The default strategy of blowhard narcissists is to declare any rules or institutions hindering their agenda to be invalid and unfair, an argument invariably mounted via a firehose of horseshit that’s nevertheless accepted by credulous conspiracy theorists. So it is with Greg Norman and the Official World Golf Ranking, which has declined to recognize Norman’s LIV Golf tournaments.

Gaslightin’ Greg says it’s “laughable” that LIV would feature just two of the world’s top 50 golfers if not for recent signings. The insinuation is obvious: the OWGR is discriminating against LIV, and the ranking is obsolete — charges dutifully repeated by his lunkhead loyalists, who probably think critical faculty refers to the frustrated high school teachers who couldn’t help them to a passing grade.

The OWGR denied LIV’s application for recognition last October, and the organization’s chairman, Peter Dawson, carefully explained the decision. Concerns included the relegation process, whereby a player who finishes 25th might lose status while one who finishes last doesn’t because he’s contractually exempt from being booted.

Another issue was LIV playing individual and team events simultaneously. Dawson singled out comments by Sebastian Munoz, who admitted he backed off a chance to win an individual title last spring so as to protect a lead in the team affair. The possibility of teammates being paired together was also raised, since those players might be incentivized to overlook untoward conduct (not that anyone at LIV has a reputation for dodgy rules infractions, right counselor Klayman?).

The OWGR signposted what steps LIV could take to be eligible for ranking points; LIV said it will not comply. Those are the basic facts. Norman, however, is relying on brazen misrepresentation. He claims the function of the OWGR is to rank the best golfers in the world. It is not. Its function is to rank the best golfers competing on tours whose competitive integrity can be vouched for. That’s a crucial caveat conveniently omitted by the flaxen-haired finger puppet.

Norman and LIV are clinging to the risible notion that golfers are entitled to ranking points on name recognition and reputation alone, as though star power renders irrelevant the competitive integrity of where they play. There are no stars competing on the Nordic Golf League and Big Easy Tour, but both are recognized by the OWGR because they observe the necessary criteria. LIV isn’t because it won’t, so Norman decries the legitimacy of the rules and even of the very ranking whose imprimatur he seeks, while insisting the majors must rewrite exemption criteria to accommodate his objectives.

Jon Rahm of Team Legion XIII, right, stands with LIV CEO Greg Norman on the first tee during the first round of the LIV Golf Mayakoba tournament at El Chamaleon Golf Course. (Photo: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports)

On Feb. 21, Augusta National Golf Club announced that invitations have been extended to three players not otherwise qualified for the Masters. One went to Joaquin Niemann, who recently won on the LIV tour then complained it wasn’t enough to exempt him into major championships (though winning the Seminole Pro-Member wouldn’t qualify a chap either). Niemann was No. 18 in the world when he signed with LIV and is now ranked 81st. The Masters was explicit about why the young Chilean was deserving of an invitation: the tournament’s desire to have representation from regions where golf is growing, and Niemann’s victory in the Australian Open, alongside several strong showings on the DP World Tour. His performances on LIV were not mentioned.

Thorbjorn Olesen also received a Masters invitation on the heels of a recent win and a handful of high finishes on the European circuit. Taken together, the message from Augusta National seems unambiguous: competing on LIV won’t prevent someone from being welcomed down Magnolia Lane in April, but competing almost exclusively on LIV while making no effort to meet the Masters’ established exemption criteria will.

The criticisms of the OWGR coming from the LIV quarter expose two realities: players who jumped despite knowing ranking points were not available are insisting on being insulated from the consequences of their decisions, and a CEO is frantically trying to blame others for his failure to deliver on false promises. Two weeks ago, Carlos Ortiz told a podcast that he was assured by LIV upon signing that he would earn world ranking points. Who do you suppose promised Ortiz something that wasn’t within his gift? Norman is waging a campaign against the ranking because players swallowed his guff as gospel and now realize they were sold a bill of goods, including by unscrupulous agents. That’s why more than 20 members of LIV’s roster are currently in Oman, searching the shallows of the Asian Tour for points..

Whatever the fate of LIV becomes down the road, its players are in a hole when it comes to accessing the championships that matter more than money, at least those dependent on world ranking for entry. And all the bluster in the world can’t disguise Greg Norman’s role in putting them there.

LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann has accepted a Masters invitation as Augusta National works to ensure there are no question marks over the quality of the field set to battle for the green jacket in Georgia from April 11-14.

LIV Golf remains beyond the pale for the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and Niemann, who has played around the globe during his weeks away from the Saudi-backed circuit, has been rewarded for his excellent play over the past few months with a fifth trip down Magnolia Lane

Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National and the Masters, announced yesterday that world number 81 Niemann had joined Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen (59th) and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune (78th) in accepting invitations.

“The Masters Tournament has a long-standing tradition of inviting leading international players who are not otherwise qualified,” Ridley said. “Today’s announcement represents the Tournament’s continued commitment towards developing interest in the game of golf across the world.”

Ranked a career-high 15th in the world in 2022, Niemann was 16th in the Masters last year.

He’s since plummeted from 24th to 81st in the world and would be a lot lower were it not for the three top-five finishes he’s recorded in three DP World Tour starts this season, including an Australian Open that secured him a spot in The Open at Royal Troon.

Augusta National referenced those DP World Tour performances in its press release. But there was no mention of LIV Golf, where Niemann shot 59 before beating Sergio Garcia in a playoff at Mayakoba and where players do not receive world ranking points.

With so many big stars defecting to LIV Golf over the past few years and with winners of full-field events on a now diluted PGA TOUR, as well as the top 50 of the diminished OWGR, guaranteed Masters starts, the absence of a player of Niemann’s quality would raise question marks over the Masters field.

LIV Golf is not recognised as an Eligible Golf Tour in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) system, not because of its 54-hole format or team element but because several players are on beneficial contracts which guarantee their spots on the tour no matter how they perform, even after the introduction of the LIV Golf Promotions event.

Augusta National is one of seven organisations represented on the board of the OWGR, which is chaired by former R&A Chief Executive Peter Dawson, who said last year that LIV players such as Masters winners Dustin Johnson or Sergio Garcia should be ranked.

“We are not at war with them,” Dawson said of LIV. “This decision not to make them eligible is not political. It is entirely technical.

“LIV players are self-evidently good enough to be ranked. They’re just not playing in a format where they can be ranked equitably with the other 24 tours and thousands of players trying to compete on them… I hope that LIV can find a solution — not so much their format; that can be dealt with through a mathematical formula — but the qualification and relegation.”

LIV Golf’s closed shop element remains, which means continuing OWGR frustration for Commissioner and CEO Greg Norman, who took to Instagram on Monday to lament the fact that eight LIV players are amongst the top 50 in the world or Data Golf but just two [Brooks Koepka, 29th, and Cameron Smith 44th] were in the OWGR top 50 “if you exclude recent signees”, meaning Jon Rahm (3rd), Tyrrell Hatton (17th) and Adrian Meronk (49th).

A total of 83 players, including Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, have qualified for the Masters so far. But Padraig Harrington will have his chance to join them if he wins this week’s Mexico Open at Vidanta, where just four of the world’s top 50 tees it up.

Meanwhile, Conor Purcell will have a chance to move up the Race to Dubai again when he competes in the DP World Tour’s Magical Kenya Open.

The Challenge Tour remains in South Africa for the NMB Championship in Port Elizabeth, where Dermot McElroy, Jonathan Caldwell, John Murphy, Gary Hurley, Ronan Mullarney and Conor O’Rourke all tee it up.

On the LPGA Tour, Leona Maguire plays the Honda LPGA Thailand at Siam Country Club as Olivia Mehaffey and Lauren Walsh play the LET’s Lalla Meryem Cup at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Morocco.

On Wednesday morning, The Masters dropped a press release announcing that three players accepted special invites to play in the 88th playing of the event.

Those golfers include LIV Golf star Joaquin Niemann, Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune.

“The Masters Tournament has a long-standing tradition of inviting leading international players who are not otherwise qualified,” Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Chairman, Fred Ridley, said. “Today’s announcement represents the Tournament’s continued commitment towards developing interest in the game of golf across the world. We look forward to welcoming each player to Augusta National this spring.”

Niemann recently posted a sub-60 round and won LIV Golf’s season opener in Mexico earlier this month. That came on the heels of him also winning the Australian Open in December (a co-sanctioned event) and then logging a fourth place finish at the Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour in January.

It is quite obvious that Niemann is one of the better players in the world. But this development is still sure to raise some eyebrows.

There are a number of members of LIV who will tee it up at Augusta National. They will do so via exemption as past major champions.

But Augusta National Golf Club is setting a precedent likely to be followed by other governing bodies of golf.

Niemann is in the field for the Asian Tour’s International Series in Oman this week. However, that appearance won’t increase his No. 81 Official World Golf Ranking. The field at that event isn’t strong enough to push him up the standings.

“It kind of hurt me a little bit not being in the majors and I think it helped me to get motivation to kind of earn my spot back into the majors, into the elite players,” he said after his LIV Mexico win. “I think it helped me a little bit to get focused back, to start working harder, to start working with a purpose.”

This year will mark Niemann’s fifth start at the Masters. His best finish came in 2023 when he finished T16. The Chilean golfer made his first start at Augusta National in 2018 when he was the reigning Latin America Amateur champion and the No. 1 amateur in the world.

Meanwhile, Hisatsune will be making his Masters debut. The 21-year-old Japanese player won the DP World Tour’s Rookie of the Year after his performance in 2023.

He won the French Open and logged a T8 at the Australian Open. Hisatsune’s play earned him the distinction of becoming the first ever Japanese DP World Tour Rookie of the Year.

Olesen will make his fourth Masters appearance, making the cut in all three of his previous starts. He made his debut at the historic event in 2013 when he captured a T6 finish. In January, Olesen won for the third straight year on the DP World Tour, capturing the Ras Al Khaimah Championship by a whopping six strokes.

Ridley also announced that 83 players received invitations to play in this year’s tournament. Their criteria remain the same, meaning players need to be winners of upcoming PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation. The other standard is to be ranked in the Top 50 of the OWGR the week before the tournament.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

The PGA Tour is set to make its annual trip south of the border this week for the 2024 Mexico Open at Vidanta Play gets underway on Thursday at Vidanta Vallarta. As the defending tournament champion Tony Finau headlines the 2024 Mexico Open field. The world No. 24 is easily the most accomplished player in the field and enters as the 13-2 betting favorite in the latest 2024 Mexico Open odds. Other top contenders include Nicolai Højgaard (16-1), Emiliano Grillo (18-1), Thomas Detry (25-1), Stephan Jaeger (25-1), Thorbjørn Olesen (25-1)., and Taylor Pendrith (30-1). The players will be competing for a total 2024 Mexico Open purse of $8.1 million. The winner will take home $1.386 million. 

With his standing as the top player in the field, would this be the ideal week to use Tony Finau as your pick in One and Done pools? Or should you target a long shot with this being a wide open field? Before locking in your 2024 Mexico Open one and done picks, you need to see what SportsLine DFS pro and PGA expert Mike McClure has to say. 

The One and Done format is growing in popularity. It has several noticeable similarities to NFL Survivor pools, with the main difference being entries are not eliminated with a bad week. Players pick one golfer per week and earn points based on their selected golfer’s prize money for that tournament. Golfers can only be used once per season, and the point format makes nailing majors and big money tournaments critical.

McClure is a DFS legend with over $2 million in career winnings, and he’s been red-hot on his PGA picks dating back to the PGA Tour restart in June of 2020. McClure uses his proprietary simulation model to analyze the field and crush his golf picks.

McClure nailed plenty of One and Done picks in 2023. At the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open, McClure’s top One and Done pick, Max Homa, outlasted the entire field to take home his sixth career PGA Tour victory and $1.566 million. At the WM Phoenix Open, McClure nailed Scheffler winning the tournament, taking home $3.6 million.

He correctly called Jon Rahm’s wins at The Masters and the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Then at the RBC Canadian Open McClure listed Nick Taylor and Tyrrell Hatton as two of his top one and done picks. Taylor would go on to win the tournament, while Hatton finished in third place. And finally, at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, his top OAD pick was eventual tournament champion Rickie Fowler.

This season, one of his top OAD picks was for The American Express was Justin Thomas, who finished in third place and took home $635,600, and at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am his top pick was Scottie Scheffler, who finished in sixth place after the final round was cancelled due to weather. At the WM Phoenix Open, McClure recommended OAD players use Scheffler as their pick if they hadn’t done so already this season. He ended up finishing in third place, taking home $519,200. Finally, one of McClure’s top OAD picks at the Genesis Invitational was Patrick Cantlay, who finished in fourth place at the signature event.  

Now, McClure has dialed in on the Mexico Open at Vidanta golf tournament and just locked in his one and done picks and PGA predictions. They are a must-see for any player looking for an edge in their One and Done pool. You can only see McClure’s Mexico Open at Vidanta 2024 one and done picks at SportsLine.

Top 2024 Mexico Open at Vidanta One and Done picks

One of McClure’s top one and done picks this week at Vidanta is Tony Finau. The 34-year-old has an impressive track record, and is the top ranked player in the field. Finau’s pedigree is unmatched this week, and McClure likes his chances at defending his 2023 Mexico Open title. 

Finau currently ranks fifth on the PGA Tour in strokes gained tee-to-green (1.545), seventh in strokes gained on approach (0.915), and 17th in strokes gained off the tee (0.613). With his status as the unquestioned top golfer in the Mexico Open field, McClure believes the time is right to use Finau in One and Done pools. You can see who else to back at SportsLine.

How to make Mexico Open 2024 One and Done picks

McClure is also targeting another golfer for his 2024 Mexico Open at Vidanta one and done picks who was outstanding throughout the 2023 season. This player has the ability to win any tournament he enters, and is one of the most talented golfers in this wide open field. You can find out who it is, and check out all of McClure’s Mexico Open at Vidanta one and done picks at SportsLine.

Who wins the the Mexico Open at Vidanta 2024, and which golfers should you target for your PGA one and done picks this week? Visit SportsLine now to get Mike McClure’s Mexico Open at Vidanta 2024 one and done picks, all from the DFS pro who called Nick Taylor’s epic win at the RBC Canadian Open and Rickie Fowler’s win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2023, and find out.

Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament, announced Wednesday that Joaquin Niemann, Thorbjørn Olesen and Ryo Hisatsune have all accepted special invitations into the 2024 Masters field. Since 1999, the Masters has extended special invitations 15 times, but this is only the second instance of three players receiving special invitations. The other came in 2008. 

The 2024 Masters field now stands at 83 players with upcoming winners on the PGA Tour and those who finish inside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings the week prior still eligible to receive invites.

“The Masters Tournament has a long-standing tradition of inviting leading international players who are not otherwise qualified,” Ridley said. “Today’s announcement represents the Tournament’s continued commitment towards developing interest in the game of golf across the world. We look forward to welcoming each player to Augusta National this spring.”

Niemann, a former winner of the Latin America Amateur Championship, which is run by Augusta National, has been hard at work trying to accrue enough OWGR points to earn an invitation into the Masters. Teeing it up in this week’s Asian Tour event in Oman, the world No. 81 sought to inch closer to the top-50 cutoff as his home circuit, LIV Golf, is still ineligible to receive world rankings points. 

The 25-year-old qualified for the 2024 Open with his victory at the Australian Open on the DP World Tour this past winter but was in jeopardy of missing the other three majors. After winning LIV Golf Mayakoba, Niemann lamented about his access to major championship fields.

“I want to win majors, but I’ve got to get in first,” said Niemann.

Augusta National heard his pleas, and the young Chilean is now in the field for the year’s first major championship. It will mark his fifth appearance in the Masters with his best result coming last year when he finished T16.

Olesen will make his fourth career start at the Masters and first since 2019. The Dane has been playing fantastic golf on the DP World Tour with a win in his last start and five top 10s in his last seven worldwide appearances. A member of the 2018 Ryder Cup team, Olesen appears keen on returning to top form.

While Niemann and Olesen will return to Augusta National, Hisatsune will be making his first trip. The young man from Japan has been racing through tours, first ascending from the Japan Golf Tour to the DP World Tour. Winning the French Open in 2023, Hisatsune finished inside the top 10 of the Race to Dubai to earn his PGA Tour card for 2024. He recently finished T11 at The American Express.

The 88th Masters will take place from April 11–14.

The 2024 Masters is inching closer and closer, and news about this year’s tournament is starting to trickle out. But Wednesday saw the biggest news yet: Augusta National is offering an invite to LIV Golf pro Joaquin Niemann.

The surprising announcement came Wednesday morning at 8:28 a.m. ET via a post on the official Masters X account. Along with Niemann, two otherwise unqualified pros were also given Masters invites: Thorbjørn Olesen and Ryo Hisatsune.

In a statement, Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley said the special invites were part of a “long-standing tradition of inviting leading international players who are not otherwise qualified” for the Masters.

“Today’s announcement represents the [Masters] Tournament’s continued commitment towards developing interest in the game of golf across the world,” Ridley wrote in the statement. “We look forward to welcoming each player to Augusta National this spring.”

At No. 58 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Denmark’s Olsesen is just short of the top-50 ranking needed to earn a Masters spot on his own. He still has time to sneak into the top 50, as long as he keeps up his strong recent play.

Japan’s Hisatsune is ranked No. 78 and earned his special invite as a result of being named DP World Tour Rookie of the Year in 2023.

Which leaves us with Niemann. The 25-year-old Chilean pro left the PGA Tour for LIV in the summer of 2022. He played in the 2021 and 2022 Masters as a PGA Tour member, then qualified for the 2023 Masters via his world ranking, where he finished T16.

But since LIV events don’t offer world ranking points, Niemann has seen his position plummet to No. 81, well outside the top-50 needed to tee it up at Augusta.

In addition to his stellar play on LIV, Niemann has expressed a strong interest in playing and winning majors, so he’s tried everything he could to earn world ranking points. That included playing the Australian swing late last year, where he won the Australian Open.

He also teed it up at the DP World Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic in January, where he finished T4.

Niemann is even in the field for this week’s Asian Tour International Series event in Oman, where he was hoping to earn more world ranking points. Now with Augusta’s announcement, Niemann won’t need the points to return to the Masters, though he may still need them for the any other majors he hopes to qualify for this season.

Kevin Cunningham

Golf.com Editor

As managing producer for GOLF.com, Cunningham edits, writes and publishes stories on GOLF.com, and manages the brand’s e-newsletters, which reach more than 1.4 million subscribers each month. A former two-time intern, he also helps keep GOLF.com humming outside the news-breaking stories and service content provided by our reporters and writers, and works with the tech team in the development of new products and innovative ways to deliver an engaging site to our audience.

Louis Oosthuizen says he is at peace with not playing the major championships again following his switch to LIV Golf.

The 41-year-old South African is the biggest name in the field for the first tournament of the International Series in Muscat this week.

It is a series of 10 tournaments on the Asian Tour, each with a minimum prize fund of $2 million, an investment backed by LIV Golf.

In last year’s International Series Oman, Oosthuizen missed the cut at the Greg Norman-designed Al Mouj Golf Club.

In the 12 months since, he has played in just five competitions which carry world rankings points. He captains the Stinger team in LIV Golf events, which are not recognised by the official world golf rankings

Oosthuizen, who has been ranked as high as No 4 in his career, is now down at No 137, limiting his prospects of qualifying for major championships.

He has been runner up in each of the majors in the past, and won the Open at St Andrews in 2010. That at least guarantees him a place in the field for that event until the age of 60.

“I went [to LIV] knowing what the situation was and that we are not going to get any world rankings [points] – if you can even call it world rankings any more,” Oosthuizen said.

“They are not really world rankings. I made my peace with not playing in majors. I am fortunate enough to play in the Open, still.

“It is a shame to see great players like [the LIV roster] not getting what they deserve. Hopefully they can do something very quickly about it.”

Oosthuizen said of the world rankings that “the whole system needs to change completely”, with many players formerly regarded among the best in the world tumbling down the standings since switching to LIV.

“If they don’t want to give you world ranking points for playing on LIV then they should change the system completely where they give spots to majors to each tour in the world,” Oosthuizen said.

“Those guys have a lot more experience than me sitting on boards. I can’t believe there is no solution to it.”

He seems certain to miss the Masters in April for the first time since 2009. Last year, a hip injury forced him to withdraw from the tournament at Augusta National with one hole left to play of his second round.

“When I made my decision to join LIV, I knew it would be inevitable. The day was going to come where I was not able to play a tournament like Augusta.

“But to be honest that course is so long now, I am struggling around it. I have hit more 7-woods and 3-irons into par-4s there than when I played in ’09 and ’10.

“I’ll miss it because it is an unbelievable experience, a great tournament and golf course, but I honestly think the course has gone a little too long for me now anyway.”

Oosthuizen does, though, suggest he has unfinished business at the course he will be playing this week.

He was absent for the weekend when he played last year at Al Mouj, which is a picturesque course between the shore of the Gulf of Oman and Muscat International Airport.

“I played poorly but really enjoy the course and that was the main reason for me coming back,” he said. “It is in even better shape than it was last year.”

The competition is part of the partnership between the Asian Tour and LIV by which they say they hope to develop the game in the region.

The field for the tournament includes UAE-citizen Joshua Grenville-Wood, as well as a number of other players from the Mena region – plus two Omani amateur players.

“We are very fortunate as Arab golfers to have these opportunities, even though we are amateurs,” Azzan Al Rumihy, one of the Omani players, said.

“To get a chance to play among the best players in the world means a lot to us, and prepares us for other regional tournaments that we compete in.

“When we play with them, even in practice rounds, we realise what are the gaps and what we need to work on to get close to where they are, and try to hit the ball as long as they do. We want to develop our game.”

Updated: February 21, 2024, 2:58 PM

LIV Golf League member Joaquin Niemann is among the list of three players who have accepted special invites from Augusta National to compete in the 2024 edition of The Masters.

Niemann will make his fifth appearance at The Masters this month, live from April 11-14 on Sky Sports, having impressed on both the DP World Tour and in the LIV Golf League over the past few months.

The Chilean has dropped down the world rankings since switching from the PGA Tour in 2022, with no points available at LIV Golf events, but has registered top-five finishes in his last three starts – including victory in December’s Australian Open – on the DP World Tour.

Niemann also won the LIV Golf season opener in Mayakoba, where he carded an opening-round 59 before defeating former Masters champion Sergio Garcia in a play-off, where he said after his victory: “I want to win majors, but I’ve got to get in first.”

Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen – winner of the Ras Al Khaimah Championship on the DP World Tour – and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune, the DP World Tour’s Rookie of the Year, have also been given invitations to feature in the opening men’s major of the season.

Fred Ridley, chair of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament, said: “The Masters Tournament has a long-standing tradition of inviting leading international players who are not otherwise qualified.

“Today’s announcement represents the tournament’s continued commitment towards developing interest in the game of golf across the world. We look forward to welcoming each player to Augusta National this spring.”

Niemann, who was inside the world’s top 20 when he joined LIV Golf but is now outside the top 80, has made the cut in three of his previous four appearances at The Masters and finished tied-16th in last year’s contest.

Olesen features for the first since 2019 and Hisatsune will make his tournament debut, with 83 players currently scheduled to compete in the 2024 Masters.

The only remaining ways for players to qualify are to win a PGA Tour event before The Masters or get inside the world’s top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) before April 1.

Jon Rahm will return as defending champion after last year’s four-shot victory over Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson, while Rory McIlroy has another opportunity to complete the career Grand Slam and land a first major win since 2014.

Sky Sports will once again be the home of the majors in 2024! Watch The Masters exclusively live from April 11-14 on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the majors, PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour and more on NOW.

More than two years since the LIV Golf-PGA Tour feud broke out, the ramifications are continuing to permeate the sport. Look no further than this week’s Asian Tour International Series Event in Oman.

Despite offering a $2 million total purse, far lower than purses found on the PGA Tour or LIV, two major champions are in the field, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, along with 19 other LIV pros.

What gives? It’s all about world ranking points and, ultimately, the majors.

Since its inception, LIV Golf tournaments did not dish out world ranking points to its competitors. The upstart league had hoped the Official World Golf Ranking would change that last year, but in October the OWGR officially announced LIV events would not receive points due to the fact that the tournament formats were to dissimilar to other pro tours.

This presents a major problem for LIV players. The OWGR is the primary pathway to qualify for golf’s four major championships. The Top 100 earn a spot in the PGA Championship, the Top 60 into the U.S. Open and the Top 50 into the Masters and The Open.

With the OWGR denying LIV world ranking recognition, and the PGA Tour barring them from playing, LIV pros have few avenues to halt their collective plummet in the world ranking.

But while they can’t play on the two primary men’s tours, they can compete on the Asian Tour, especially in the PIF-funded International Series, of which the Oman event is a part. And the Asian Tour does award OWGR points.

In addition to Oosthuizen and Schwartzel, the list of LIV entrants into this week’s Oman tournament includes Lucas Herbert, Joaquin Niemann, Dean Burmester, David Puig, Mito Pereira, Abraham Ancer, Anirban Lahiri, Matt Jones, Eugenio Chacarra, Scott Vincent, Kieran Vincent, Sebastian Munoz, Jinichiro Kozuma, Peter Uihlein, Danny Lee, Branden Grace, Matthew Wolff, Carlos Ortiz and Hudson Swafford.

But there’s one issue with these players’ world-ranking scheme. All of them have seen their rankings fall drastically since joining LIV. Oosthuizen, for example, has fallen all the way to No. 137. The amount of world ranking points awarded at a tournament are based in part on the strength of the field. Given all these competitors’ poor rankings, relatively few world ranking points will be dished out this week in Oman.

For more information on the complicated LIV world ranking saga, check out my colleague Sean Zak’s column on how LIV’s OWGR rejection accelerated pro golf’s war.

Kevin Cunningham

Golf.com Editor

As managing producer for GOLF.com, Cunningham edits, writes and publishes stories on GOLF.com, and manages the brand’s e-newsletters, which reach more than 1.4 million subscribers each month. A former two-time intern, he also helps keep GOLF.com humming outside the news-breaking stories and service content provided by our reporters and writers, and works with the tech team in the development of new products and innovative ways to deliver an engaging site to our audience.