LIV Golf events this season to miss out on world ranking points despite new MENA Tour alliance

Players featuring in the LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok (7-9 October) and LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah (14-16 October) will continue to not receive Official Golf World Ranking (OWGR) points; LIV Golf announced alliance with the MENA Tour on Wednesday to try and secure world ranking status

The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) has confirmed that LIV Golf events this season will not offer world ranking points, despite the Saudi-backed circuit’s new partnership with the MENA Tour.

The MENA Tour – a Dubai-based golf tour that has offered world ranking points since 2016 – announced on Wednesday a “strategic alliance” with LIV Golf that would see all its events added to their schedule and all members of the Saudi-backed circuit joining their tour.

LIV Golf believed the move may make their event eligible to receive official world ranking points, potentially as soon as the Thailand event beginning on Friday, although the OWGR said it had been given insufficient notice of the development and that a decision would only be made following a review.

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In a statement, the OWGR said: “Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) received a communication from the MENA Tour on October 5th, 2022, at 13:05 BST. The communication detailed significant changes to the MENA Tour’s membership structure along with an outline of the initial series of tournaments in the 2022/23 MENA Tour 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. The communication from the MENA Tour included a starting field data file for the Bangkok tournament, confirming that to be the case.

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“A review of the changes to the MENA Tour is now underway by the OWGR. Notice of these changes given by the MENA Tour is insufficient to allow OWGR to conduct the customary necessary review ahead of the LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok (7-9 October) and LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah (14-16 October).

“Only after the review is complete will a decision be made on awarding points to the MENA Tour’s new “Limited Field Tournaments”, defined by the MENA Tour in its Regulations as “any MENA Tour-approved tournament, which comprises of a player field of less than 80 players”.

“Regular official MENA Tour events conducted over 54 or 72 holes with a cut after 36 holes, and its Tour Championship, typically conducted over 54 holes with no cut, remain eligible for inclusion in the OWGR.”

More to follow…