©LIV Golf via twitter

LIV Golf Tour players have come together to sign a letter asking for retroactive points for playing the tournaments of the Saudi-origin circuit. The letter was addressed to the OWGR (Official World Golf Ranking), whose ranking list does not include any of the tournaments played on the Saudi-funded circuit. In July, the organization that runs the official rankings was asked to add points for participation in these tournaments, but received no response.

In the letter, which was signed by the league's biggest stars, it was claimed that failure to score points would lead to golfers not being able to play in very important tournaments, including the Olympics. Cameron Smith, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau are some of the names who signed the letter to preserve "integrity" sport because they consider it unfair that this tournament is an exception when it has many golfers at the highest level.

Signature of the players on the letter addressed to the World Golf Ranking.

Golfers state that LIV tournaments should be included in the OWGR point allocation system as not including this competition in this ranking “would be like leaving Belgium, Argentina and England out of the FIFA rankings”. Members of the Saudi-backed league claim that “As ranked athletes, we depend on the OWGR to not only qualify for the biggest events, including major tournaments and the Olympics, but also to tell us where we stand among our peers. »

"To maintain confidence, we urge you - as one of the sport's true statesmen - to act appropriately to include, on a retroactive basis, the results of LIV Golf events in the calculations. OWGR Ranking », adds the letter. They comment that “Every week that passes without the inclusion of LIV Golf athletes undermines the historic value of the OWGR”, write the players. “Over time, LIV golfers automatically decline in ranking. »

Not being able to earn ranking points and being pushed out of major tournaments frustrated golfers who decided to make it to the competition led by Greg Norman. Some league members have already suffered significant drops in the standings. A specific case was exposed in the golfers' statement. Dustin Johnson was used as an example in the letter to the OWGR “Dustin Johnson was ranked 13th in the OWGR shortly before announcing he would be playing at LIV. He is now ranked 22nd, despite finishing eighth, third, second and first in the first four LIV events”, they comment in their letter.

In conclusion, the golfers express in the letter the fact that “fans deserve inclusive and correct ratings”. “Not including 48 of the best golfers in the world in the rankings would mean that fans are deprived of what they deserve”, concludes the letter.

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