Phil Mickelson, a six-time major champion, welcomed plans to give world ranking points for competitions on the splinter LIV Golf circuit on Thursday, saying it would help preserve the “credibility” of the overall leaderboard.
The Saudi-backed LIV Series has its inaugural event in Asia this week and announced on Wednesday a contract to have tournaments co-sanctioned by the MENA Tour and awarded Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points.
The OWGR has not said whether or not points will be granted at LIV tournaments beginning with this week’s tournament in Bangkok.
But Mickelson, whose departure from the US PGA Tour helped launch the lucrative LIV series, argued it was in the ranking body’s best interests.
The 52-year-old left-hander stated on the eve of the LIV’s Bangkok Invitational: “I think this is a terrific method for the World Golf Rankings to preserve its reputation, while not injecting politics into the decision-making process.”
LIV has now held five events, but no ranking points have been awarded to its participants, who include British Open champion Cameron Smith and former world number one Dustin Johnson.
Mickelson, Smith, and Johnson are all fighting for a share of $20 million at the new Stonehill course outside Bangkok, with the winner taking home $4 million, undoubtedly the richest purse for an Asian golf tournament.
The enormous coffers of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund have enabled LIV to provide eye-watering prize money – last place in Bangkok receives $120,000 – but have also brought allegations of “sportswashing,” given the kingdom’s poor human rights record.
A slew of top players have joined the series, throwing golf into a violent civil war as the US PGA Tour and the Europe-based DP World Tour battle for talent, while the Asian Tour, and now the lesser-known MENA Tour, have sided with LIV.
Because only the top 50 players in the world are automatically qualified for the four majors, top names have been anxious about falling down the rankings.
However, Mickelson expressed confidence that LIV events will be suitably rewarded with points.
“I’m not concerned because the number of points is based on the quality of the field, not the organization that’s conducting the tournament, and the quality of our field is incredibly strong,” he explained.
“I’m confident that the world golf rankings will continue to provide the appropriate number of points that the tournaments deserve for all tours in order to maintain their reputation.”
The PGA Tour has blacklisted all US players who have joined with LIV Golf indefinitely, while the DP World Tour has given penalties and short-term bans.
LIV has stated that it will increase the number of events from eight this year to 14 in 2023, with participants competing for $405 million in prize money.