LIV Golf supporters will be glad to see the new season get underway, shifting attention away from the off-course headlines that have surrounded the league this winter.
LIV Golf had not previously faced anything quite like the fallout from 2025. Losing two major champions, with Brooks Koepka heading back to the PGA Tour and Patrick Reed planning to do the same, has not helped matters.
The offseason was also quiet in terms of big-name additions. Most of LIV’s moves involved bringing in younger talent rather than established stars.
And just before things kicked off again, another development from the OWGR added to an already busy news cycle for LIV.
Scott O’Neil responds to LIV Golf finally getting world ranking points
The OWGR has confirmed that LIV events will start awarding world ranking points in 2026, with the top 10 finishers in each tournament set to earn points.
It is a move towards recognition, but not everyone in the LIV camp is celebrating. Under the new system, there is no difference in points between 11th and 57th place.
LIV CEO Scott O’Neil spoke about the decision before play began in Riyadh, telling TNT Sports he has mixed feelings about how it all came together.
“I’ve been very blessed to spend a lot of time with Trevor Immelman, I have a lot of time for him. He’s the chairman of the OWGR, Masters champion, broadcaster in the US, South African. And he came in, guns blazing, saying let’s sort this thing out. I talked to him way too much, three, four times a day. I sent him two dozen decks of analytics and information as to why we think we are what we are – which is the dominant global golf league in the world. Period, end of sentence,” he began by saying.
“Can you imagine, look at the board. The board has commissioner Jay Monahan of the PGA Tour. It has Guy Kinnings from the DP World Tour. Those are two really strong forces, friends, long-time friends of mine in both cases. They’re all good people, good executives. But they have the most to lose and they’re voting members in the room. And so, the fact that they are voting for us with all they have to lose, is a good sign for us.
“That being said, if you look at what’s happening around the world, the OWGR, I don’t know, what do they cover? 50 tours? I have no idea. Any of them that have no cut, there’s 15 per cent of the field that don’t get points. 82 per cent of our field doesn’t get points.
“When you look at their mission statement, we are fair and transparent. I’m like this doesn’t feel fair and it certainly isn’t transparent.
“When I look out there, I see a field, the top 25 guys in this league compete with the top 25 guys on the PGA Tour. And that’s analytics speaking. That’s not me, that’s not bluster.”
LIV’s push for more recognition is a stretch, but their point about the Hero World Challenge has some merit
The OWGR has its own share of problems. Take the Hero World Challenge, for example – it has been criticised for how heavily players are rewarded despite the limited field.
LIV Golf’s complaints, though, are hard to take seriously. The league’s earlier application was turned down because they ran a team event at the same time and had much smaller fields compared to other tours.
While LIV now meets most of the criteria for points eligibility, some issues remain. The tour has not expanded in size or format since the last rejection. And even if LIV should receive points, their demands for broader inclusion feel premature given these ongoing limitations.
LIV has a point: other tours might deserve more recognition from OWGR. But when it comes to their own situation, it seems like OWGR made the right call this time around.
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