After years of trying, LIV Golf has finally acquired Official World Golf Ranking Points.
They had to sell their soul to do it, changing from the 54-hole format that once gave the tour its name to a more traditional 72-hole format, but now LIV players can qualify for the major championships.
That’s been met with a mixed reaction. Jon Rahm has been calling for this change for years, and is happy to see it come to fruition. However, Bryson DeChambeau expressed his disappointment, saying this isn’t what he signed up for.
But the big winner from this news is Rory McIlroy, who has been proven exactly right about LIV’s OWGR points after his earlier comments.
Rory McIlroy proven right by OWGR’s LIV decision
LIV Golf has been granted OWGR points, but they still aren’t happy. They believe their players should receive far more at their events than has been decided.
Starting from 2026, the winner of a LIV event will receive 23 points, and only the top 10 players will collect points. That’s because LIV events are 57-player fields, so they are considered a “Small Field Tournament”.
For context, a 10th-place finish at a LIV event is about the same as a 29th-place finish at the WM Phoenix Open this week.
The challenge for LIV players moving forward is that they have fallen so far down the OWGR since 2022 that this small number of points is unlikely to make a meaningful difference. For example, Sergio Garcia is currently ranked 363rd in the world, so he’ll need a number of high finishes on LIV to rise to the top 50.
When speaking about LIV’s decision to change to a 72-hole format in a bid to get OWGR approval, McIlroy was skeptical that it would make a real impact.
He said, “Because their strength of fields are going to be so weak because a lot of the guys have fallen already in the rankings because they have not had ranking points for so long, I don’t know if the ranking points are really going to benefit them
Just months later, the Masters champion has been proven exactly right. After this verdict, LIV might well regret changing its identity for these reasons.
Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm disagree on LIV’s format change
The big change LIV made in order to secure these points was changing to a 72-hole format, which has been met with mixed reactions from the league’s two biggest stars.
DeChambeau made a point to say playing 72-holes wasn’t what he signed up for: “Look, it’s 72 holes, it’s changed, but we’re still excited to play professionally and play for what we’re doing and go across the world.
“I think it’s going to be great for our [Crushers GC] team. Is it what we ultimately signed up for? No. So I think we’re supposed to be different, so I’m a little indifferent to it right now.
“Hopefully, it weighs positively on me over the course of time, but you never know. I’m not sure. We didn’t sign up to play for 72.”
Meanwhile, Rahm admitted that he’s wanted this change for a while, saying, “I’m happy about it. I would say I was one of the people who pushed for it. So obviously I’m happy about it.
“I think the more golf we play, the better for stronger teams and stronger players, and I think it will benefit us four individuals and as a team, as well.”
Having their two biggest names divided on such a contentious issue is bad news for the league going forward, as it needs to keep all its biggest names on side.
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