The biggest kink in LIV Golf's armor in their civil war with the PGA Tour has proven to be the lack of Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) recognition, but this snub now appears to be working in the breakaway league's favor.
The latest update to the OWGR list on Monday continued on the theme of LIV's biggest names tumbling down the list, with the movement of Dustin Johnson as one of the most eye-catching. Former world No. 1 Johnson has now moved to his lowest spot in the rankings since his PGA Tour debut season back in 2008.
Two years without ranking points leaves the 40-year-old loitering down in 453rd in the list, a world away from his former dominance as the best golfer on the planet during his time on the PGA Tour.
Now the 4Aces captain may no longer be the player he once was at his scintillating best, but the idea that there are 452 players better than him in the rankings is laughable. In Johnson's maiden season with LIV, he showed exactly why he was a huge coup for the breakaway league, winning both the inaugural individual title and Team Championship with the 4Aces.
Since then he is one of only two players to win a title in all three of LIV's campaigns alongside his former Ryder Cup teammate in Brooks Koepka - another who has seen his name drift from relevance in the OWGR list. LIV has of course tried to secure ranking recognition, but has had their applications denied.
Most recently the league was told by OWGR bosses last October that their closed shop roster and tournament format was hindering their bid. Of course, these things work both ways. Long before LIV, the OWGR proved more than adequate when ranking players, with sanctioned tours following guidelines to ensure they could offer points to their players.
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LIV has yet to abide by these and has been told by the ranking system that adaptation is needed to become eligible. The response of the league however seems clear, who are in no mood to make any sacrifices to their setup to meet the needs of the sport's most recognized ranking system.
So much so, that LIV CEO Greg Norman informed his players earlier this year that they had given up their OWGR hunt. This could have worked two ways for Norman and Co. The Aussie has built a loyal roster of players, however for many who are not blessed with exemptions into the four major championships, ending all hope of earning ranking recognition would have proven a bitter pill to swallow.
Over half a year on though, the decision appears to be one that the league is yet to regret. It seems the feeling in men's professional golf is no longer how much LIV needs the OWGR, but how much the OWGR needs LIV. With each passing week, the legitimacy of the ranking list weakens, with some of the world's best players falling into OWGR obscurity.
As time passes, the acceptance of LIV is only growing, and this will only hinder OWGR. The solution is a difficult one. LIV seems set on forging their own path at the top of men's professional golf, and will no doubt have eyes on showing this to golf's four major championships moving forward.
Does OWGR swallow their pride and make some sort of compromise to incorporate LIV into their system? It seems unlikely, but the longer the breakaway league's players are left loitering from the top, the harder it will prove for the rankings list to reassert their role as golf's most recognized ranking body.
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