LIV Golf: League withdraws world ranking bid as Jon Rahm criticises system

Masters champion Jon Rahm said the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) is not “a good system” after LIV Golf withdrew its application to join.

A letter from the league’s CEO Greg Norman told players it will not pursue its bid for world ranking points.

“It’s now clear that the best way forward for LIV as a league and LIV golfers is not through the current ranking system,” Norman said.

The Saudi-backed league was denied OWGR accreditation in October.

Two-time major winner and world number three Rahm is among the players to have switched from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf.

“I’m going to go back to what I said two years ago. I didn’t think it [OWGR] was a good system back then,” said Spaniard Rahm, speaking before the LIV Golf Hong Kong, which begins on Friday.

“If anything, the more time goes on, the more it proves to be wrong,” the 29-year-old added.

When LIV Golf originally applied in July 2022 – a month after its formation – the OWGR raised concerns about the new league’s format.

It features the same 54 players all season who play 54-hole, shotgun start, no-cut events.

Norman’s letter to LIV’s players, which has been seen by BBC Sport, said: “A resolution which protects the accuracy, credibility and integrity of the OWGR rankings no longer exists.

“The OWGR has shown little willingness to productively work with us.”

LIV players will only be able to improve their world ranking, which is one of the factors used to determine eligibility for major championships, through DP World Tour events, the Asian Tour or other satellite tours.

With LIV Golf players getting no points from the circuit’s events, many of the big names that left the US PGA Tour have slipped down the rankings, with Rahm one of just four LIV players who currently feature in the OWGR’s top 50.

Fellow major champion Bryson DeChambeau said it was up to those in charge of the game to find a “collective way” to rectify the issue.

“We should focus on having the best players in the majors,” said the American.

“All the governing bodies, everybody, come together, sit down and figure this out. Because we need to do this for the fans.”

LIV and PGA Tour players compete against each other at majors, with many LIV players earning their way into the tournaments based on previous achievements.

The majors can make exceptions and issue their own invitations, as has been done this year with Chilean Joaquin Niemann, who has been given special invitations for next month’s US Masters and the US PGA Championship in May.

“Now they’ve given one player a chance before you know it there will be a solution,” said Rahm. “I think it’s opening the door slightly.

“If anybody in this world doesn’t think ‘Joaco’ [Niemann] deserves to be in the top 10 or doesn’t know that he’s a top player in the world, I don’t know what game you’re watching.”

DeChambeau said players should be invited to the majors based on their performance in the previous year.

“They do it with [the PGA] Tour Championship, right? Very simple,” he said.

Negotiations around a merger are still in progress between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which funds LIV Golf. – bbc.com