LIV Golf finally ready to team up with PGA Tour rivals and former ‘Open champions Louis Oosthuizen outlined what he would like to see introduced. On the back of the
deal,
LIV Golf star Louis Oosthuizen has revealed what he wants to see happen first once the PGA Tour’s framework agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is finalized. completed.
After a year-long feud, LIV is finally ready to team up with its PGA Tour rivals, with the golf world ready to cooperate with the backing of Saudi funds. It remains to be seen what the proposed deal will mean for professional golf, which has been split in two because of the dispute.
One change Oosthuizen would like to see is the awarding of world ranking points to the LIV Golf organisation, after players were left without them since joining the breakaway tournament.
Speaking in July, the South African said:
“Yeah, look, there’s a lot that needs to happen. I think the first thing is somehow getting World Ranking points to LIV or changing the system completely. I think the system at the moment is really, it’s not a real reflection of what’s going on out there.
“That can change, and we can somehow get back to getting points and things.” Despite Oosthuizen’s hopes, he and his fellow LIV players were dealt a huge blow last week, after the Official World Golf Rankings denied the rebel league’s latest application for world ranking recognition.
In a public letter, the OWGR outlined a number of reasons as to why they were unable to grant LIV events ranking points, most notably their closed shop membership which sees the same players compete each week and a certain group exempt from the league’s relegation process.
The rejection was the latest setback for Greg Norman and Co., who have been campaigning for the right to award world ranking points to their players since their formation in June 2022. Clearly unhappy with the decision, LIV chiefs hit back with a scathing statement of their own.
“OWGR’s sole objective is to rank the best players across the globe. Today’s communication makes clear that it can no longer deliver on that objective,” the statement read. “Players have historically remained subject to a single world ranking to qualify for major
championships, the biggest events, and for corporate sponsor contract value.
“A ranking which fails to fairly represent all participants, irrespective of where in the world they play golf, robs fans, players and all of golf’s stakeholders of the objective basis underpinning any accurate recognition of the world’s best player performances. This also deprives some traditional tournaments of the best possible fields. »
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