CEO and commissioner Greg Norman sent a letter to LIV Golfers. Norman emphasized that the competition should be awarded Official World Golf Ranking points. He believes that without the inclusion of LIV Golf in the entire golf story, there is no progress for the sport.
“Without LIV’s inclusion, the integrity and accuracy of the rankings themselves are severely compromised,” Norman wrote, as quoted by ESPN. “We trust the members of the Governing Board of OWGR will understand and appreciate this key consideration, and that they will treat this development with the respect it deserves and consistent with their responsibilities as directors of the Official World Golf Rankings and the duties that attend those directorships.”
Greg Norman on LIV Golf and Golf ranking points
Norman believes that LIV Golf is one of the strongest competitions and that it deserves such a thing. “The proportion of leading players in the world competing on the LIV Series means that, despite smaller fields than some existing tour events and those that took place opposite the LIV Invitational events, the [strength of field] remains highly competitive and among the top few in the industry,” Norman wrote.
Greg stressed that this will also affect the reputation of OWGR. The question is what kind of reaction will follow “These moves (together with others that would have occurred) are significant not only because of their effect on players’ personal endorsements and playing opportunities (i.e., Major exemptions), but also for the accuracy and credibility of the OWGR itself,” Norman wrote.
“Without including player performances against these industry-leading [LIV] fields, the OWGR are now inaccurate. Should this continue much longer, the rankings will become even more inaccurate and marginalized, with many of the LIV Golf players having lower rankings than they are rightfully entitled to, as well as non-LIV Golf players enjoying falsely enhanced rankings.
Simply put, it will be impossible to consider the OWGR ratings accurate or even relevant if OWGR persists in omitting 48 of the best golfers in the world.”