Furious LIV Golf stars demand changes as Bryson DeChambeau misses out on Olympics

LIV Golfers aren't holding back when it comes to voicing their displeasure over the "unfair politics" of the Olympics selection process. Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz, two Mexican golfers who qualified for the Paris Olympics, have openly criticised their exclusion from competing .

"It's just the situation in golf right now, it's unfair ," Ortiz commented during an Olympic press conference. "Especially Olympic Games , you want to have the best golfers right here, but politics somehow manage things still."

His discontent echoes the larger controversy surrounding one of the sport's premier names, Bryson DeChambeau from the United States and a LIV golfer , who did not make the cut for the Olympics due to his affiliation with the splinter tour. "The solution would be people up there to leave their egos on the side and find a common ground," Ortiz added firmly.

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Despite DeChambeau's impressive ninth-place ranking in the OWGR and coming off a U. S. Open victory, such credentials fell short of securing him a ticket to Paris.

With 60 spots available, automatic Olympic qualification goes to the top 15 OWGR-ranked players, subject to a cap of four per nation. Unfortunately for DeChambeau, fellow Americans Scottie Scheffler (1), Xander Schauffele (3), Wyndham Clark (5) and Collin Morikawa (7) are ranked above him.

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A sticking point for these athletes is the OWGR's exclusion of LIV Golf events from its points system, which compelled Ancer and Ortiz to participate in extra tournaments to claim their Olympic berths.

"I think very lucky," Ancer said at the press conference. "I was definitely sweating it in the last two months because there was really not much that I could play that fit the schedule to get in the World Ranking points."

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"There was a couple of weeks that I could have played a couple of events on the Asian Tour but the field wasn't that strong; that if I didn't happen to finish in the top two or three that week, it might actually hurt my World Ranking more than if I didn't play."

Jon Rahm, also a LIV golfer and top 10 player, offered his take: "Allow the countries to pick themselves."

"There needs to be some guidelines, but Team USA basketball has freedom to choose whoever they want. I understand it's a different circumstance, but I think you need to let each country choose who they want to play."

Ortiz remarked: "I understand the decision everything and, but right now, I think it's proven that the golf is there [at LIV], and there should be open panel ways for us to qualify, if that's still going to be the qualifying system, or let us somehow get into those tournaments in different ways."

The men's Olympic golf opening round is set for 7:30 CET on Thursday, Aug. 1, with Rahm, Scheffler, Schayffele, Clark, and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy among the top contenders.