LIV Golf’s incessant complaining about world ranking points shows a complete detachment from reality

National identity is something that should be promoted on LIV, and is a feature that led to probably its most memorable tournament yet.

In April 2024, the LIV event at the Grange in Adelaide went to a playoff in the team format, between the South African Stinger GC and the Australian Ripper GC.

This was fun. It was Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman who came out on top against Louis Oosthuizen and Dean Burmester in dramatic fashion, much to the delight of the home Aussie crowd. For a moment, golf mirrored cricket or rugby, which are popular sports in both nations.

The opportunity for LIV to harness this cross-sport rivalry was priceless. LIV is absolutely on to something with building squads that can play for a flag and a common goal. Henrik Stenson’s relegation from the league in 2025 allowed Laurie Canter to join Majesticks GC, which is now full to the brim of English players.

Fireballs GC have four Spaniards, and Torque has four players from Latin America. They can all talk the talk and walk the walk on the course together. Hopefully, some fun rivalries can form. That would be entertaining.

But while we can celebrate this unique concept of LIV, it should be a massive red flag in their application for world ranking points, which has now been accepted.

ALSO: LIV Golf is now on the cliff edge, with its life in the hands of Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm

Jinichero Kozuma played in five fewer tournaments than the majority of his LIV Golf colleagues in 2025, and still finished 17 places above the relegation zone that would’ve spat him out of the league.

But he has been spat out anyway, not because of his sporting performance, but, he suspects, because of his nationality.

The Japanese Kozuma told Sports Illustrated that not only did he hear of his dismissal from Iron Heads GC for the first time on social media, the team that he played for last year, but he also discovered the decision was made primarily after the team’s rebrand to Korean Golf Club.

“Toward the end of last year, I heard that there was a possibility the Iron Heads might transition into a Korean-based team,” he told SI through a translator. “At the same time, I was also told that if that happened, there was a chance I wouldn’t be able to remain with the team. After that, however, there were a lot of rumours and the situation seemed to change from time to time. So for a while, I wasn’t completely sure what the final decision would be.

“The moment I clearly understood that I wouldn’t be playing for the Iron Heads moving forward was when I saw the official Instagram post announcing the Korean team (on Jan 12). That was when everything became clear for me.”

There should be no reason why LIV cannot pursue creating a Korean team, but if it means sacrificing a player from the roster who significantly outperformed players still on the roster, this is where the line must be drawn. The line-drawing shouldn’t even be necessary.

It was a point of reference for the Official World Golf Ranking board, too (OWGR).

“The Board’s overriding aim was to identify an equitable way of ranking the best men’s players in the world, including the top performing players in LIV Golf, while taking account of the eligibility standards that LIV Golf does not currently meet and the fact that it operates differently from other ranked tours in a number of respects,” the OWGR statement said.

“This includes LIV Golf’s average field size of 57 for 2026 versus the minimum of 75 set out in OWGR Regulations; exclusively no-cut events; the restrictive pathways to join LIV Golf with two spots filled from the Asian Tour’s International Series and three from a “closed” promotions event which does not offset the turnover of players exiting the league; self-selection of players with players being recruited rather than earning their place on the tour in many cases and, in recent days, the addition/removal of players to/from teams based on their nationality rather than for meritocratic reasons.”

45-year-old Matt Jones of Ripper GC finished 40th in the LIV standings last season, which meant he was a free agent. He was replaced by 23-year-old Elvis Smylie from Queensland, who won the BMW Australian PGA Championship in 2024.

He is obviously an exciting player, but one who was picked primarily to refresh the quartet of Aussie golfers at this time.

This would be acceptable if there weren’t world ranking points on the line, points that can get players into the majors. In an independent league, you should be able to play by your own rules. But if you want the establishment’s approval, you must play by their rules.

The opportunity to earn points should be based on merit and performance, and absolutely cannot be based on nationality.

ALSO: LIV Golf must hope TNT’s coverage doesn’t infuriate its viewers quite like the farce of the Ashes

LIV Golf: World ranking bid has several holes

But the nationality factor seems to be one missing stitch among the many holes in LIV’s form for world ranking points, despite the players’ and the league’s protestations.

“It’s fantastic that we’re getting points. It’s fantastic that we’re being recognised in a way,” LIV star Jon Rahm said.

“With that said, I don’t like how we’re not being treated the same as every other tour. It seems like the rules that have been in place aren’t really applied to us, with only 10 of us getting points. It doesn’t seem fair.

“There are small fields out there throughout the course of the year that get full points – there’s work to be done.”

This is part of the statement that LIV released after the OWGR decision:

“This outcome is unprecedented. Under these rules, a player finishing 11th in a LIV Golf event is treated the same as a player finishing 57th. Limiting points to only the top 10 finishers disproportionately harms players who consistently perform at a high level but finish just outside that threshold, as well as emerging talent working to establish themselves on the world stage – precisely the players a fair and meritocratic ranking system is designed to recognise.

“No other competitive tour or league in OWGR history has been subjected to such a restriction. We expect this is merely a first step toward a structure that fully and fairly serves the players, the fans, and the future of the sport.”

There are not enough players in each event, there is no cut, and there is a parallel team event that is played alongside the individual event at each stop on the schedule.

This was part of LIV’s initial rejection for OWGR points in 2023. At an event in Orlando, Sebastian Munoz trailed Brooks Koepka by one shot on the last hole, but Munoz’s team led by one shot over Koepka’s team.

Munoz lagged his putt close and made a par, then said, “It’s weird, because I knew we were one stroke ahead on the team, so I couldn’t go extra. I knew I couldn’t be too aggressive.” His performance was compromised when in contention to win the individual title. The point of golf is to get the ball in the hole in the fewest shots possible.

Then, there is the recruitment factor, where there seems to be no cemented criteria as to why each player is signed. In the off-season just gone, LIV recruited Smylie, Canter, Thomas Detry, Victor Perez, Michael La Sasso, and Ben An.

They are all successful players with a good amount of victories between them (La Sasso has just turned pro out of college), and somewhat make the fields more recognisable and marginally better. But did they formally earn their spots?

There were two spots made available through the International Series on the Asian Tour, and three through LIV’s Q-school event. While these are actual meritocratic pathways, the OWGR rightly point out that they don’t offset the players exiting the league.

The roster has star power in Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, and Cameron Smith, along with other major winners like Phil Mickelson and Louis Oosthuizen boosting the fields. Then, you have top talents such as Tyrrell Hatton and Joaquin Niemann bringing excitement, too.

These names provide the quality that suggests LIV events should be ranked, and now the top 10 finishers will be ranked.

Until LIV makes more changes, it cannot expect advances, and should be grateful for any degree of recognition, given the quite clear shortfalls in the format.

If it is to be taken more seriously by the OWGR, more sacrifices will need to be made, sacrifices that could strip the league of its unique fabric.

NOW READ: Before you get upset about a college player choosing LIV Golf over the Masters, here is something to consider

NOW READ: I want to love Jon Rahm, but the stench of entitlement over his DP World Tour fines is unavoidable