Why is the Official World Golf Ranking so important to LIV Golf? And how do pros qualify for majors?

Maintaining a high spot on the OWGR allows golfers who have never won a major to earn exemptions into future majors.

When stars like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau joined LIV Golf, many focused on the nine-figure contracts these major champions reportedly signed, and their suspensions from the PGA Tour. Then Brooks Koepka signed with LIV, followed by Bubba Watson, Joaquin Niemann and the 2022 Players Championship and British Open winner, Cameron Smith.

But starting in September, the conversation shifted to the value of something that money can’t buy, at least not yet — Official World Golf Ranking points. In a statement on Sept. 21, LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman stated that not only should LIV Golf competitors start getting OWGR points for their performances, but they should also retroactively get points for LIV events they had already played.

In the following weeks, Patrick Reed, Graeme McDowell and other LIV golfers questioned the legitimacy of the rankings if LIV players continued to be denied points for LIV events.

The rankings are crucial to LIV Series golfers for reasons that go beyond pride. Maintaining a high spot on the OWGR allows golfers who have never won a major championship to earn exemptions into future majors, and while each championship uses slightly different criteria to create its field, they each reward golfers with a high rank at specific times with an exemption into their tournament.

As of now, the governing bodies of golf’s four major championships — Augusta National Golf Club, the PGA of America, the United States Golf Association and the R&A — have not announced any changes to qualifying criteria for 2023. If nothing changes, the exemption lists below will be how professional golfers get into the field of next season’s Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and British Open, along with the ways that professional golfers who compete on the LIV Series have already earned spots.