Whoever thought that LIV Golf would celebrate by popping a champagne bottle over the fact that the world ranking finally awarded them points was very mistaken. Quite the opposite. The Saudi league has issued an official statement strongly expressing its disagreement with the decision and questioning the fairness of the organisation. It’s quite a tantrum. A real strop. Basically, they believe that all players should receive points and not just the top ten, despite the fact that there are clearly players in the Saudi circuit who have not earned their place there in any way, beyond the arbitrary decision of a captain and the circuit itself.
Here is the full 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 performance of players participating in eligible men’s tours worldwide.”
We acknowledge this long-awaited moment of recognition, which reaffirms the fundamental principle that performance on the field 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 tournament is treated the same as a player finishing 57th. Limiting points only to the top ten disproportionately disadvantages players who consistently perform at a very high level but finish just outside that threshold, as well as emerging talent working to establish themselves on the world stage—precisely the players that a fair and meritocratic ranking system is designed to recognise.
No other circuit or competitive league in the history of the OWGR has been subjected to such a restriction. We hope this is merely a first step towards a structure that fully and fairly serves the players, the fans, and the future of this 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. Fans deserve credibility. And players deserve a system that treats them equally.
