There never really is a dull day when it comes to LIV Golf, or its insistent search for Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR). But its years of search for the same points, called out by many as “delusional,” simply given its structure and format, ended on February 03, 2026. Partially, at least.

On Tuesday, OWGR announced LIV events now qualify as “Small Field Tournaments,” awarding points solely to top-10 finishers (plus ties) under a cutoff rule. But the pros finishing 11th through 57th do not get any points. For access to majors, these players will solely have to rely on other tours, like the DP World Tour (DPWT) or the Asian Tour.

For more than one reason, LIV seemed upset at this declaration, and so was Bryson DeChambeau. Sure, they wanted OWGR points, but not like half-baked ones. For instance, a player finishing 11th receives the same treatment as a player finishing 57th. That sounds unfair. Surely, the 11th-ranked player in a PGA Tour event is better than the one finishing outside the top 50?

In its statement, LIV highlighted the same, saying, “No other competitive tour or league in OWGR history has been subjected to such a restriction…” LIV, as you’d expect out of it, believes this is just the first step.

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However, LIV’s discontent over OWGR’s verdict is misplaced.

The argument against LIV Golf

As OWGR highlighted in its official statement, LIV comes short of many criteria, including “self-selection of players with players being recruited rather than earning their place on the tour in many cases.” 

Before I delve into what it entails, it’s good to look at the short history of LIV’s OWGR quest. LIV’s first OWGR bid dodged major requirements by teaming with the obscure MENA Tour, hoping it’d pipe ranking points straight to members. OWGR shut it down, saying they did not have notice and not enough review time.

When they had enough time to review, the OWGR board, at that time consisting of representatives of all men’s majors, highlighted the key lapses. 54 hole tournament was the least of their worries, though.

OWGR noted pathways with three players from its Promotions Event and one from the International Series, which amounts to four spots in 54-player fields, which is a mere 7.5% turn over rate. The current bid ups to three Promotions Event players and two from the International Series, totaling five in 57-player fields (8.8%).

This 8.8% promotion rate still lags the Tour’s 22% (and others are higher). The OWGR assessed it and found LIV sticking to self-selection and contract-guaranteed spots, meaning LIV is even less accessible now.

This short-sighted LIV blunder rests on the notion, as popularly stated, that majors will want their talent so much they’ll hack exemptions into all four crowns. And not just a couple spots for top dogs, but fistfuls of guaranteed seats for a good percentage of LIV’s locked-up roster. Although yes, indeed, two majors have already given LIV pros exemptions, there’s still a long way to go.

Meanwhile, the league’s field size also falls short of the minimum 75 as per OWGR regulations. That’s only one part of the problem.

Think about LIV’s team format. Despite the excitement (which isn’t much for most fans) LIV’s team format brings, it’s not exactly a true reflection of an individual player’s skills. Not to mention, it can even force a player to employ a riskier solution just to ensure their respective team wins, which was one of the reasons why OWGR rejected LIV’s first application back in 2023.

In case you forgot, on the final round of the 2023 LIV Golf Florida, Torque’s Sebastian Munoz squared off against Smash’s Brooks Koepka. On the last hole, both were 40 feet from birdie. Koepka putted first, leaving it 4 feet. Munoz had to make a birdie for a playoff, but guess what he decided to do?

Torque held a one-shot lead over Koepka’s Smash. Hit it too hard and three-putt for bogey? The team could lose the title. So, he delicately short-sided it under 4 feet, tapped in par, and handed Torque their first team win.

Later, Munoz said, “It’s weird, because I knew we were one stroke ahead on the team, so I couldn’t go extra. I knew I couldn’t be too aggressive. He got the individual, we got the team. I call it a tie.”

Therein lies a contradiction. While putting the team ahead is commended in the NBA, NFL, and NHL, in a sport that thrives on an athlete’s individual excellence, restraining yourself for the greater good is conflicting at best and ridiculous at worst.

Yes, Ryder Cup or Solheim Cups are team events, and pros definitely take a strategic call. But imagine Tiger Woods deciding not to hit that absurd recovery shot at the 2018 Valspar, or Rory McIlroy playing safe on the 15th at the 2025 Masters.

Moreover, remember the winners of the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic in New Orleans neither get invited to the Masters nor do they receive OWGR points, just because it’s a team event.

However, that is not to absolve OWGR of all its faults.

The dilemma regarding ‘laughable’ OWGR

Even Jon Rahm, one of the few interesting faces remaining on LIV, left the PGA Tour, he did not understand the logic behind the OWGR. Back in 2022, a disgruntled Rahm called OWGR “laughable” a total of five times. Part of his lengthy statement was this: “I’m going to be as blunt as I can. I think the OWGR right now is laughable. Laughable. Laughable.”

At the Hero World Challenge the next month, even Tiger Woods highlighted the same issue, before admitting, “It’s [OWGR] a flawed system. That’s something we all here recognize.”

Rahm was playing at the DP World Tour Championship, a limited-field event with seven top-25 players. Yet, the winner got 21.8 OWGR points. Meanwhile, the PGA Tour’s RSM Classic winner (with the highest-ranked player in the field being Seamus Power at world No. 30) pocketed 37.

The irony? It’s happened again.

This week, the PGA Tour hosts the WM Phoenix Open, LIV kicks off in Riyadh, and the DP World Tour runs the Qatar Masters. Field ratings look like this: Phoenix (344.55), LIV (108.29), DPWT (121.74). Winner points? Phoenix (59.26), Riyadh (23.03), Qatar (20.93).

Another contradiction within OWGR lies in the fact that the PGA Tour’s signature events get world ranking points, despite having no cuts and hosting limited fields.

And that’s why it’s hardly surprising that the legitimacy of OWGR is consistently called into question. Brandel Chamblee, for one, supported OWGR’s latest decision, citing “elite players were falling in the rankings” before adding, “In my opinion, the OWGR is still a flawed system of measurement and may have solved a fairness problem but not the truth problem.” Here’s what else he said.

OWGR bows to the majors. Majors rule OWGR. Thus, it’s basically a major-qualifying bouncer. Which is why delayed decisions or incomplete decisions further jeopardize the world ranking body’s legitimacy.

While LIV falls short on certain criteria, these are merely guidelines and should be revised so that the world’s best players get a fair chance to evaluate themselves against each other.

However, this has been a long-standing debate, which is why we asked our readers how they feel about it.

Essentially Golf readers weigh in on the big LIV-OWGR question

In our flagship golf newsletter, Essentially Golf, we asked, “Do You Think LIV Golf Deserves OWGR [Official World Golf Ranking] Points?”  An overwhelming majority of people, 64.17%, said no, LIV doesn’t deserve the points. Meanwhile, 32.46% were in favor.

Among those against LIV receiving OWGR points, the focus of their complaint was the limited size of the field, the no-cut format, and the closed-loop system. All the ones that we’ve already discussed. Yet, here’s what one reader said: “They are playing against a limited field. There are no cuts made for the tournaments. What a joke.”

A second person wrote, “Of course there are still great or very good golfers on LIV; however the fields are not nearly as deep.” While another commented, “While they have some top notch players, overall I think it is tough to quantify the strength of field. I don’t think they should receive anywhere near the total points of either the PGA tour or DP World tour.”

It’s no brainer that Tours must prove players’ merit via performance. That’s how the PGA Tour and DPWT operate. Otherwise, arbitrary league guarantees underperformers rack up OWGR points, snagging spots in the majors over worthier rivals without an equal shot. This closed-loop system also restricts underperformers from exiting it and promising players from entering.

Curiously enough, four LIV golfers last year finished inside the “Open Zone,” meaning above and better than those in the “Relegation Zone.” Yet, each of these four players was relegated, including Jinichiro Kozuma, who found out via social media that he wasn’t retained by his former team, Iron Heads GC (now called Korean Golf Club).

The other players are Matt Jones, Lee Chieh-po (Max Lee), and Kevin Na, who is already in conversation with the PGA Tour. In contrast, Luis Masaveu limped to 52nd in points (below the “drop zone”), but the Fireballs kept him anyway. These highlight discrimination within the league, which easily clashes with the OWGR’s Tour Eligibility Standards for non-discrimination.

When it comes to giving support to LIV, however, the stance is that of non-discrimination. If tours like the DP World Tour and Asian Tours can get OWGR points, then why not LIV, which houses some of the best players of the century?

“No one should monopolize the ratings, because they are from a different organization. All golfers have the same goal to have one,” wrote one reader. Another commented, “Players, regardless of what tour they play have every right to be accountable in the world ratings .”

Which is why several Tours qualify for these points. For instance, the Clutch Pro Tour (currently called Mizuno Next Gen Series), a developmental tour series that started in 2019, received OWGR points back in 2024. And it also follows a 54-hole format, but, unlike LIV, it has a 36-hole cut, hosts qualifying events, and allows equal chances to its players. But the OWGR announced last December that there would be a reduction in the points awarded to non-standard tournaments (non-72-hole format).

And therein lies the solution: to get the full OWGR points, LIV will have to adjust. There are no two ways about it.