rankings Legitimacy
KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, Saudi Arabia — After two weeks spent halfway around the world with the LIV Golf Invitational Series, there remains plenty to unpack.
Brooks Koepka won his first golf tournament anywhere since early in 2021, but the reality is the on-course action continues to be overshadowed by what happens off of it.
For the first few events, it was all about who would sign with LIV Golf. The narrative has shifted to the quest for Official World Golf Ranking points.
LIV Golf officials and players have been outspoken about the desire to get points, and the heat started at the Chicago event last month when commissioner Greg Norman and 50 LIV golfers sent a letter to Peter Dawson, the chairman of the OWGR board that ultimately decides if a prospective tour will be accredited.
The push ramped up at the event in Thailand, where on the eve of the tournament, LIV Golf disclosed its new relationship with the developmental MENA Tour, which brought LIV Golf into its schedule. As an accredited member, MENA commissioner Davis Spencer outlined reasons for LIV Golf’s immediate inclusion. That didn’t go over so well.
Then the talking points continued in Saudi Arabia, where Graeme McDowell, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed all put forth their arguments.
Will it happen? Well, not anytime soon. LIV Golf’s individual schedule is now complete, with a season-ending team championship to take place at the end of the month in Miami.
Here’s a look at some of the hurdles that LIV Golf faces, along with the caveat that this is new territory that has never before been explored.
OWGR Not an Absolute Process
For all the talk about the criteria that LIV Golf fails to meet, the bottom line is the stipulation made clear in the OWGR handbook: not all of the criteria need to be met to be afford points; all can be met and an application might still be denied; the OWGR committee can change the criteria at any time.
That is rather remarkable, and in many ways renders the process a joke. What’s the point of having criteria or guidelines if they don’t need to met? Or if they are all met and still be denied? It leaves too much room for conspiracy theories.
That said ...
LIV Golf Clearly Has Deficiencies
Regardless of the political handwringing that dogs the debate, LIV Golf has some shortcomings that common sense suggests should be obvious. And it has nothing to do with 54-hole events.
Not having a cut is a problem. Yes, not all PGA Tour events have them, either. But most do. And it’s part of the essence of competitive golf. You need to fight to be eligible for—in this case—the last day. Without a cut, everybody gets world ranking points and that is always going to be an issue for a tour that has little turnover.
An idea was floated to cut from 48 to 45 players after 36 holes, and that idea should be scrapped. Read the room. It would be panned and ridiculed. It solves nothing. Make it 30 players and ties, divide the remaining pay equally among those who miss the cut, then let them compete as part of the team competition on the last day.
The next biggest issue is lack of access to the tournaments. The top 24 players through the Jeddah event were assured a spot next year. There will be at least one player from the International Series Order of Merit and possibly more, as well as from various other tours. But the plan is to have a locked, 48-player field.
The OWGR guidelines say a qualifying tournament as well as weekly qualifying opportunities are necessary. While the PGA Tour does not offer weekly qualify at every event, it does for most. And LIV, which after next season will have a “Promotions’’ tournament, could do the same thing. Perhaps the events in the U.S. could have a Monday or Tuesday qualifier. You could have a few players come off the top finishers in the most recent International Series event. And use a points list from existing LIV Golf events.
Yes, the players who are under contract—roughly half—aren’t going anywhere. Equate that to a fully exempt player on the PGA Tour. But if you had the possibility of turnover every week—six to 12 spots—it would help appease while offering some intriguing options for the team portion.
The MENA Tour Ploy
While partnering with an existing world ranking-approved Tour that was under duress and ripe for a complete overhaul perhaps sounded like a good idea and might ultimately work, its unveiling on the eve of the Thailand event—with the idea that points should be granted immediately—was a poor plan.
Again, understand the overall situation. LIV Golf officials knew that the OWGR has yet to even begin discussing its original application. It wasn’t going to be keen on this end around, even if in time it could be the answer.
“Look, it was fairly obvious that it wasn’t going to be passed without further examination,’’ said Cho Minn Thant, the commissioner of the Asian Tour which has benefited from a relationship with LIV Golf. Cho is also a member of the OWGR’s technical committee.
“That happened almost overnight the day before their event didn’t help. We all know that the world golf ranking is governed by the powers that be. And they don’t make decisions in an instant. I think it was always going to be “we acknowledge it but we need more time to examine it.’’’
The Rush for Points
Cho said he believes LIV Golf should receive ranking points by next season. He has no idea if it will happen. He will not be part of the process, and he’s not part of the OWGR board anyway. But his motto: patience. Let it play out. There’s nothing LIV can do now anyway, as their individual season is complete.
Perhaps by next February a decision will be made. Is that enough time? The guidelines, after all, say it can take a year. But the guidelines are also just that … a guide.
Bottom Line
LIV Golf might very well deserve world ranking points. But the constant whining and fast-track move do not help in the court of public opinion.
It should be said that players are being asked the question often, and they are giving honest, heartfelt answers. But when they say “we meet the criteria’’ or that there is some conspiracy, it does not help the cause.
Perhaps the best talking point for LIV Golf: How can the OWGR be legitimate if not all professional men players are ranked?
Emotional Keegan
For the first time in more than four years, Keegan Bradley is a winner on the PGA Tour, capturing his fifth PGA Tour and first since the 2018 BMW Championship with a victory at the Zozo Championship in Japan.
Bradley made a couple of costly bogeys on the back nine after having taken the lead from Rickie Fowler earlier in the round but rebounded with “one of the best birdies of my life’’ at the 17th hole. He had shanked a bunker shot on the previous hole.
“I’ve been crying since I finished,’’ said Bradley, who in 2011 became the rare player to win a major in his first start, capturing the PGA Championship. “I can’t remember the last time I cried. I talked to my wife on the phone a second time, FaceTime. I can’t keep it together, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.’’
Bradley moved into the top 25 in the world, and although he was trending toward a Masters invite because he was in the top 50 in the world, the win assured it. He had missed the Masters in five of the last six years including the last three.
“It means a lot,’’ he said. “There's a lot of hard work that goes into it. Even if you play perfectly, doesn't mean you're going to win. But for me, I feel like I should be contending for tournaments, I want to be contending to play on Ryder Cup, Presidents Cups teams, majors. This is going to go a long way. I haven't really won that many leading the entire day like I did today and I really learned a lot and I think I can take a lot of that going forward the rest of the year.’’
And Then There’s Rickie
In a finish that was eerily similar to the position he was in a year ago at the CJ Cup, Fowler had the 54-hole lead but could only manage a final-round even-par 70, finishing a shot behind Bradley. Last year it was a tie for third—his best of the season. This time it’s a tie for second, one Fowler hopes to build on.
For a guy who has been searching in vain for the better part of the last three years, it was a promising tournament on the heels of several changes, including parting with his longtime caddie Joe Skovron and replacing his swing coach, John Trillery, to go back and work with Butch Harmon.
Fowler entered the tournament ranked 160th in the world but now has a tie for sixth and a second in three starts this season.
“Kind of bittersweet,’’ he said. “Obviously wanted to get the job done and I felt very good going into today. Felt, you know, probably as good as you can feel out there. Final round, haven't been there a whole lot in the last couple years, really just didn't give myself many opportunities until the end.
“And I hit some darn good putts that it was like there was a cover over the hole. Gave it our all, left it all out there. Big congrats to Keegan, he made the putts, I didn't. He earned it. But definitely excited about having a couple good finishes to start the season and a lot of good stuff coming.’’
Fore! Things
1. Bradley’s last victory before Sunday was at the 2018 BMW Championship during the FedEx Cup playoffs. It’s interesting to note that Tiger Woods has won three times since then. In fact, both Woods and Phil Mickelson won major championships since Bradley last won.
2. Fowler, who has five PGA Tour wins but none since 2019, posted his 15th career runner-up finish.
3. Spain’s Adrian Otaegui cruised to an easy victory at the Andalucia Masters in what was an uneasy situation for the DP World Tour. Otaegui had played in three LIV Golf events and was suspended by the Tour, but was one of the players who sued and got a temporary injunction. The suit will be decided in February.
4. LIV Golf will turn its attention to its season-ending Team Championship and a $50 million purse at Doral starting Oct. 28. The top four teams earn a first-day bye. There is a combination of match play and stroke play as part of the competition.
Tiger and the Old Course
Tiger Woods has long professed his love for the Old Course at St. Andrews, where he won the British Open twice and played the tournament six times.
Something he’s always said he wanted to do is play the course clockwise—or in reverse order.
At a fundraiser for the his TGR Foundation last week at Pebble Beach, Woods was asked by a fan during a Q&A session about his favorite course. And that’s when he added he’d like to play the course in its untraditional form.
“It’s my favorite course of all time,’’ Woods said. “The neat thing about it, that people don’t realize, the course was designed to be played backwards.’’
He explained how you play the first tee to the 17th green, the 2nd to the 16th, the 3rd to the 15th and all the way around back to the 18th.
“They do that one time a year and I never got a chance to do that, so that’s one of my goals,’’ he said.
The last time the reverse Old Course was played was in November of 2019. Another date is scheduled for this fall.
The Masters Countdown
The first round of the Masters is in 178 days and Keegan Bradley took advantage of the latest opportunity to earn an invitation with his victory at the Zozo Championship. This week’s CJ Cup also offers a chance for an invitation with a victory for someone not otherwise exempt.
The final Official World Golf Ranking top 50 at the end of 2022 will also receive invites if not already qualified to play the first major championship of 2023.
There are now 61 players qualified for the 2023 Masters. They consist of past Masters champions, winners of past PGA Championships, U.S. Opens and British Opens, the finalists for the U.S. Amateur, the winner of the British Amateur, the U.S. Mid Amateur winner and those who finished among the top 12 and ties at the 2022 Masters, the top four finishers at the PGA, U.S. Open and British Open, nine PGA Tour winners since the Masters and seven who qualified by making it to the Tour Championship.
Still to be determined are the winners of the Asia Pacific Amateur and the Latin America Amateur along with the final-year top 50 in the world, PGA Tour winners and those who qualify via the top 50 two weeks prior to the Masters.
Social Matters
> Keegan Bradley after his victory in Japan.
> An interesting question from PGA Tour player James Hahn.
> Tiger Woods fell to his lowest point in the OWGR last week— three years after his last victory at the ZOZO Championship.
Next Up
The fifth event of the 2022-23 season has moved from South Korea to Las Vegas and now South Carolina. The CJ Cup, which was previously part of a PGA Tour Asian Swing, had been played in Las Vegas the last two years. It has now moved to Congaree, which took the Canadian Open date in 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Rory McIlroy is the defending champion and he headlines the strongest field of the fall, as 15 of the top-20 ranked players in the world are competing. This is a limited-field, 78-player event with no cut and a $10.5 million purse, with $1,890,000 going to the winner.
This tournament’s future is in doubt with new changes to the PGA Tour schedule that will take place in the fall of 2023. Will it move back to South Korea and be part of an Asian Swing with the Zozo? It will no longer be part of the wraparound season.
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