The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) does not award points for LIV events, so many LIV Golf members are pleading with the governing body to create a pathway to the majors.
After all, the Saudi-backed circuit is loaded with strong talent, including Brooks Koepka, who won the PGA Championship at Oak Hill last year. The league also features Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, all of whom have won major championships over the past five years.
However, as time goes on, exemptions to the majors continue to disappear.
The PGA of America acknowledged this and invited Taylor Gooch and six other ineligible LIV golfers to the PGA Championship next week at Valhalla.
The same goes for the United States Golf Association (USGA), which organizes the U.S. Open.
USGA CEO Mike Wang also envision a scenario According to an interview with LIV Golf, players can qualify for the US Open through a special route. golf week.
“If you had asked me a year ago, ‘Where will things be in three months?’ I would have confidently told you that I would have been wrong,” Wang said. Told. golf week.
“If Liv [Golf] continues as a separate organization and maintains the quality of its players, but could you imagine a path to the US Open through LIV? Yes. But I’d love to see what the final product will look like, and I don’t know exactly what that is yet. ”
According to , 36 LIV players entered the qualifying stage of the US Open. golf week. Eight players have already received exemptions due to recent major wins or current OWGR standings. Tyrrell Hatton is the only one on that list who hasn’t won a major, but since joining LIV in 2024, his OWGR rankings have plummeted like other LIV players who first joined. Is not … Hatton is currently ranked 17th in the OWGR.
Nevertheless, concerns about the OWGR rankings could disappear if the USGA adopts a new strategy for LIV players.
But the U.S. Open prides itself on being just that: an open. Anyone can qualify by achieving a score low enough to pass the qualification stage.
The USGA also rarely grants special exemptions. But he recently gave Tiger Woods a special invitation to Pinehurst No. 2, the site of this year’s U.S. Open. Woods is a three-time U.S. Open champion, winning in 2000, 2002, and 2008.
With all this in mind, the professional golf world remains divided and confused. Until the PGA Tour reaches an agreement with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) or the future of LIV Golf is finalized, these potential paths will remain abstract ideas.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
