LIV Golf gives up efforts for world ranking: consequences for the Olympics?

Concedes: Greg Norman, managing director of LIV Golf Image: picture alliance / ASSOCIATED PRESS

LIV Golf abandons its attempts to enter the world ranking system. This could have consequences for the allocation of Olympic starting places. The lives of high earners are becoming more difficult.

LIV Golf has given up for the first time. Since July 2022, the rival league, financed by Saudi Arabia with billions, had been trying to be included in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) system. Now the Australian Greg Norman, the 69-year-old managing director and commissioner of LIV, has announced that he has withdrawn the application to be allowed to distribute world ranking points at his invitation tournaments.

“We have made enormous efforts to fight for you. “Unfortunately, the OWGR has shown little willingness to work productively with us to ensure that your achievements are recognized within the existing ranking system,” Norman wrote in a letter to players. A surprising turnaround by the Australian, who had topped the world rankings introduced on April 6, 1986 with 331 weeks (between September 1986 and January 1998), the second longest after Tiger Woods (683 weeks).