Ernie Els’ LIV Idea and Why LIV Shouldn’t Be Eligible for World Rankings

Ernie Els spoke about a number of different subjects ahead of the Senior Open Championship this week, and as has been the case for many of the top golfers in the game in recent months, LIV Golf dominated the discussion.

Els said that he’s not opposed to the series, but he would like to see Greg Norman’s group working together with the PGA Tour and other major tours around the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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His proposal is a big-money fall series that would get the attention of the golf world after the Tour Championship wraps up and the spotlight is away from the sport during the beginning stages of the new PGA Tour season.

Els said:

“You could play that for three months… The whole world will be watching. I mean, my gosh, everybody will watch it. Can you imagine the guys trying to buy teams who have people, principals of teams? It will be like Formula One. You’ll have major people, billionaire people, and they will come in and have fun with the teams and the sport, and the guys can have fun, and the world can have fun with this format because it’s different… But three months of that. I think that’s enough of that. Then come back to play real golf.”

Outside of a series like that, Els doesn’t believe that LIV will be true competition in the long run because he believes it shouldn’t be eligible for Official World Golf Ranking status due to its format.

"You can’t have a 48-man tour playing no-cut golf and expect the world to take you seriously."

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) July 20, 2022

Els went on to say:

“You can’t have a 48-man tour playing no-cut golf and that type of thing and expect the world to take you seriously… You know, it’s just not going to happen, and I don’t care how much money you throw at it. It’s just not going to happen. … If the rest of the world is playing under a 72-hole stroke play, you make a cut after 36 holes, and that’s how you get your ranking, that’s how you make your money; LIV Golf doesn’t do that. So, now, why would you be under the same brush as the rest of the world?”

Els also talked about how he doesn’t envy Presidents Cup captain Trevor Immelman, as five (and possibly six if Cameron Smith joins LIV) members of the international team won’t be eligible for the tournament due to the ban placed by the PGA Tour on LIV golfers.

Cover Image Via FoxSports