LIV Golf CEO: World rankings ‘nice nod’; 4 majors the focus

LIV Golf accomplished a feat years in the making when the Official World Golf Ranking governing body announced earlier this month that LIV’s competitors will begin receiving OWGR points for competing in the league’s events.

It wasn’t a full win for LIV, as OWGR points will be given out only to top-10 finishers in individual stroke play in its events, a distinction from the PGA Tour and the other major worldwide tours.

That was something LIV was initially critical of, releasing a statement condemning the “unprecedented” limitations.

But LIV CEO Scott O’Neil took a more pragmatic approach when addressing the change at a press conference ahead of this week’s LIV Adelaide event in Australia.

“We’re so grateful to be welcomed into the golf family officially. That’s first and foremost,” O’Neil said. “It’s very nice, especially you have a board with two — the commissioner of the PGA Tour is on the board and the CEO of the European Tour is on the board. Arguably those are two that would have a bit to lose if you have a scarcity mindset, if you will, by our being recognized publicly.

“To be able to get to that point, what a tremendous nod to what LIV Golf has built, is building, and where it’s heading in the future.”

The change was immediately evident in last week’s season-opening LIV Golf Riyadh event in Saudi Arabia. Rookie Elvis Smylie jumped from 133rd to 77th in the OWGR rankings with his victory in his first LIV event.

The biggest reason why LIV has been pushing so hard for OWGR recognition, beyond legitimizing the league, is that the points system is used to determine eligibility for major events, potentially restricting those who don’t automatically receive bids as former major champions.

“For us, though, world ranking points were a nice recognition and a great step forward, and our focus is on making sure that as many of these young talented players that we have and these established superstars and these kind of solid-core veterans get the opportunity to play on the world’s biggest stage, and that’s the four majors,” O’Neil added.

Asked if he’ll push for a greater deal closer to the PGA’s points distribution after this season, O’Neil put on a nice public face.

“I’ve learned over time that sometimes the best negotiations are behind the scenes and not in front of the cameras,” O’Neil said. “So we’re just at this point just publicly really grateful for where we are.”

In other LIV-related news, the league announced that next year’s LIV Adelaide event will be moved from The Grange Golf Club, which is hosting the event for the fourth straight year this week, to the Kooyonga Golf Club in 2027.

“Kooyonga has a reputation of being one of the top courses in Adelaide. It’s spectacularly beautiful, and we’re very excited about our time there,” O’Neil said.

–Field Level Media