Bryson DeChambeau believes LIV Golf has fulfilled all the criteria needed to earn Official World Golf Ranking points.
The former US Open champion said the Saudi-funded circuit’s wait for world rankings legitimacy had become frustrating while speaking to the Fairway to Heaven podcast.
Since being suspended from the PGA Tour for accepting a lucrative LIV offer, DeChambeau’s opportunities to earn OWGR points have largely been restricted to the majors.
The 30-year-old described the situation as “crazy” in October 2022 and then a year later, the OWGR board formally rejected LIV’s application to finally grant the players world ranking points.
“I have words that I would love to say, but you can’t about it. They say, ‘Oh they haven’t said one thing or the other’, not doing anything is deciding, and that’s frustrating,” he said.
“They said you need certain requirements, we’ve fulfilled all of those requirements despite what everybody thinks. If you look at their handbook, we have fulfilled every single criteria, it’s been over two years now. What’s going on, guys?
“It’s a bit frustrating but (there’s) nothing we can do at this moment. We showcase ourselves in the major championships, there’s no way they can keep us out. We have to play well in the majors and once we do, they have no choice.”
LIV was told by the OWGR board that its mostly “closed-style” league and the team format running parallel to the individual format at each event were the main sticking points in its application.
DeChambeau is now ranked 169th in the world and the last qualifying event he played in was the 151st Open at Hoylake. While PGA Tour and DP World Tour players enjoy access to OWGR points, he and his LIV colleagues have plummeted so far that there are currently just five LIV players in the top 50.
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The OWGR-LIV debacle has fueled the players’ desire to have a larger representation in the major championships, as world ranking points go a long way to helping players qualify for the sport’s big four tournaments.
Jerry Foltz, co-host of the podcast and broadcaster at LIV Golf events, added that the world rankings “don’t matter” anymore and claimed the PGA Tour has won this battle to use the world rankings as a bargaining chip.
“By the way, we knew that,” the big-hitting American said in agreement with Foltz’ theory. “Everyone on our side knew that going into this that was exactly what they were going to do.
“That was their leverage point. That was the leverage they had. It’s the majors, it’s those associations that have the leverage and they want golf to be a certain way and ultimately, they don’t decide.
“It’s the players that ultimately decide because if we all stop playing, if we all said, ‘No, we’re good, we don’t need to play’. What do you think would happen then?
“It’s the thing that I come back to most. Starting off this podcast, I said the death to egos is what needs to occur on all sides. And if that can happen, I think that’s a step in the right direction for the game of golf.”
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Bryson DeChambeau: LIV Golf can help to bring everybody back together
Like several other players including Rory McIlroy, DeChambeau would like a compromise to be found between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund, the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund that bankrolls LIV Golf.
A framework agreement between the parties was made public last June, but talks have stalled which led to the initial deadline of December 31 for a solidified agreement to be missed.
When announcing a partnership with Strategic Sports Group (SSG) worth $3 billion, the PGA Tour said that talks were still ongoing with the PIF and that the deal with SSG still allowed room for further investment.
DeChambeau has always been excited for what the future holds with LIV, the start-up tour on which he was won twice, and he hopes everybody will be “back together at some point.”
“I was talking to numerous people back in 2020 about his idea and we didn’t really know what this was going to be. PGL, SGL, different variations of it and different people coming into play and we didn’t really know what this would be.
“As time went on, talking with Phil (Mickelson), DJ (Dustin Johnson) and Brooks (Koepka), trying to come up with a solution for the game of golf and it took a lot of pressure for us to get over, for us to go, ‘Alright, you know what, we’re comfortable making this type of commitment and jump’.
“It took a lot for us to make that jump. Ultimately, we know in the long run that this is going to be an amazing product for the game of golf globally and what we can do. Globally, in regard to what we can do in regards to bringing everybody back together at some point.
“Not only back together, but creating more value in the game of golf and building more assets for the game of golf. That’s one thing I believe is underrated. It’s an understated approach that we have to this aspect of the game.”
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