One of the biggest questions facing LIV Golf in 2023 was its status with the Official World Golf Ranking.
A player’s OWGR standing is key for access to the four major championships, and LIV Golf events currently do not receive OWGR points. The circuit applied in July of 2022 and is awaiting word as part of an application process that can take up to, and even more than, a year.
In December, the OWGR announced a Mexican golf tour with 54-hole events will start to receive OWGR points in 2023 after a 16-month process, and the tour’s inclusion of a 36-hole cut and open qualifying were noted in the release. While LIV events are still 54-holes without a cut, the league will implement a promotion and (somewhat) relegation element to fill out its teams for 2024, meaning a few spots will be available via qualifying.
Formats and criteria aside, LIV believes its events deserve points after the formation of its “strategic alliance” with the developmental MENA Tour in an attempt to force the OWGR’s hand.
Since they joined the upstart league led by Greg Norman and financed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, LIV players have been plummeting in the ranking, putting their major championship futures in jeopardy.
Here’s a look at the 48 players on a team roster in 2023 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 | 5 | -3 |
| Dustin Johnson | 15 | 62 | -47 |
| Joaquin Niemann | 19 | 26 | -7 |
| Brooks Koepka | 19 | 102 | -83 |
| Abraham Ancer | 22 | 30 | -8 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 21 | 100 | -79 |
| Paul Casey | 31 | 94 | -63 |
| Bryson DeChambeau | 31 | 131 | -100 |
| Kevin Na | 34 | 84 | -50 |
| Talor Gooch | 35 | 49 | -14 |
| Thomas Pieters | 35 | 42 | -7 |
| Jason Kokrak | 36 | 74 | -38 |
| Patrick Reed | 39 | 65 | -26 |
| Harold Varner III | 46 | 51 | -5 |
| Mito Pereira | 50 | 50 | 0 |
| Cameron Tringale | 55 | 86 | -31 |
| Sergio Garcia | 57 | 144 | -87 |
| Dean Burmester | 59 | 71 | -12 |
| Marc Leishman | 62 | 95 | -33 |
| Richard Bland | 67 | 107 | -40 |
| Matt Jones | 69 | 129 | -60 |
| Phil Mickelson | 72 | 352 | -280 |
| Scott Vincent | 91 | 117 | -26 |
| Matthew Wolff | 77 | 181 | -104 |
| Lee Westwood | 78 | 267 | -189 |
| Bubba Watson | 86 | 201 | -115 |
| Sam Horsfield | 74 | 134 | -60 |
| Anirban Lahiri | 92 | 99 | -7 |
| Ian Poulter | 92 | 150 | -58 |
| Bernd Wiesberger | 94 | 149 | -55 |
| Sebastian Munoz | 98 | 106 | -8 |
| Brendan Steele | 122 | 119 | +3 |
| Branden Grace | 123 | 221 | -98 |
| Charl Schwartzel | 126 | 197 | -71 |
| Carlos Ortiz | 119 | 270 | -151 |
| Sihwan Kim | 139 | 238 | -99 |
| Pat Perez | 170 | 239 | -69 |
| Henrik Stenson | 173 | 175 | -2 |
| Charles Howell | 169 | 318 | -149 |
| Martin Kaymer | 215 | 625 | -410 |
| Jediah Morgan | 239 | 368 | -129 |
| Danny Lee | 267 | 268 | -1 |
| Peter Uihlein | 327 | 411 | -84 |
| Graeme McDowell | 374 | 399 | -25 |
| Chase Koepka | 1562 | 1331 | +231 |
| James Piot | 1751 | 1155 | +596 |
| David Puig | 1751 | 1057 | +694 |
| Eugenio Chacarra | 1904 | 1732 | +172 |
Of the 48 players on a roster this season, all but six have dropped in the ranking. After making their first LIV starts in Mexico last month, Mito Pereira’s ranking has yet to move, while fellow newcomer Brendan Steele rose three places. Further down the rankings, a trio of players in their second year of professional golf – Eugenio Chacarra (No. 1,732), James Piot (No. 1,155) and David Puig (No. 1,057) – have all risen more than 100 spots due to a small sample size of tournaments and a handful of starts on the Asian Tour. Chase Koepka struggled through his pro career pre-LIV, and has seen his ranking rise 231 spots but still finds himself No. 1,331.
Martin Kaymer has struggled with injuries over the last year and has seen the largest drop of 410 spots on the rankings and now sits No. 625. Phil Mickelson, the face of LIV Golf, has fallen 280 spots and is now No. 352.
Only six players are still inside the top 50: Cameron Smith (No. 5), Joaquin Niemann (No. 26), Abraham Ancer (No. 30), Thomas Pieters (No. 42), Talor Gooch (No. 49) and Mito Pereira (No. 50).
The LIV Golf League returns to action this week in Marana, Arizona, at the Gallery Golf Club with LIV Golf Tucson, the circuit’s first event in the United States this season.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=451198867]
[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01f5k5vfbhv59szck1 image=]