LIV Golf has quietly slashed the end-of-season windfall given to its greatest particular person participant within the midst of discontent over this week’s controversial world rankings ruling.
The Saudi-backed league’s four-year battle to be recognised by golf’s peak world rating physique lastly produced a beneficial consequence, albeit with a catch.
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The Official World Golf Rating will hand out world-ranking factors to LIV Golf occasions for the primary time this season, however solely to the highest 10 finishers.
It implies that coming eleventh in a LIV occasion is identical as ending 57th — a name that LIV mentioned was “unprecedented” and “disproportionately harms gamers who persistently carry out at a excessive stage however end simply exterior that threshold”.
Simply hours earlier than that assertion, nonetheless, LIV Golf launched its media information for the brand new season with some key particulars that had been largely overshadowed by the OWGR name.
This yr, LIV Golf’s $18m (A$26m) end-of-season bonus payout to the winner of the season has been drastically reduce to $6m (A$8.5m), with second claiming $3m and third $1m.
As an alternative, extra money might be poured into the weekly prize pot for groups. Every week, the general prize cash payout for groups will double from $5 million to $10 million.
It implies that LIV Golf’s largest stars, like Jon Rahm who gained the previous two particular person crowns, can count on to take house much less prize total prize cash, until their workforce often wins occasions.
The choice provides additional intrigue to the way forward for LIV, which is coping with the departures of Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed, is susceptible to dropping Bryson DeChambeau, and is livid by not being totally recognised by the OWGR.
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Beneath the choice, LIV Golf occasions might be ranked as “small match fields”, that means that they won’t be awarded the complete allotment seen on the PGA or DP World Excursions.
Not solely will gamers exterior the top-10 finishers not get any factors, however the winner this week in Saudi Arabia is projected to win 23 — lower than half of winners of full-field PGA Tour occasions.
“It’s unbelievable that we’re getting factors. It’s unbelievable that we’re being recognised in a method. With that mentioned, I don’t like how we’re not being handled the identical as each different tour,” Rahm mentioned in Riyadh on Wednesday.
“It looks like the foundations which were in place aren’t actually utilized to us, with solely 10 of us getting factors. It doesn’t appear honest. There are small fields on the market all through the course of the yr that get full factors. Or full gamers get factors, proper? So, there’s work to be finished. There’s work to be finished.
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“Whereas it’s good for some individuals. It might price some gamers to really lose world rating factors, as a substitute of acquire them. As a result of ending in eleventh is principally a missed reduce and we’re already including to the devisor.
“However I’m grateful that LIV golf received their foot within the door, and there’s a chance for us to stroll within the room and be recognised as as a tour, as we ought to be.”
The choice barely opens the door for LIV Golf gamers to play themselves into the 4 majors based mostly on their world rating, albeit with a big restriction.
That’s regardless of LIV Golf’s choice to increase its 54-hole format to 72 holes from this yr.
LIV Golf mentioned in a press release that it had been handed a “lengthy‑overdue second of recognition, which affirms the basic precept that efficiency on the course ought to matter, no matter the place the competitors takes place.”
Nonetheless, the tour stays unhappy by the end result.
“No different aggressive tour or league in OWGR historical past has been subjected to such a restriction,” the assertion mentioned.
“We count on that is merely a primary step towards a construction that totally and pretty serves the gamers, the followers, and the way forward for the game.
“We entered this course of in good religion and can proceed to advocate for a rating system that displays efficiency over affiliation. The sport deserves transparency. The followers deserve credibility. And the gamers deserve a system that treats them equally.”
In the meantime, a LIV Golf insider instructed The Telegraph that the OWGR choice was a “ludicrous cop-out”.
Central to the OWGR’s choice to not totally recognise LIV Golf occasions was the very fact it nonetheless doesn’t meet different essential standards, even after increasing to four-day tournaments.
Their fields of simply 57 gamers remains to be properly beneath OWGR requirements of at the very least 75, whereas the shortage of a mid-tournament reduce stays a roadblock.
Moreover, the OWGR identified sure restrictions to gamers on the tour, declaring some stars had been “self-selected” relatively than incomes their spots, whereas others have misplaced out “based mostly on their nationality relatively than for meritocratic causes.”
For instance, Japan’s Jinichiro Kozuma was dropped for this season regardless of ending thirty second on the LIV Golf standings to make room for Iron Heads GC to be rebranded as Korean Golf Membership.
“This has been an extremely advanced and difficult course of and one which we have now devoted an enormous period of time and vitality to resolving within the seven months since LIV Golf submitted their software,” OWGR chairman Trevor Immelman mentioned in a press release.
“We totally recognised the necessity to rank the highest males’s gamers on the earth however on the similar time needed to discover a method of doing in order that was equitable to the 1000’s of different gamers competing on different excursions that function with established meritocratic pathways.
“We consider we have now discovered an answer that achieves these twin goals and permits the best-performing gamers at LIV Golf occasions to obtain OWGR factors.
“I wish to acknowledge the substantial and constructive efforts made by Scott O’Neil and the workforce at LIV Golf. We look ahead to working with them on implementing this method with quick impact for the 2026 LIV Golf season.”
In the meantime, the PGA Tour mentioned: “We respect immediately’s choice by the Official World Golf Rating (OWGR) Governing Board and the appreciable time the Board and Chairman Immelman dedicated to this course of.”
The choice provides additional intrigue to the futures of Jon Rahm and out-of-contract Bryson DeChambeau, who is claimed to be leveraging the departures of Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed by demanding a $500 million deal to remain on LIV Golf after this season.
Talking after enjoying the pro-am in Riyadh on Tuesday, DeChambeau mentioned he hadn’t been capable of “digest” the OWGR choice, however added: “At the very least we had been getting factors, proper?”
On his future, he mentioned that there had been some “progress made” on a brand new deal and that his intention was to remain on LIV Golf.
He added: “We, once more, are in negotiations, and I need what’s greatest for the sport of golf and for the league, finally.
“We simply must proceed to align.
“And like I mentioned from day one, if we will get to an alignment level, like there’s little question that I’ll be right here subsequent yr. We simply must get there.”
LIV Golf first sought OWGR factors in July 2022, however was formally denied in October 2023.
Its software was finally withdrawn in March 2024, however was resubmitted in July 2025.