LIV Golf‘s attempt to gain world ranking points for its players via a backdoor deal with the Mena Tour have been snubbed by the body that organises the rankings, leaving the Saudi-backed series with no immediate prospect of being granted official status.

The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) has confirmed that LIV Golf events this season will not offer world ranking points, despite the Saudi-backed circuit’s new partnership with the MENA Tour, a Dubai-based tour that has offered world ranking points since 2016.

On Wednesday the Mena Tour announced a ‘strategic alliance’ with LIV Golf that would see all its events added to their schedule and all members of the LIV Golf circuit joining their tour. LIV Golf believed the move would make their events eligible to receive official world ranking points, potentially as soon as the Thailand tournament beginning today (Friday), although the OWGR said it had been given insufficient notice of the development and that a decision would only be made following a review.

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Despite an attempt to find a backdoor into its players earning points on the Official World Golf Rankings by aligning itself with the little-known MENA Tour, LIV Golf continues to be denied such access for the moment. In a statement released Thursday, the OWGR said it will review the developments before making a decision, though that review will not reach its conclusion before the next two LIV events are completed.

The MENA Tour (Middle East and North Africa Tour) is a fledgling league with $75,000 purses that hasn’t hosted many events since the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. It is not notable on the list of relevant tours globally, but its members can earn OWGR points. LIV Golf, which presents 54-hole tournaments with no cuts and has thus been denied access to OWGR points, this week formed a “strategic alliance” with the MENA Tour.

The concept arrived upon by LIV Golf is for the MENA Tour to present LIV tournaments as “limited field events” under its banner, thus opening OWGR points to LIV golfers, many of whom are among the biggest stars in the game that chose to leave the PGA Tour for the guaranteed riches offered by the Saudi Arabia-backed league.

OWGR points allow golfers to stay relevant in the world rankings and qualify for major championships.

The OWGR responded to the request as such:

OWGR notes that the first two tournaments in [the MENA Tour’s newly submitted schedule] appeared to be the same as the LIV Golf Invitational Series tournaments in Bangkok and Jeddah. The communication from the MENA Tour included a starting field data file for the Bangkok tournament, confirming that to be the case.

A review of the changes to the MENA Tour is now underway by the OWGR.

Notice of these changes given by the MENA Tour is insufficient to allow OWGR to conduct the customary necessary review ahead of the LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok (7-9 October) and LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah (14-16 October).

Only after the review is complete will a decision be made on awarding points to the MENA Tour’s new “Limited Field Tournaments”, defined by the MENA Tour in its Regulations as “any MENA Tour-approved tournament, which comprises of a player field of less than 80 players”.

In some ways, this was a smart attempt by LIV to skirt the rules outlined by the OWGR. The top MENA Tour players get access to the Asian Tour, and the top Asian Tour players will receive spots in future LIV events, according to Sports Illustrated. The OWGR broadly requires OWGR-affiliated leagues to have mobility, and moving from the MENA Tour to the Asian Tour and then into LIV Golf would provide a mobility within tours that seemingly didn’t exist when LIV started. It’s a convoluted path, but it exists.

“I think from a player standpoint, it feels great to have everyone at LIV fighting so hard for the players and their best interests,” Phil Mickelson told SI. “I think for the World Golf Rankings, this is a great way to keep its credibility, while not bringing politics into the decision-making process. I think it’s good for all parties.”

This is certainly not a “no” from the OWGR, but it is not what LIV wanted to hear. Still, LIV is trying a variety of creative ways to obtain OWGR points. As time passes and more of the picture comes into view, it seems more possible than ever that they could obtain them. Whether that’s through the MENA Tour or the Asian Tour or by simply changing their format and their structure to better fit the OWGR stipulations, the pathway remains to be seen. However, given the caliber of players on the LIV roster, it would be surprising at this point if it did not eventually work itself out one way or another.

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The divergent worlds of LIV Golf and golf’s two most dominant tours, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, look on course for another major fallout after LIV Golf announced the formation of a new ‘strategic alliance’ with the little-known Middle East & North Africa Tour that could potentially see LIV Golf events being accorded Official World Golf Ranking points.

With LIV Golf events currently not qualifying for OWGR points due to their unique set up and format – 54 holes with no cut and qualification by invitation only – by aligning with the Mena Tour, players on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series could conceivably be allowed to earn OWGR points, which are used in the qualification process for the four majors and other high-profile events, including the Ryder Cup.

The Mena Tour was launched in 2011 and traditionally stages around 15 events each season, with total prize funds of around $75,000 per event. The tour, whose events are also 54 holes, has been recognised by the OWGR since 2016, although due to the weak fields does not attract anywhere near the points on offer on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour or even the Challenge Tour. The Mena Tour was suspended during the pandemic, and has so far only staged four events this year.

The alliance with the LIV Golf Invitational series will see the MENA Tour run as normal, with LIV Golf events interspersed within the Mena Tour’s schedule – almost as a tour within a tour. The alliance could come into effect as early as this Friday (October 7), the first day of the LIV Golf’s next event in Thailand, but it would require the board of the OWGR to ratify the new alliance before any points might be awarded.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Mena Tour said: “The Mena Tour today announced a strategic alliance which will result in LIV Golf Invitational events becoming part of and sanctioned by the Mena Tour, a Dubai-based golf tour which has been recognized by the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) since 2016.

“The alliance will boost the Mena Tour’s development programs and immediately qualify LIV Golf for OWGR points, starting with the LIV Golf Thailand event at Stonehill this week.

“The final field for LIV Golf Thailand, the opening event of the 2022-23 Mena Tour season, will be submitted to OWGR by the Mena Tour ahead of play commencing on Friday when the final field rating and winners’ points are expected to be confirmed. As a result of the alliance, all LIV Golf players have joined the Mena Tour.”

Atul Khosla, the president of LIV Golf, said: “We are taking this mutually beneficial action to support the game at the developmental level and because of the importance and fairness of LIV golfers qualifying for OWGR points. We’re pleased to create pathways that give more opportunities for young players, while also giving fans rankings that include all the world’s best golfers.”

Neither the PGA Tour nor the DP World Tour has so far commented on this latest development, but as both bodies have board members on the OWGR it is likely that they will have a major role to play in whether LIV Golf’s latest move is successful or not.

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