Fans of LIV Golf will be delighted to see the new season start so they can move on from all of the noise that has dominated the winter for the league.
LIV Golf has rarely had to deal with the kind of turbulence that followed the 2025 season. Of course, they have lost two of their major champions, with Brooks Koepka returning to the PGA Tour and Patrick Reed intending to follow him.
Which LIV Golf player do you think will make the biggest jump in the world rankings in 2026?
The OWGR are awarding points for top 10 finishes from this season!
LIV have also struggled to make any notable signings over the off-season. Their best deals appear to concern the young players they have brought in.
On the eve of the new campaign, there was also a significant update from the OWGR.
Scott O’Neil reacts to the OWGR’s decision to award LIV Golf with world ranking points
The OWGR announced on Tuesday that LIV events will receive world ranking points for the first time. From 2026 onwards, those who finish in the top 10 in each LIV tournament will be awarded points.
It is definitely a step in the right direction. But some associated with LIV are far from happy with the news, with 11th place essentially worth the same as 57th.
So perhaps it is no surprise that CEO Scott O’Neil expressed mixed feelings when asked about the decision on TNT Sports ahead of the first round in Riyadh.
“I’ve been very blessed to spend a lot of time with Trevor Immelman, I have a lot of time for him. He’s the chairman of the OWGR, Masters champion, broadcaster in the US, South African. And he came in, guns blazing, saying let’s sort this thing out. I talked to him way too much, three, four times a day. I sent him two dozen decks of analytics and information as to why we think we are what we are – which is the dominant global golf league in the world. Period, end of sentence,” he said.
“Can you imagine, look at the board. The board has commissioner Jay Monahan of the PGA Tour. It has Guy Kinnings from the DP World Tour. Those are two really strong forces, friends, long-time friends of mine in both cases. They’re all good people, good executives. But they have the most to lose and they’re voting members in the room. And so, the fact that they are voting for us with all they have to lose, is a good sign for us.
“That being said, if you look at what’s happening around the world, the OWGR, I don’t know, what do they cover? 50 tours? I have no idea. Any of them that have no cut, there’s 15 per cent of the field that don’t get points. 82 per cent of our field doesn’t get points.
“When you look at their mission statement, we are fair and transparent. I’m like this doesn’t feel fair and it certainly isn’t transparent.
“When I look out there, I see a field, the top 25 guys in this league compete with the top 25 guys on the PGA Tour. And that’s analytics speaking. That’s not me, that’s not bluster.”
The OWGR have plenty to work on, but appear to have made the correct call on LIV
It is hard to have much sympathy for LIV. Clearly, the OWGR is far from perfect. There has been plenty of criticism of the way those who play in the Hero World Challenge each year are rewarded.
But LIV acting as if they have been particularly hard done by feels incredibly rich.
LIV’s previous application was rejected, in part, because they had a team event running alongside. Meanwhile, the field size was significantly smaller.
Obviously, LIV should get points. However, some of the same problems remain. So while the OWGR certainly need to rethink some of their decisions regarding other tours and events, it does seem as though they have got their call on LIV correct.
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