All articles tagged with #owgr
Rory McIlroy won the 2025 Masters, his second consecutive Augusta title, bringing his major total to six and placing him in a rare club with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson; the piece also discusses LIV Golf’s impact on rankings and how OWGR points could influence future majors, with Augusta’s Ridley weighing in on maintaining ranking integrity.
Tiger Woods will not play in The Masters as he prioritizes his physical and mental health after a car crash, leaving his Official World Golf Ranking at 4169th. He recently returned to competition with the TGL final but has since missed cuts at The Open, the PGA Championship and the US Open. Phil Mickelson will also miss The Masters due to a family matter, while the tournament still features top players such as Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.
The Official World Golf Ranking board approved awarding points to LIV Golf events starting this season, but only to the top 10 finishers and with a field strength roughly matching opposite-field PGA Tour events. A LIV winner is projected to earn about 23 points this week; last year’s ISCO Championship produced 24 points for the winner, while a full-field PGA Tour event like Farmers Insurance Open can yield many more points. The decision marks a compromise after LIV’s earlier bid for points, balancing merit-based ranking with ongoing debates over promotion/relegation and pathway equity among tours.
The Official World Golf Ranking awarded LIV Golf a limited points framework for 2026, giving ranking points only to the top-10 finishers in LIV events and classifying them as Small Field Tournaments. A Riyadh winner is projected to earn about 23 OWGR points, far fewer than typical PGA Tour events, prompting LIV to call the cutoff unfair for high performers just outside the top 10. LIV has adjusted its format to 72-hole events with a 57-player field and expanded relegation pathways to meet eligibility, while OWGR says the compromise balances top LIV performers with broader merit-based standards and will apply immediately for the 2026 season.
Talor Gooch, a member of LIV Golf, expressed frustration over the OWGR's rejection of points for LIV players, impacting their ability to qualify for major championships like the Masters. Gooch believes that if Rory McIlroy completes his career grand slam without the best players present, it would carry an asterisk. Despite his own ranking challenges, Gooch's LIV colleague Joaquin Niemann received a Masters invite based on his performance on the DP World Tour.
LIV Golf's bid to earn world ranking points has been denied by the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) board, citing the inability to measure the 48-man league fairly against other tours. The OWGR committee expressed concerns about LIV Golf's closed-shop format, lack of turnover, and team aspect. LIV Golf can reapply, but turnover, objective access, and relegation of underperforming players are key points for consideration. The lack of world ranking points has affected player participation and rankings, with only two players from the top 50 currently in LIV Golf.