Just days before LIV Golf’s season begins in Saudi Arabia, the Official World Golf Ranking Board has announced it will award world ranking points to LIV events in 2026.
In the statement, the OWGR recognized that LIV does not meet eligibility standards in a “number of areas,” so instead of every player in the field earning points, only the top-10 finishers at each event will benefit. The OWGR will use its “Small Field Tournaments” classification for all LIV events.
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“This has been an incredibly complex and challenging process and one which we have devoted a huge amount of time and energy to resolving in the seven months since LIV Golf submitted their application,” Trevor Immelman, Chairman of the OWGR said in a statement. “We fully recognised the need to rank the top men’s players in the world but at the same time had to find a way of doing so that was equitable to the thousands of other players competing on other tours that operate with established meritocratic pathways.
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“We believe we have found a solution that achieves these twin aims and enables the best-performing players at LIV Golf events to receive OWGR points. I would like to acknowledge the substantial and constructive efforts made by Scott O’Neil and the team at LIV Golf. We look forward to working with them on implementing this approach with immediate effect for the 2026 LIV Golf season.”
LIV’s winner in Saudi Arabia is projected to earn 23.03 points. For comparison, that’s similar to a PGA TOUR opposite field event. The winner in Punta Cana earns 22.5. This week at the WM Phoenix Open, the winner will earn 59.
“We respect today’s decision by the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) Governing Board and the considerable time the Board and Chairman Immelman committed to this process,” the TOUR said in a statement.
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