Phil Mickelson says world golf rankings need LIV events to be ‘credible’ – but officials won’t rule for weeks
- New strategic alliance with Mena Tour means all LIV Golf players can start earning world ranking points from this week
- Governing body of Official World Golf Rankings says it will review changes to the minor tour
LIV Golf has struck a strategic alliance with the Dubai-based Mena Tour in the hopes of securing Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points for its players, just days ahead of its debut event in Thailand.
If approved by the OWGR, the deal, announced early on Thursday by Mena, would mean stars including Open Championship winner Cameron Smith, the No 3 player in the world, and LIV Golf Invitational Boston winner Dustin Johnson, could earn world ranking points for competing in LIV events.
But in a statement released hours after the deal was made public, the ranking group’s governing board said it would not make a ruling on the move before the next two events, in Thailand this week and Saudi Arabia next week.
The OWGR said it had received a communication detailing significant changes to the Mena Tour’s membership structure along with an outline of the initial series of tournaments in the 2022-23 season.
“OWGR notes that the first two tournaments in this series appeared to be the same as the LIV Golf Invitational Series tournaments in Bangkok and Jeddah,” read a statement on its website.
“A review of the changes to the Mena Tour is now under way by the OWGR.”
It added that a decision on awarding points to the MENA Tour’s new “Limited Field Tournaments” would be taken once the review was complete.
Players did not receive OWGR points for the rebel tour’s first five events, but they have called on officials to immediately and retroactively reinstate points.