Another attempt to be included in the world ranking. LIV players sent a letter to the OWGR Executive Committee

On 16 September 2022, all 48 players in the new LIV Golf professional series sent a letter to the chairman of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), Peter Dawson, requesting that results from LIV tournaments be included in the table that ranks the best golfers in the world.

It is an open letter signed by all 48 current LIV players, including alternates.You are one of the sport’s most respected institutions,” the letter to the OWGR’s main man begins.

“As athletes, we depend on the OWGR rankings not only to qualify for the most important events, including majors and the Olympics, but for the rankings to tell us how we stand among our peers,” the players continue, adding that it is also about trust and the regularity of the entire ranking.

The players are therefore urging Dawson to uphold these aforementioned attributes of the OWGR in the future with his decision: “We urge you to do the right thing and include the results of the LIV golf events in the calculations of the world ranking,” the players are trying to convince the OWGR chief.

Otherwise, the world rankings would soon not include players who play LIV Golf tournaments. Among them there are world aces like Dustin Johnson or Cameron Smith, who realistically are among the top 5 players in the world. Yet these players say that all they have done is freely choose the tour they want to play on.

“The LIV roster includes 21 of the last 51 winners of the four majors. The level of competition on the average LIV tournament is at least the same as the average PGA Tour tournament. We know this because we’ve played in both,” the players are confident.

At the same time, they add that every week that passes without the inclusion of LIV players undermines the historical value of the OWGR. For example, Dustin Johnson was ranked 13th in the world rankings before switching to LIV. Despite his recent triumph at the LIV Boston Invitational, he has already dropped to 26th.

If things don’t move, he will fall further, and so will other players. According to LIV Golf members, the current state of affairs is due to the fact that four of the eight members of the OWGR Executive Committee are affiliated with the PGA Tour, which considers the Greg Norman-led competition to be an adversary and opponent of the PGA.

But LIV representatives have rejected this from the outset, as they themselves have been trying for a year to develop a joint discussion with the PGA so that the two competitions can operate in balance. The PGA Tour, however, has refused any debate. LIV CEO Greg Norman has even admitted that he has lost the desire to discuss anything with anyone after so long.

“We urge you to make a positive decision quickly – for the benefit of the integrity of the leaderboards, the game and all of us who love this sport,” the players are pressing the OWGR boss. In conclusion, they add that the regularity of the rankings is deserved by golf fans.

Source:: LIV Golf