“Rankings no longer exists,” Greg Norman wraps up LIV Golf’s 2-year ‘war’ for OWGR in latest announcement

Greg Norman abandons years-long fight for OWGR; states LIV Golf doesn’t need rankings anymore.

“Rankings no longer exists,” Greg Norman wraps up LIV Golf’s 2-year ‘war’ for OWGR in latest announcement

LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman (Image via Imago)

In the latest announcement, LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman revealed they are pulling out of OWGR case filing. The fight for rankings started with LIV’s inauguration in 2022 which has been continued till now. In their latest October hearing, the Saudi league was once again denied entry into the ranking system due to “technical” issues. 

Norman boldly stated they no longer need OWGR for recognition of their player’s capabilities. He admitted he’s sorry to pull out after coming so far, but since the rejection of entry several times, the league has finally pulled out their white flag. In the latest bid, OWGR Chairman Peter Dawson said they did not find any way to include the Saudi-backed league in the rankings “fair and equitable.”

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They cited how LIV’s format did not align with the rest 24 eligible tours and thousands of players participating. “We are not at war with them,” Dawson stated in October, noting “technical” and not “political” reasons for their continued rejection. He admitted that players in the Saudi league were eligible enough to be ranked but combining their skills with the rest of the thousands of players in PGA would be difficult for World Ranking.

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Norman penned a letter to the players this week saying they’ll be withdrawing their application for OWGR. He stated that it’s clear for LIV to move forward and advance in its own way rather than cling to the current ranking system. He hit back noting, that a system to accurately gauge a player’s capability like the “ OWGR rankings no longer exists”.

We have made enormous efforts to fight for you and to ensure your accomplishments are recognized…Unfortunately, the OWGR has shown little willingness to productively work with us.
Greg Norman on X.

He further continued by saying that the current system will not allow golfers to reach the OWGR summit which they were close to during the PGA Tour era. However, he hopes that the connection between LIV and the four majors will remain and grow strong to get the Saudi-backed players the best opportunities to compete with the top competitors. 

LIV Golfers and PGA Tour players react to Greg Norman’s OWGR announcement

LIV Golfer Talor Gooch reacted to CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman’s letter on OWGR’s decision. He stated the only way for OWGR and LIV to work together would be to grant points rather than “deduct points from events”. “It’s not right, and it screws us players,” he noted.

Greg Norman [Image Credit: Imago]
Greg Norman [Image Credit: Imago]

Gooch backed Norman saying “it’s time to move on” considering how the PGA and OWGR reacted since LIV’s inception in 2022. If there is no point in filing a case several times and being denied, it’s better to pull out of the ceaseless fight for ranking, as per Norman.

Even PGA player Matt Fitzpatrick believes the current ranking system “is a little bit skewed.” He reveals that he looks up to Data Golf for a better representation of rankings, rather than OWGR. Fitzpatrick further said although he understands why OWGR isn’t including LIV players, he can’t come to terms with how some of the top players are currently missing from the ranking system.

Patrick Cantlay also voted positively in favor of LIV players saying a change is needed and OWGR needs to be “updated”. Following the changes golf has faced since LIV’s induction, the changes in ranking and major events also need to undergo transformation to make the sport better than it is now.

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