Dustin Johnson hopes OWGR does “the right thing” and awards ranking points to LIV golfers; LIV announced alliance with MENA Tour last week and hoped to earn rankings points, only for OWGR to issue a snub; Johnson says, “right now it’s a matter of when”
Last Updated: 13/10/22 8:25am
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Dustin Johnson jokingly claiming he regrets joining LIV, adding that he is confident OWGR points will be awarded for future events
Dustin Johnson jokingly claiming he regrets joining LIV, adding that he is confident OWGR points will be awarded for future events
Two-time major winner Dustin Johnson feels it is inevitable that LIV golfers will eventually be allowed to earn ranking points.
The Official World Golf Ranking does not currently recognise the Saudi-backed league, which is currently nearing the end of its inaugural season.
LIV announced a “strategic alliance” with the MENA Tour and was hopeful that would lead to ranking points being awarded, only for OWGR to respond by saying points would not be handed out to LIV golfers in 2022.
Players on the MENA Tour have received ranking points since 2016.
Former Masters champion Johnson was crowned the inaugural LIV Golf Individual Champion with an event to spare
Johnson: Hopefully OWGR ‘do the right thing’
Johnson – who has been crowned the inaugural LIV Golf Individual Champion, scooping an $18m (£16.25m) first prize – said: “We’re going to get world ranking points, right now it’s a matter of when.
“Hopefully they [OWGR] do the right thing and we’ll know something in the next week or so. Hopefully they give us points, this will all be over and we won’t have to talk about it anymore.
“The longer it takes obviously the more irrelevant it becomes for us. If you wait too long all our rankings are going to drop so much it’s not even going to really matter.”
Graeme McDowell says it is ‘impossible’ for OWGR to ignore the talent playing in LIV Golf
The seventh of eight LIV Golf events takes place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia this week.
Speaking ahead of that tournament, 2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell said: “I feel like LIV tried to do everything they possibly can to be legitimate in the eyes of the OWGR. It needs to be taken care of ASAP.
“The word ‘official’ has to go away from OWGR if they don’t take care of the players out here.
“All we want is to have a fair court, to recognise exactly what it is that we are doing. It’s impossible to ignore the talent that’s out here.
“The only assurances that we get from LIV is that we are ticking all the boxes that we can tick and continue to do what is necessary for the OWGR to look at us the right way.”