In one of its most shrewd moves, LIV Golf has decided to sign a pact with the relatively unknown MENA Tour in order to secure Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points for its golfers.
Due to the contentious and litigious nature of the relationship between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV circuit, LIV golfers, until now, do not get any ranking points for their events which are necessary in order for golfers to participate in the four majors.
The new league has made repeated efforts to change that.
But it seems LIV has finally found a way to get its players the coveted OWGR points after aligning itself with the MENA Tour which has not held an event since the pandemic. LIV Golf Invitational events will now become part of, and sanctioned by, the MENA Tour which is among the eligible tours listed on the Official World Golf Ranking website.
“We are taking this mutually beneficial action to support the game at the developmental level and because of the importance and fairness of LIV golfers qualifying for OWGR points,” LIV Golf President Atul Khosla said in a news release.
LIV is holding the sixth event of its inaugural season this week with MENA Tour claiming that participants will be immediately eligible for ranking points, a claim yet to be confirmed on the OWGR website.
The ranking points breakdown is derived from each tournament’s total field rating and points are awarded to players who make the cut and complete an event, subject to their finishing position in the tournament.
LIV events do not feature any cuts complicating the matter even more. It remains to be seen how PGA will react.
