LIV CEO Greg Norman Now Unwilling to Change Format to Get OWGR Points

The saga of LIV Golf trying to acquire Official World Golf Ranking points to help its players remain eligible for the four majors has been like trying to follow a ping-pong ball when two expert players are facing off.

Last month, LIV announced a partnership with the obscure and quasi-dormant MENA Tour in an effort to get OWGR points. The OWGR replied that since the LIV events are 54 holes and have no cuts, the series wouldn’t automatically start to receive points and instead would be reviewed by the OWGR board.

In response, reports surfaced that LIV was entertaining moving to traditional 72-hole events with cuts to appease the OWGR.

Now, Norman has changed course, saying they won’t create a qualifying path into their events or change from the 54-hole, no-cut format.

Has LIV shown that the OWGR is no longer fit for purpose? Greg Norman thinks so… https://t.co/gWJEnsMCfN

— Golf Monthly (@GolfMonthly) November 4, 2022

Norman said:

“LIV Golf is a top-down, not a bottom-up approach and OWGR was never ready for that. So they’ve got to sit back and it does bode the question: Are they the only ones? Why are they the only ones? Why can’t there be other institutions that come out with world ranking points along the same algorithms that have been used by the OWGR today?” 

Norman also added that he believes, talent-wise, LIV is the second-best golf tour in the world, and OWGR recognizes 23 tours, so that’s another reason that LIV should be a part of the ranking system.

Cover Image Via JapanTimes