The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) have announced that LIV Golf events will be eligible for ranking points for the first time ahead of their 2026 season opener in Riyadh.
However, the OWGR confirmed that ranking points will only be awarded to the top-10 finishers in LIV events this season per the system’s ‘Small Field Tournaments’ classification. This is something LIV Golf are unhappy with as they feel it puts an unfair restriction on players’ progression.
LIV Golf said in a statement: “The stated mission of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) is to “administer and publish a transparent, credible, and accurate ranking based on the relative performances of players participating in male Eligible Golf Tours worldwide.”
“We acknowledge this long‑overdue moment of recognition, which affirms the fundamental principle that performance on the course should matter, regardless of where the competition takes place.
“However, this outcome is unprecedented. Under these rules, a player finishing 11th in a LIV Golf event is treated the same as a player finishing 57th. Limiting points to only the top 10 finishers disproportionately harms players who consistently perform at a high level but finish just outside that threshold, as well as emerging talent working to establish themselves on the world stage—precisely the players a fair and meritocratic ranking system is designed to recognize.
“No other competitive tour or league in OWGR history has been subjected to such a restriction. We expect this is merely a first step toward a structure that fully and fairly serves the players, the fans, and the future of the sport.
“We entered this process in good faith and will continue to advocate for a ranking system that reflects performance over affiliation. The game deserves transparency. The fans deserve credibility. And the players deserve a system that treats them equally.
“The reduction to just the top-10 finishers per event comes as the Saudi backed tour did not meet some of the OWGR eligibility criteria despite moving to 72 holes for this campaign.”
The reduction to just the top-10 finishers per event comes as the Saudi backed tour did not meet some of the OWGR eligibility criteria despite moving to 72 holes for this campaign.
LIV has an average field size of 57 with no cut events which is still below the 75 minimum stated in OWGR regulations. The ranking system also described LIV’s pathways as restricted hence their decision to only give a certain amount of ranking points away.
OWGR chief Trevor Immelman said: “This has been an incredibly complex and challenging process and one which we have devoted a huge amount of time and energy to resolving in the seven months since LIV Golf submitted their application.
“We fully recognised the need to rank the top men’s players in the world but at the same time had to find a way of doing so that was equitable to the thousands of other players competing on other tours that operate with established meritocratic pathways.
“We believe we have found a solution that achieves these twin aims and enables the best-performing players at LIV Golf events to receive OWGR points. I would like to acknowledge the substantial and constructive efforts made by Scott O’Neil and the team at LIV Golf.
“We look forward to working with them on implementing this approach with immediate effect for the 2026 LIV Golf season.”
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