LIV Golf COO Atul Khosla addresses lack of OWGR points, provides update on TV deal during Miami finale

Previous actions have shown LIV will do whatever it takes to get what it wants.

DORAL, Fla. — Two of the biggest challenges still facing LIV Golf are the lack of Official World Golf Ranking points at events, as well as the lack of a TV partner in the United States.

In a meeting with select members of the media at Trump National Doral – host of this week’s $50 million LIV Golf Team Championship – LIV’s chief operating officer Atul Khosla addressed both hurdles facing the upstart circuit led by Greg Norman and supported by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

LIV is looking at its TV broadcast in two separate bits: domestically in the U.S. and internationally.

“On the U.S. front, we are back and forth with a few different networks at this point in time,” said Khosla Saturday morning ahead of the afternoon’s semifinal matches. “Step one was to show them the product, which they want to clearly understand, show them the graphics and how it’d be very different.”

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Khosla said step two has been to clear the time on air. Over the last month, LIV has been in communication “with a variety of outlets” to talk about where events could land on the schedule, what golf courses may work, etc.

“We are now at that place where we’ve been able to clear time on a handful of networks that need set times to be cleared,” added Khosla. “So we’ve gone through that exercise now. Now we’re at the stage, ‘Okay, those are all things that could work, interest in both parties, let’s figure out what the commercial arrangements could look like.’”

Khosla is happy with where LIV currently stands in the process for securing U.S. rights for 2023, when the series transitions to the 14-event LIV Golf League, but also knows there’s plenty of work still to be done.

Last month, Golfweek reported LIV Golf was nearing a deal to purchase air time for its tournaments with Fox Sports 1. The yet-to-be-finalized deal would have LIV pay for not only the time slot, but also the production cost.

LIV called the report “incomplete and inaccurate” at the time, but when specifically asked if LIV would be open to paying for tournaments to be aired, Khosla didn’t reject the idea.

“Yeah, we’re going into it in the rights conversation that we think we are providing an incredible commercial product. We understand that these are not six month deals and one year deals. If a TV network is getting behind it, they’re gonna get behind it for multiple years, and that’s what we really want as well, to build a product on air and drive behavior,” said Khosla. “So we’ll work through what the final arrangements are.”

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Internationally, LIV currently has 20 international partners to broadcast events in 160 different countries and is in discussions for 2023, as well. LIV officials aren’t the only people involved in the process, either.

“We’re also really using the players for (broadcast discussions), they’ve been awesome,” explained Khosla. “So depending on the part of the world where the player is from, they’ve actually been on the calls with us with the TV networks, talking about the model and explaining why this would be amazing. Which has been actually fantastic to see and we’re grateful for their support.”

As for OWGR points, it was the same song at a different party. LIV formed a strategic alliance with the MENA Tour to try and force its way to receiving points, and like the many players who have spoken out on the subject – Patrick Reed, Graeme McDowell, and Bryson DeChambeau to name a few – Khosla was in tune.

“I think from our end, we believe we deserve the points. Clearly with our strategic alliance with the MENA Tour, we absolutely deserve those points,” he explained. “Can’t control who’s on the board and who’s conflicted, who votes on the board, I don’t know if there’s a mislead there, but that’s pretty clearly obvious at this point that there are divisions on the board that are conflicted in voting for us to get points.”

Khosla is, of course, referring to OWGR board members such as PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley, USGA CEO Mike Whan, R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers, PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh and Augusta National Golf Club executive director Will Jones.

It’s unclear whether either of LIV’s problems will be solved by February 2023 when the new league format is expected to start, but moves like paying for airtime and aligning with a developmental tour show the circuit will do whatever it takes to get what it wants.

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MENA Tour responds to OWGR not granting points to LIV Golf events in Bangkok, Jeddah

“Not including our event in this week’s OWGR render the results and subsequent player movements inaccurate.”

LIV Golf announced a “strategic alliance” with the Dubai-based developmental MENA Tour on Wednesday in an effort to gain Official World Golf Ranking points for its upcoming events this week in Thailand and next week in Saudi Arabia.

On Thursday the OWGR released a statement announcing that neither LIV event would earn OWGR points and that, “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 (Oct. 7-9) and LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah (Oct. 14-16),” the statement read.

Early Friday, the MENA Tour responded with a statement of its own from commissioner David Spencer which questions the decision to not grant points to the LIV events, which are now sanctioned by the MENA Tour as part of the alliance.

“We have had various communications with OWGR since submitting our 2022-23 schedule, MENA Tour handbook, exemption criteria and our field ahead of our opening event of our new season which tees off (Friday)” the MENA Tour statement read. “None of this communication pointed towards any technical reason for the LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok to be treated any differently to any MENA Tour event, every one of which has received OWGR since we were accepted into the OWGR framework in 2016.”

Spencer noted the tour has followed the OWGR’s guidelines for its 2022-23 season and that, “not including our event in this week’s OWGR render the results and subsequent player movements inaccurate.”

Spencer ended the statement by reassuring his new MENA Tour members – all LIV players joined the MENA Tour as part of the alliance – that the tour “will continue to work tirelessly to resolve this situation with the OWGR.

“The MENA Tour’s guiding principle of maximising playing opportunities and pathways for our Members and growing the great game of golf remains unchanged.”

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LIV Golf members will not earn Official World Golf Ranking points in Bangkok or Jeddah, OWGR reviewing changes to MENA Tour

LIV Golf’s workaround has been stopped, for now.

Not so fast, LIV Golf, says the Official World Golf Ranking.

On Wednesday, in its quest to earn world ranking points in its events, LIV Golf officials announced a ‘strategic alliance’ with the MENA Tour (Middle East and North Africa). The goal was for LIV’s events to be sanctioned by the Dubai-based developmental tour, which is recognized by the OWGR.

On Thursday, officials from the OWGR released a statement of their own, announcing that LIV Golf members wouldn’t be receiving OWGR points for its next two events, this week in Bangkok and next week in Jeddah.

The OWGR said it received communication detailing 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 on Wednesday, and those changes included the first two tournaments of the series, and only on the schedule thus far, were the next two LIV Golf events.

“A review of the changes to the MENA Tour is now underway by the OWGR,” the release said. “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 (Oct. 7-9) and LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah (Oct. 14-16).

“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.”

The OWGR statement also said 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.

The MENA Tour was founded in 2011 by the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation and was previously affiliated with both the R&A and the Arab Golf Federation. After five years the MENA Tour was recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking in 2016.

Norman and the players have been adamant from the start that LIV Golf events deserve OWGR points, so much so that LIV officials recently wrote a letter to the OWGR chairman asking for events to retroactively earn points. The application process for points can take up to a year, and LIV officials applied in July.

The “strategic alliance” is one of many bold moves made by the circuit to earn OWGR points.

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LIV Golf makes ‘strategic alliance’ with developmental MENA Tour in effort to gain Official World Golf Ranking points

LIV Golf Bangkok, the series’ first event in Asia, tees off later this week.

The PGA Tour and DP World Tour are no longer the sole strategic allegiance in professional golf.

On Wednesday the MENA Tour (Middle East and North Africa) announced its own “strategic alliance” with LIV Golf, the upstart circuit led by Greg Norman and backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. As LIV Golf continues its quest for Official World Golf Ranking points, its events will now be sanctioned by the Dubai-based developmental tour, which is recognized by the OWGR.

“We are taking this mutually beneficial action to support the game at the developmental level and because of the importance and fairness of LIV golfers qualifying for OWGR points,” said LIV Golf President and COO, Atul Khosla. “We’re pleased to create pathways that give more opportunities for young players, while also giving fans rankings that include all the world’s best golfers.”

LIV Golf Bangkok, the series’ first event in Asia, tees off later this week an hour north of the capital at the newly-opened Stonehill Golf Club. The event is now the first – and so far only – event on the schedule for the MENA Tour’s 2022-23 season.

The OWGR website does not list this week’s LIV event on its schedule and no announcement has been made regarding LIV’s status with the OWGR. 

According to a report in the Telegraph, Norman and LIV expect the Bangkok event to be LIV’s first with OWGR points. When the series transitions to the LIV Golf League in 2023, the MENA Tour schedule will reportedly include the 14-event LIV schedule.

Golf Digest reported the Bangkok event is “unlikely” to receive points this week and that a simple alliance with another tour doesn’t mean points are automatically earned.

The MENA Tour was founded in 2011 by the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation and was previously affiliated with both the R&A and the Arab Golf Federation. After five years the MENA Tour was recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking in 2016.

Norman and the players have been adamant from the start that LIV Golf events deserve OWGR points, so much so that LIV recently wrote a letter to the OWGR chairman asking for events to retroactively earn points. The application process for points can take up to a year, and LIV applied in July.

The “strategic alliance” is one of many bold moves made by LIV to earn OWGR points and proves the upstart circuit will do doing anything and everything to earn them.

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