Rory McIlroy has had his say on LIV Golf 's ongoing battle for Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points, claiming the breakaway series is 'not playing by the rules'. Since officially kicking off in June, LIV is yet to be recognised by the OWGR, despite having some of the biggest name in golf.
This absence of points has therefore seen LIV members plummet down the world rankings. In response, the entire LIV playing roster wrote to OWGR chairman Peter Dawson, calling for ranking points as well as backdating to the series' very first event earlier this summer.
McIlroy - who has spoken openly against LIV since its inception - believes that if the series meets criteria then of course they should receive points, but this can only be done if they 'play by the rules'.
Speaking at the this week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews, he told Sky Sports: "If they meet the criteria they get world ranking points. I don't see any reason why they shouldn't, as long as they meet the criteria that is set out.
"The one thing that has been frustrating from the start of this is that they don't want to play by the rules that have been in place for so long. It can't be one set of rules for a certain amount of people and then a certain set of rules for everyone else - everyone has to abide by the same rules here.
"If they're willing to abide by the rules then 100 per cent they should get world ranking points, but the way everything is right now and the way their tour is set up, I just think it makes it very difficult for them to make that argument." McIlroy was not the only man discussing the issue at the Home of Golf, as his Ryder Cup teammate Matt Fitzpatrick also had his say.
Like the Northern Irishman, Fitzpatrick believes if they follow the OWGR process correctly then ranking points will follow. He said: "I understand why they think they deserve points because of the players they've got, and don't disagree with that, but if you look at the all the other tours in previous years that have gone through the official process then it takes a year or two...
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"You've just got to wait two years - that's what I've been told is the process and that's what it is. I did read somewhere that they should backdate the points to when they had the first event, which is just ridiculous.
"You knew what you were signing up for before you went and if you'd done your homework then you know that the process takes a year or two, so you probably had to accept that and that is just the rules of the game."
