Trevor Immelman, chairman of the OWGR board of directors, issued a statement Friday that the OWGR received an application from LIV on June 30 and that the review process has commenced.

“The OWGR Board is committed to a thorough evaluation process of all applications, and LIV’s application will be reviewed in accordance with OWGR’s criteria to ensure fairness, integrity and consistency,” Immelman, a former Master champion and current lead golf analyst for CBS Sports, said in a statement. “We appreciate the interest of LIV Golf—and all Tours—in contributing to the global landscape of men’s professional golf through OWGR. Further updates will be provided as the review progresses.”

Under former CEO Greg Norman, LIV Golf initially applied to the OWGR for accreditation in July 2022, shortly after its launch. In early October 2023, former OWGR chairman Peter Dawson announced that LIV’s application had been rejected, and in May 2024 LIV formally withdrew its application. The OWGR cited reservations about the league’s structure and competitive format, notably, the lack of promotion and relegation and the simultaneous individual and team competitions.

“LIV players are self-evidently good enough to be ranked,” said Peter Dawson, the OWGR chairman at the time. “They’re just not playing in a format where they can be ranked equitably with the other 24 tours and thousands of players trying to compete on them.”

LIV members only earn ranking points in the major championships and international tours, including the DP World Tour and the Asian Tour. Having ranking points is crucial in order for LIV golfers to qualify for major championships, with all four men’s majors using the OWGR to exempt players into their fields. Two-Time U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau is the highest-ranked LIV player currently in the OWGR at No. 15. Tyrrell Hatton at No. 22 is the only other LIV golfer in the top 50, with major champions Patrick Reed (57), Jon Rahm (68), Brooks Koepka (276) and Dustin Johnson (957) well down the list.

In late April, Sportico reported that LIV Golf, now headed by CEO Scott O’Neill, had restarted discussions with OWGR officials. It is not known if LIV Golf’s new application features necessary changes to make it worthy of accreditation.

The OWGR Board of Directors is expected to hold a regular meeting next week at Royal Portush during The Open Championship. A decision on the application is highly unlikely, but discussion could happen.

The LIV Golf League held its latest event last week at Valderrama Golf Club in Spain. There are 19 LIV golfers in the 156-man field for next week’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media

Instagram

X

Facebook

YouTube

Main Image: LIV Golf

The post LIV Golf resubmits application for Official World Golf Ranking points appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Among those LIV golfers will be Joaquin Niemann, who, for the second straight year, was granted a special invitation into the season’s first major. Niemann has already proven that move by the ANGC to be a prudent one, winning for the fourth time on LIV in Singapore over the weekend.

Following Niemann’s victory, Mickelson logged into his X/Twitter account to pump up Torque GC’s best player. Torque GC’s main account posted that Niemann has “got to be a top 5 player in the world right now.” Mickelson’s response? “Top 5? Try #1.”

Knowing how Mickelson operates, he knew exactly what he was doing — riling up the masses. On one side, you have a group who thinks he’s the best player on the planet. On the other, a group that quickly, and perhaps rightfully, references the fact that in 22 career major appearances, Niemann has a grand total of 0 top 10 finishes.

That of course does not and should not tell the whole story of his career, which you could argue is still just getting started (Niemann is 26). Most sensible golf fans / ball-knowers will tell you Niemann is absolutely among the top 20 players in the world even though his Official World Golf Ranking read “82nd” (a different debate for a different day).

Even if you feel LIV events are not legitimately serious competitions, winning four of them, two in 2025 alone, is nothing to scoff at. Not to mention the fact Niemann has also tried his luck in numerous OWGR-counting events over the last handful of years since he joined LIV, winning two of them and finishing top five in a bunch more.

Now, does that put him on the same level as Scottie Scheffler? Rory McIlroy? Xander Schauffele? Fellow mid-20s-something Ludvig Aberg, who has already equalled Niemann’s PGA Tour win total in a fraction of the time?

Main Image: Thananuwat Srirasant

The post Where should Joaquin Niemann actually be ranked? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

I’m currently a better golfer than Jon Rahm

OFFICIAL world golf rankings pic.twitter.com/qsmplPyPKn

— Michael S. Kim (@Mike_kim714) March 10, 2025

Not too many people pick a fight a Rahmbo and live to tell the tale, but as Kim made sure to point out, it was in all in jest.

Can’t wait for the LIV bots

It’s obviously tongue in cheek everyone

— Michael S. Kim (@Mike_kim714) March 10, 2025

Sarcasm or not, the numbers don’t lie. After climbing to 52nd in the OWGR during his scintillating stretch, Kim leapfrogged the 2024 LIV individual champ in the world rankings. And with LIV all but giving up their campaign for OWGR points, that doesn’t look likely to change anytime soon. Does that make Kim a better golfer than Rahm? No, but since when have pesky little things like facts mattered on social media?

Kim’s X presence has always leaned informative instead of comedic, but perhaps we’ll see more daggers like this should Kim crack the world top 50 with another fine performance at the Players Championship this weekend.

Main Image: Sean M. Haffey

The post Michael Kim takes (sarcastic) shot at Jon Rahm following latest OWGR rise appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Jon Rahm achieved a world ranking milestone at Torrey Pines eight years ago. By the time the sport wraps up tomorrow at the San Diego muni, Rahm will hit another OWGR item of note, albeit one he doesn’t want.

Rahm’s career breakthrough came here in La Jolla Pines in 2017, dropping a 60-footer on the final hole to win the Farmers Insurance Open, a victory that moved Rahm into the OWGR’s top 50 for the first time in his career. Four years later, the Spaniard captured his maiden major championship with a tour de force performance at the 2021 U.S. Open that returned him to No. 1 in the world.

But Rahm is not at Torrey this week for the relocated Genesis Invitational, instead playing in Australia for LIV Golf after his defection to the Saudi league. And because LIV infamously does not receive OWGR points, Rahm has plummeted down the standings. According to OWGR guru “Nosferatu,” when the new rankings come out Sunday night, Rahm will be outside the top 50 for the first time since his inaugural Torrey triumph.

NEWSFLASH

Since we're at Torrey Pines this week…

Jon Rahm will drop out of the top 50 in the #OWGR for the first time in just over 8 years. He broke into the top 50 following his famous win at the Farmers in 2017 and never dropped back until now…

— Nosferatu (@VC606) February 15, 2025

Aside from LIV’s lack of points, Rahm was hurt by his major performance in 2024. He missed the cut at both the Masters and PGA Championship then pulled out of the U.S. Open with a toe infection. He was able to right the ship with a T-7 at the Open, but the damage had been done. For what it’s worth, Rahm did win twice last year on LIV and played well in three DP World Tour starts.

Former LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman pulled out the league’s OWGR application (although only after it had been rejected), and new leader Scott O’Neil has signalled that LIV’s OWGR pursuit “has passed.” Unless Rahm performs well at the majors this summer, expect the drop to continue.

Main Image: Richard Heathcote

The post Jon Rahm is about to reach this unwanted milestone in the World Ranking for the first time since 2017 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Still, his bank account swelled by more than $16 million combined in those three seasons, aside from whatever original signing bonus he got. That pencils out to more than $485,000 per start. Nearly anybody in the game would take that kind of return.

Sergio Garcia confirms Eugenio Chacarra will not be returning to Fireballs

Chacarra, however, became expendable to LIV after average event finishes of 26th and 32nd in 48-man fields over 2023-24, and his contract was not renewed for 2025 on captain Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC. With no opportunity to play for one year on the PGA Tour after his last LIV event, per tour rules, he’s a man without a home tour at the moment, and it sounds like he may be regretting everything but the money.

In an interview with the “Flushing It” podcast, Chacarra said, “I’m thankful for everything LIV has given me. I’m 24 years old, and my life is set. I don’t know if it will work out for the best or not, but I know this is what my heart tells me is right and it works for my motivation to wake up and grind and get better, and to say I can be a PGA Tour player one day.”

Chacarra contends that LIV’s leadership made him feel as if it’d only be a matter of time before the circuit was afforded Official World Golf Ranking points and the ability to qualify for the majors. But, fighting headwinds from OWGR, LIV withdrew its application in March 2024. Each major has handled inviting LIV players deemed worthy.

“I see what it’s like to win on the PGA Tour and how your life changes,” Chacarra said. “How you get major access and ranking points. On LIV, nothing changes, there is only money. It doesn’t matter if you finish 30th or first, only money. I’m not a guy who wants more money. What will change my life is playing in Hawaii and qualifying for the majors, qualifying for the Masters, the Ryder Cup.

“When I joined LIV, they promised OWGR and majors. But it didn’t happen. I trusted them. I was the first young guy, then the others came after I made the decision. But OWGR and majors still hasn’t happened.

“It’s frustrating, but I’m excited for the new opportunity and to see where my game takes me.”

Chacarra, who will play later this month in the Asian Tour’s International Series, on which he had two top-five finishes in 2024, and hopes for some exemptions on the DP World Tour, might have strayed a bit off point in the interview when he compared himself to Ludvig Aberg. The 23-year-old Swede already is a legitimate star on the PGA Tour, with a Ryder Cup appearance, one win each on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour and a rise to No. 6 in the World Ranking. (Chacarra is 325th.)

“I’m a winner and I was never treated like a winner [on LIV],” Chacarra said. “On the PGA Tour, Ludvig Aberg has one win, and I have one win on LIV. He has one win on the European Tour, and I have one win on the International Series on the Asian Tour. So we have similar careers, but he has way more experience and plays way more big tournaments, but we have the same wins.

“We have performed similar. What tours I can play on, I have won. Same with him. But he’s the No. 6 player in the world and everyone talks about him. But on LIV, I’m the only young guy who’s won, and they never talk about me. They always talk about the same guys. I’m not blaming them, they probably know more, but they don’t really care about the young guys much.

“So this decision is what’s best for me. I’m very thankful for what they’ve done, but my mind is different now and I want to get to what I was dreaming about when I was little. Because obviously LIV didn’t exist when I was growing up. I was watching Tiger Woods winning on the PGA Tour, and I want to do that.”

Main Image: LIV Golf

The post Young pro says LIV Golf didn’t deliver much for him besides money appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

To be fair, there was nowhere to go but up. The 39-year-old hadn’t earned world ranking points since a T-42 finish at the 2012 Honda Classic when he was still playing on the PGA Tour.

Kim entered last week’s Asian Tour International Series event in Qatar ranked No. 4,595. But a T-37 vaulted him to No. 2,314 when the latest editions of the ranking came out on Monday.

After more than a decade away from the game, Kim returned to competitive golf earlier this year playing as a wildcard for LIV Golf. He finished 56th out of 57 players in the 2024 season standings, but LIV events aren’t recognized by the OWGR.

NEWSFLASH

It's official, after 12+ years, Anthony Kim will earn #OWGR points again! Currently T26 in Qatar… Last time he earned world ranking points was at the Honda Classic in 2012… pic.twitter.com/x2ySQONHXI

— Nosferatu (@VC606) November 30, 2024

Kim’s status for LIV’s 2025 season remains unclear, but he sounded very confident about his comeback following his finish in Qatar, where fellow LIV golfer Peter Uihlein won. Kim said after it’s “just a matter of time” before he’ll be “contending on Sundays” again.

“I know a lot of people have probably seen my last year and don’t think that’s possible, but I think it’s going to happen,” Kim told Gulf News.

Kim peaked at No. 6 in the OWGR following a T-3 at the 2008 Tour Championship.

Main Image: Francois Nel

The post Anthony Kim makes huge jump in Official World Golf Ranking after first made cut in 12 years appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

With the presence of LIV Golf producing a slight scattering of the best players in the world, the men’s game now finds an Olympic field that, while including the top seven players in the world (according to the OWGR), is missing several notables, including U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and eight other golfers in the top 20 in the world. The appearance of the top seven in the world would be more than either of the previous men’s competitions. The top four opted out in 2016 citing concerns over the Zika virus, while the top two in 2021 couldn’t play because Dustin Johnson didn’t want to travel to Japan “in the middle of a big stretch of golf for me” and Jon Rahm was forced to withdraw after testing positive for COVID.

It was Rahm who suggested Tuesday at Le Golf National that the qualification process should break from its ties to the Official World Golf Ranking. Rahm, of course, departed the PGA Tour for LIV and its lack of world ranking points early this year. He remains 10th in the world largely because he’s still eligible for the majors. But his ranking already has fallen seven places this year.

“I think you can always do it, like with other sports, and allow the countries to pick themselves,” he said. “There needs to be some guidelines, but like Team USA Basketball is free to choose whoever they want. I understand it’s a different circumstance, but I think you need to let each country choose who they want to play.”

As it is, the qualification process is largely removed from the hands of national federations. The field of 60 players is limited to two players per country, or a maximum of four if all of those players are in the top 15 in the world. As it is, only Team USA has four Olympians: Scottie Scheffler (1), Xander Schauffele (2), Wyndham Clark (5) and Collin Morikawa (6), but right now, there are five other U.S. players in the top 15, including Patrick Cantlay (8), DeChambeau (9), Sahith Theegala (11), Russell Henley (13) and Brian Harman (15) who are missing from the Olympic field regardless of where they played.

It’s not surprising that fellow LIV golfers Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz agreed with Rahm that the OWGR wasn’t doing them any favors. Ancer, whose OWGR ranking has dropped 300 positions since joining LIV two years ago, even admitted that he chose not to play some Asian Tour events because had he performed poorly in those events it would have hurt his ranking more than not playing.

“I think I was very lucky,” Ancer said. “I was definitely sweating it in the last two months because there was really not much that I could play that fit the schedule to get in the World Ranking points. So I just had to wait and see because it was starting to plummet fast every week.”

Ortiz, as he has been several times over the last year, took a more incendiary tone. His OWGR ranking only moved up this year (more than a thousand spots!) after an Asian Tour victory.

“It’s just the situation in golf right now, it’s unfair,” Ortiz said. “Especially Olympic Games, you want to have the best golfers right here, but politics somehow manages things still. I still feel there’s golfers that should be here and couldn’t be here because of what has happened. I think the Olympic Games definitely should be neutral, you know. They should have not turned away ranking players accordingly, especially now that the World Ranking points don’t really work anymore.”

Conversely, the sense from other players preparing for the Olympics is that there is no better solution than the OWGR.

“I think that’s the nature of qualification for the Olympics, not just in golf,” McIlroy said. “I mean, you could have the fifth-best sprinter in the world but if he’s from a certain country, he’s not able to make it.”

Indeed, athletes in other sports haven’t made it to the Olympics after a poor performance in what amounts to a one-and-done qualifying process. U.S. pole vaulter KC Lightfoot, holder of the American record, didn’t even make it to the final stage at the U.S. track and field trials, while top sprinter Christian Coleman, the 2019 World Champion, didn’t finish in the top three in qualifying in the 100 meters.

“Like Rory said, you watch other sports, that’s the way it is,” said Shane Lowry. “If you don’t run the time and don’t qualify, you’re not in. If they run a bad race, even though they might be one of the best in the world, they are not here competing.”

McIlroy doubled down on LIV golfers decision to choose a tour that was going to cost them World Ranking points.

“I don’t think there’s any other way to do it because it’s hard to compare the golf that they play to the golf that we play,” he said. “So if you want to qualify for the Olympics, you knew what you had to do. Just like if you wanted to qualify for the Ryder Cup, you knew what you had to do. They were very aware of the decision they made when they did.”

For what it’s worth, on the women’s side, 17 of the top 20 on the Rolex World Ranking will be in Paris.

Main Image: Kevin C. Cox

The post Is the World Ranking the right qualifying system for Olympic golf? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

On the longest day in golf Adam Scott fell just short, putting his impressive major streak in jeopardy.

Scott bogeyed the 36th hole at Springfield Country Club during the U.S. Open’s final qualifier on Monday, putting him into a playoff with fellow Aussie Cam Davis for the last spot from the Springfield location.

Scott’s chip-in for birdie at the first hole of sudden death was negated by a converted birdie putt from Davis, and after trading pars at the second Davis secured the Pinehurst invite by sticking his approach at the third to two feet while Scott could only muster par.

Meaning, at the moment, Scott does not have a tee time secured for next week’s U.S. Open.

If that sounds crazy, well, it is. Scott has played in every major since the 2001 Open Championship, a streak that entails 91 straight major starts. Only Jack Nicklaus has made more consecutive major appearances with 146 (1962 U.S. Open to 1998 Masters).

But the streak remains alive. Scott is currently No. 60 in the Official World Golf Ranking, and the top 60 as of next Monday will be invited, with the USGA holding back six spots in case of late qualifiers through the world ranking. However, Scott is not playing in this week’s Memorial Tournament, meaning he has to hope he doesn’t get jumped. Players that are behind Scott in the OWGR that are playing at Muirfield Village include Tom Hoge, Mackenzie Hughes, Jake Knapp and Taylor Pendrith. (The recently departed Grayson Murray is No. 61 on the OWGR.)

If the OWGR spot doesn’t come to fruition, there’s also the slim possibility that Scott makes the U.S. Open as a first alternate.

In 22 career U.S. Open starts, Scott’s best finish is a T-4 in 2015 at Chambers Bay, where he finished two shots short of winner Jordan Spieth. In eight starts since he has just one top-10 U.S. Open finish.

Main Image: Bradley Kanaris

The post Adam Scott’s ridiculous major streak in jeopardy appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The UK-based “Clutch Pro Tour” have been awarded status to be allowed to receive World Ranking Points from the OWGR.

But there’s a kicker, they only have tournaments consisting of three rounds, which does include a 36-hole cut.

Founded in 2019, and an official feeder tour to the European Challenge Tour, the Cluthc Pro Tour’s co-founder Tom Hayward commented on the announcement; “Clutch are extremely proud to be accredited by OQGR, with OWGR points now awarded on all TIER 1 tournaments.

“This is testament to the hard work and investment of the tour and our sponsors, and also a reflection the brilliant talent and exceptional support that we have received from the players since our inception.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by 🅼🅸🆉🆄🅽 🅽🅴🆇🆃 🅶🅴🅽 🆂🅴🆁🅸🅴🆂 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗣𝗿𝗼 𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗿 (@clutchprotour)

The tour has recently had two events out in the Middle East at Al Hamra Golf Club and Al Zorah, in which the winners of each events both received an invite to the Abu Dhabi Challenge at Al Ain and the UAE Challenge currently being played at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club.

“This is a significant milestone for golf, and OWGR is deeply encouraged by the achievement and the continued efforts in developing the sport of golf in the United Kingdom. We look forward to watching the progress of the Clutch Pro Tour as it continues to play a key role in the development of players from the region,” said OWGR Chairman Peter Dawson.

The next event in their schedule is at Heythrop Park next week where they will have their first ever OWGR points included.

Image: Peter Van der Klooster

The post Look away LIV, a 54-hole UK mini tour awarded Official World Golf Ranking Points appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

As recently as nine years ago, I wrote a piece extolling the virtues of the OWGR, praising its specificity, thoroughness, and the weights put in place to promote the sport in secondary and tertiary locations without ignoring the reality of American and European supremacy. Its complexity was a virtue; complicated problems like figuring out how to measure professionals across the world against each other are never going to have simple solutions, and the OWGR had threaded the needle, I thought, with something like brilliance.

Today, of course, the OWGR is under fire. A significant chunk of the world’s best players are now playing on LIV Golf, which—because of its format, or politics, or some combination of both, depending on your perspective—receives no world ranking points. Regardless of whether or not that decision is justified, it’s inarguable that this new reality undermines the OWGR. How can you take a world ranking seriously when players like Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Cam Smith, and Joaquin Niemann are plummeting down the list because they don’t have the chance to accumulate points at the same rate as their PGA Tour contemporaries? Even prominent players on the PGA Tour like Matt Fitzpatrick now say they’ve turned to other resources, like Data Golf, for a more clear-eyed assessment on the global pecking order.

Aside from a reunification of the professional game, how can OWGR adapt and survive under these circumstances?

On this week’s Local Knowledge podcast, we look at the institution of the OWGR, from its gestational days as the brainchild of McCormack to its current crisis, and investigate where it goes from here.

Image: Cliff Hawkins

The post Where did the OWGR come from, and is it becoming obsolete? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.