The LIV Golf and Official World Golf Ranking saga is over. On Tuesday, LIV Golf CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman told players the league had withdrawn its application for OWGR points, ending a nearly two-year fight for accreditation.
The upstart circuit backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund initially applied for points in July of 2022 but was denied last October due to the inability to accurately compare LIV events – which features a mostly-closed field of 54 players playing 54-hole, shotgun start, no-cut events – to other tournaments on the 24 tours under the world ranking wing. Concerns about LIV’s qualifying and relegation methods were also noted in the decision.
LIV players have been plummeting in the ranking since they joined the league, putting their major championship futures in jeopardy. Here’s a look at the 56 players who have competed so far in 2024 and how their OWGR has fallen since they joined LIV Golf.
LIV Golf OWGR movement
| Player | OWGR before first LIV event | Current OWGR | Change in ranking |
| Cameron Smith | 2 | 50 | -48 |
| Jon Rahm | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Dustin Johnson | 15 | 266 | -251 |
| Tyrrell Hatton | 16 | 17 | -1 |
| Joaquin Niemann | 19 | 76 | -57 |
| Brooks Koepka | 19 | 30 | -11 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 21 | 103 | -82 |
| Abraham Ancer | 22 | 173 | -151 |
| Paul Casey | 31 | 755 | -724 |
| Bryson DeChambeau | 31 | 182 | -151 |
| Kevin Na | 34 | 972 | -938 |
| Talor Gooch | 35 | 476 | -441 |
| Thomas Pieters | 35 | 307 | -272 |
| Jason Kokrak | 36 | 702 | -666 |
| Patrick Reed | 39 | 105 | -66 |
| Adrian Meronk | 42 | 51 | -9 |
| Harold Varner III | 46 | 385 | -339 |
| Mito Pereira | 50 | 145 | -95 |
| Cameron Tringale | 55 | 677 | -622 |
| Sergio Garcia | 57 | 645 | -588 |
| Dean Burmester | 59 | 99 | -40 |
| Marc Leishman | 62 | 418 | -356 |
| Richard Bland | 67 | 456 | -389 |
| Matt Jones | 69 | 424 | -355 |
| Phil Mickelson | 72 | 147 | -75 |
| Sam Horsfield | 74 | 710 | -636 |
| Matthew Wolff | 77 | 782 | -705 |
| Lee Westwood | 78 | 905 | -827 |
| Lucas Herbert | 82 | 87 | -5 |
| Bubba Watson | 86 | 1,612 | -1,526 |
| Scott Vincent | 91 | 416 | -325 |
| Anirban Lahiri | 92 | 350 | -258 |
| Ian Poulter | 92 | 464 | -372 |
| Hudson Swafford | 95 | 1,539 | -1,444 |
| Sebastian Munoz | 98 | 457 | -359 |
| Carlos Ortiz | 119 | 239 | -120 |
| Laurie Canter | 119 | 199 | -80 |
| Brendan Steele | 122 | 509 | -387 |
| Branden Grace | 123 | 683 | -560 |
| Charl Schwartzel | 126 | 344 | -218 |
| Charles Howell | 169 | 1,180 | -1,011 |
| Pat Perez | 170 | 1,192 | -1,022 |
| Henrik Stenson | 173 | 278 | -105 |
| Martin Kaymer | 215 | 3,363 | -3,148 |
| Wade Ormsby | 265 | 582 | -317 |
| Danny Lee | 267 | 672 | -405 |
| Kalle Samooja | 313 | 343 | -30 |
| Peter Uihlein | 327 | 503 | -176 |
| Graeme McDowell | 374 | 697 | -323 |
| Kieran Vincent | 412 | 399 | 13 |
| Jinichiro Kozuma | 501 | 540 | -39 |
| Andy Ogletree | 1371 | 195 | 1,176 |
| David Puig | 1751 | 133 | 1,618 |
| Caleb Surratt | 1903 | 1,939 | -36 |
| Eugenio Chacarra | 1,904 | 427 | 1,477 |
| Anthony Kim | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Of the 56 players to tee it up so far this season, all but six have dropped in the ranking. Jon Rahm, who joined the league this year, has yet to move from No. 3. Anthony Kim, who made his long-awaited return to pro golf last week at LIV Golf Jeddah, isn’t listed in the ranking. Eugenio Chacarra, David Puig and Andy Ogletree have seen their ranking jump more than 1,000 places due to their performances on other tours and the fact they’ve been professionals for less than three years. Kieran Vincent has seen minimal movement in his ranking after he played his way into the league via the Asian Tour (which receives OWGR points) last season.
Martin Kaymer has struggled with injuries over the last few years and been dealt the largest drop of of 3,148 places since he joined as the 215th ranked played back in the summer of 2022.
Only four players are within the top 50: Jon Rahm (3), Tyrrell Hatton (17), Brooks Koepka (30) and Cameron Smith (50).
LIV makes its first appearance in Hong Kong this week, March 8-10, at Hong Kong Golf Club in Sheung Shui.
