Bangkok — The inability to award world ranking points at the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament in Thailand beginning on Friday renders the rankings “inaccurate,” according to the MENA Tour.
The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) announced on Thursday that players will not receive ranking points at the LIV tournaments in Bangkok and Jeddah the following week.
It occurred when the rebel LIV series formed a strategic agreement with the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Tour so that LIV players could gain ranking points.
OWGR immediately rejected that, citing insufficient notice and the need for a review as the latest chapter in a violent civil conflict that has splintered golf and generated charges of Saudi “sportswashing.”
The top 50 ranked players automatically qualify for all four major competitions. OWGR does not currently recognize LIV Golf, which causes LIV Golf players to fall in the rankings.
The MENA Tour, which had been idle since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 but reopened last week with the LIV in Bangkok, responded to the OWGR’s decision.
“By excluding our tournament from this week’s OWGR, the results and subsequent player movements are erroneous,” claimed David Spencer, commissioner of the MENA Tour.
Spencer continued, “We will work relentlessly to fix this matter with the OWGR.”
LIV, which provides record-breaking $25 million prize pools, has already hosted five tournaments in its first year.
However, no ranking points have been issued to its players, including British Open champion Cameron Smith, former world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, and six-time major champion Phil Mickelson.
The PGA Tour has blacklisted golfers from the dissident circuit, preventing American golfers from qualifying for the 2023 Ryder Cup.
European stars that left for LIV, such as Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, and Sergio Garcia, have all fallen in the world rankings and are unlikely to make Luke Donald’s side for the biennial competition held near Rome.