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DontGetTheShow

There are many ways to qualify for a given major. Being in the top X spots of the OWGR have long been a way that many players qualify for the majors. LIV events get zero OWGR points so LIV golfers are not happy about that fact. Thus, LIV had an application pending to get their tour approved to receive OWGR points but for various legitimate reasons it kept getting denied. That’s why we’re hearing about OWGR.


offbrandgolf

Makes sense to me.


NeverForTheWin

Let them not be happy. And not eligible for majors.


According-Fly1644

Cuz the LIV guys who aren’t exempt are currently in the stage of “finding out”


Iwantedalbino

But but but the fucking about was so much fun and lucrative….


Horror-Run5127

That was the trade. You don't play real tournaments but you get a fuckton of cash. Now they have the cash they want the real tournaments too.


meaksy

#cakeandeatit


tee2green

People are very slow. Or maybe they made their decision without thinking it all the way through. Or maybe they were misled by their agents (the agents have a gigantic incentive to push guys to LIV). Either way, I don’t feel that bad for them. There are downsides to joining LIV, but that’s why LIV pays so much money to compensate for that. If LIV paid the same as the PGAT, I highly doubt guys would pick LIV.


Mcdickle

I don’t think anyone feels bad for them. But it would be nice if all of the best players in the world played in the majors.


tee2green

Totally agree. We should be disappointed at the players that chose early retirement from the majors.


lionsfan2016

I’m honestly mad at the saudis for creating this entire scenario. 


[deleted]

DJ won the Master, so did Phil, Jon, Patrick, Charl, Bubba, and Sergio. All get lifetime exemptions.


tee2green

Right they’re exempt in 1/4 majors. The other major exemptions that come from a victory expire within 5 years I believe.


Blklight21

US and Open Championship winners get 10 year exemptions


tee2green

For that event only right? And 5 yrs at the other events.


Blklight21

I think you’re right, it’s only at that event they get the 10 years, the rest are 5 years


[deleted]

Masters champions are automatically invited to play in the other three majors (the U.S. Open, The Open Championship, and the PGA Championship) for the next five years (except for amateur winners, unless they turn pro within the five-year period), and earn a lifetime invitation to the Masters.


tee2green

So a lot of those guys are going to be playing one major a year


Blklight21

They can play till like 65 in the Masters, there’s no lifetime exemption to any of the Majors


[deleted]

“Winning the Masters earns the champion a lifetime exemption into the field,” golf.com


Blklight21

It’s not really a lifetime exemption though. They don’t let the super old guys out there to compete once they reach a certain age. They become “honorary starters”. Like if Jack just decided hey I’m going to go play in the Masters next year, they would not let him play even with his lifetime exemption


[deleted]

Bernhard Langer is 66 years old, played last year and is playing again this year.


Blklight21

Yeah like you pointed out, there’s not an exact age when they have to stop playing, and as long as you can compete (like Bernhard is still doing) they let you play. Like he can play but they’re not letting Sandy Lyle back out there anymore


deeds44

But all the best players in the world do still play the majors.


Mcdickle

Most are, for now. But there’s still a handful of top 50-100 level players that don’t have exemptions that would have otherwise been playing.


HustlaOfCultcha

Shark promised them that they were 'all set' to get OWGR points. Some players believed him, others didn't (or were at least skeptical) and knew the $$$ was real so they took the $$$. I'm sure some of the agents persuaded them. You have to remember at the time that the PGA Tour purses sizes were more like $8M than $20M. And LIV's purses were spread between 48 players whereas the PGA Tour's were usually split between 70+ players. Put it this way...if a player got $100M guaranteed from LIV, it would take about 20 years of really good-to-great golf to earn that on the PGA Tour given what the purses were back then. Some LIV players have handled this professionally and just thanked the PGA Tour and said they were moving to LIV because of the money and the lighter schedule. Unfortunately too many of them felt the need to lie so they wouldn't come off as the bad guy for 'selling out' and now they see they don't get OWGR points and that's a big problem. For instance, at this rate DeChambeau's exemption for the PGA Championship, Masters and British Open run out after 2025. It's a hard reality that unless he wins another major that he will not be exempt for some of the majors in just 2 years. He can win all of the LIV events he wants, but a guy that wins at the Cognizant Classic will have an exemption to the Masters and he won't.


Eggrolltide

You have to think that early on these guys were told by LIV that they would still be able to play the majors somehow. Otherwise I agree, why can't you take your fat paycheck and watch the majors on TV like the rest of us schmucks.


[deleted]

Because the Masters winners get a lifetime exemption to play! Bernhard Langer still playing the Masters. Wait what? US Open winners automatic 10 year exemption. Each have their own rules…. Wait, why rewrite the rules… wow! Evolution of the game weird…


offbrandgolf

None of this is going to matter inside the next month when the two merge.


[deleted]

It will be glorious in this sub as well 🤣


RecklessWiener

Neither product is any good right now, so getting everyone back on one tour is a win for fans.


offbrandgolf

Couldn't say it better.


Training_Swimming358

Because Greg lied to them and they wanted to believe him so they didn't do their own due diligence.


Fit_Mess4686

Salty boy


DynaJim06

I wish Liv would get the same coverage on reddit as the Liv Tournaments get coverage on television


leojrellim

I get it and agree. Haha well done


AndromedanPrince

so none?


Silly_Elevator_3111

Yes.


bdhgolf1960

Fuck the bone saw tour and the employees.


[deleted]

PGA bootlick is crazy


RoryIsACuck

Lolllz. Did you think of that on your own?


bdhgolf1960

I did.


offbrandgolf

How are you going to feel when LIV and PGA become one inside the next month?


bdhgolf1960

It will suck. Greed is bad. I like to play. I can do without watching it. I'll be fine.


offbrandgolf

Greed is bad. You're right. Why are you saying that here?


bdhgolf1960

All the bitches that went to liv are crying about everything. They made a deal with the devil for money. Fuck em.


offbrandgolf

You do realize that all pro golfers play for money right? As much as they possibly can.


bdhgolf1960

liv is funded by mbs. He murders people. I don't watch liv. I won't watch pga if it merges with liv. liv is a joke because it's format is corporate scramble/outing golf. Not real competition. Clown/frat boy golf.


offbrandgolf

Ohhh yeah the virtue signaling and fake outrage. Got it.


L3oSanch3z

They saw 💰💰💰💰💰💰.. Just ask Rahm, now he is coming out telling the truth of why he is with LIV.. But he still hopes he can come back for some PGA tournaments. WTF??!!🤬🤬🤬


WelfareButter

I think they're mostly talking about the majors, which are not PGA tour tournaments.


L3oSanch3z

I know the Majors either they are previously winners or they are invited.. Rahm said that he is keeping his DP tour card.. So, what does that mean??


WelfareButter

That's a good question. Maybe he thinks it will help get him into some PGA tour tournaments. Or there are some euro tournaments he still wants to play.


L3oSanch3z

It’s just a BS about them going to LIV. All this talk about them playing less and enjoying their less time away from the PGA. But, now some LIV players are going through the Asian league to get some OWGR points to be eligible to play some PGA tournaments. It’s a bunch of 💩.. Hey, I don’t blame them.. They made a decision of joining LIV. But don’t blame anyone but yourself because now you want to have it BOTH WAYS..🤷🏻‍♂️


WelfareButter

Agreed. I've watched some LIV, and it's OK. I'm not a LIV hater like a lot of people on here. But if you chose to play on LIV, don't cry when the PGA tour says you can't play our tournament. But like I said, the majors are not PGA tour tournaments. The field for the majors should be made up of the best golfers in the world, regardless of what tour they play on.


L3oSanch3z

So, The best LPGA players in the world should be invited to the Majors??


WelfareButter

To play against the men? Of course not. This discussion is about the PGA tour and ranking PGA tour players. Who said anything about LPGA? They have their own majors. And yes, the best female golfers should play in the female majors.


L3oSanch3z

If the LPGA can’t play?? Why should the LIV? Like you said, The LPGA are also considered the best Golfers in the world. I am just saying.. Where does all the BS stop?? PGA players can’t play in the LIV. When the Players sign the big money contract with LIV, they knew what they were signing..


WelfareButter

I don't know why you're asking about LPGA. That has nothing to do with men's golf. This conversation just went off the rails. I'M OUT!!


deano413

25% of them are


WelfareButter

25% of what? None of the majors are PGA tour tournaments.


T_Stebbins

Its a huge problem for LIV as it adds to how illegitimate their format is for true competition. I think the players bitch because the heads of LIV want them to. Pro golfers are incredible babies honestly. Everything needs to be handed to them. Pro golf is very weird, fan interest doesnt even seem to matter with all the truckloads of investment money coming in from all over the place, it's so byzantine and nonsensical at this point.


k1enneth

millionaire golfers playing in a select field that they signed a contract that said the same thing. And their agents and lawyers advised the same thing. File it under stupidity. Us mortals take a beating at the car dealership when they tells us that "tires are NOT covered under the 4 year warranty".


rogozh1n

Can you really lose a lead when everyone finishes at the same time? The excitment of high-level golf is all about the pressure of holding it together when a pro has the lead and just needs two pars to win, or when someone knows they need to finish birdie-birdie to come from behind and win. Shotgun starts ruin that. Jean Van de Veld would be a major champion if LIV rules were in force that day. Greg Norman would have several more majors, too. No.more collapsing under pressure.


HustlaOfCultcha

Basically the LIV Tour players want to have their cake and eat it, too. All of this was something that anybody with a brain saw back in 1994 when Greg Norman tried to start his own global tour. He wasn't doing it to 'grow the game' or to get the top players to get their 'fair share', he was doing it because he was heading into the twilight of his career and this way he could stay in the top hierarchy of OWGR points no matter how poorly he played. It's just that he didn't have the money to back him up like he has now and the players back then were smart enough to know his claims of wanting a global tour for the good of the game were baloney. He also lied and told players that they were all set to get OWGR points. Some players bought that hook, line and sinker others knew he was full of it, but the money was real. It was the LIV propagandists, led by Shark and Phil, that claimed the OWGR was 'irrelevant' but Shark tried every trick in the book to back LIV into OWGR points as seen by them buying out the MENA Tour. I think Shark underestimated just how important OWGR points are to almost all of the players and really the importance of the majors. I think he thought the players only cared about the $$$ and the light work schedule and that if they got enough of the best players the OWGR would fall in line. Problem with that thinking is that the OWGR consists of each of the majors's representatives and nobody is going to tell Augusta National, the USGA and R&A what to do.


GolfGodsAreReal

So fucking sick of this constant whinning, like OP said it's not the same END OF STORY


offbrandgolf

It doesn't matter if it is not the same. It's immaterial. The mission of the OWGR is as follows: The mission of the OWGR is to administer and publish, on a weekly basis, a transparent, credible, and accurate Ranking based on the relative performances of players participating in male Eligible Golf Tours worldwide. The idea is to rank pro golfers on tours worldwide. The OWGR no longer does that. They need to figure out how to do it.


GolfGodsAreReal

Ranking based on the relative performances of players participating in male Eligible Golf Tours worldwide. 3 rounds does not qualify as eligible for OWGR


offbrandgolf

No one takes the OWGR seriously because it doesn't rank some of the best players in the world. This will change because it has to.


MrSwaggerVance

> 3 rounds does not qualify as eligible for OWGR Except it does. See: 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.


GolfGodsAreReal

Was this or was this not a 4 round scheduled event?


MrSwaggerVance

That just shows how silly the OWGR "rules" are. Pebble Beach was a 54-hole, no cut, guaranteed money tournament. It ended up being exactly like a LIV Golf event.


leojrellim

Except that it also wasn’t a shotgun start and all participants finished on the same holes. Think about the tough finishing Bear Trap holes last week.


Mcdickle

I mean if we’re being completely honest, everyone playing the course at the same time is about as fair as you can possibly make it. What hole you finish on is pretty much irrelevant.


leojrellim

Nah. When the pressure is greatest trying to win down the stretch everybody playing the same last three tough finishing holes makes it better.


Dougiejurgens2

Give them a percentage penalty then like 50-75% of what they’d get for a similar performance on one of the other tours 


leojrellim

There’s no way to reliably judge the play in the exhibitions LIV puts on. People are just assuming some of them can still play well.


offbrandgolf

I mean, it's obviously not an assumption, they still play well. Two of them are the current Masters and PGA Championship winners. In the last major 4 LIV guys in the top 10. That's just silly to say. There is a reliable way to do it, happens in analytics all the time with varying sample sizes. Start measuring based on performance in individual rounds instead of four round chunks. Problem solved. The larger point is that it will absolutely include them once the merger goes through here in the next month. That or they don't adapt for whatever reason and Majors stop using it as a qualifier for anything.


Justaguy8457

I have never agreed with a post more than this one


offbrandgolf

Question: "If you joined LIV you made the choice large pay increase and more time off in exchange for prestigious golf tournaments and legacy. Isn’t it that simple?" Answer: It's not that simple. They are currently in negotiations about how to merge the two so that players have access to both. Comment: No PGA tour guys are trying to get into a LIV golf field it’s closed to LIV players same for the PGA events. Reply: Both groups of players want to play on both tours. This merger is going to allow for that. Comment: I know majors aren’t necessarily PGA tour events but that’s who’s been playing them for 100 years. Reply: Not true, literally anyone can play in the British and US Open. The Masters can invite whoever they want, pros from anywhere or any tour or amateurs. The PGA has club professionals. The LIV guys just want it to not be controversial that they play in these tourneys. The title of your post was about OWGR yet you didn't say anything about OWGR.


Eagle69scotland

Fat Rahm gave up his legacy when he chose the $$.


WelfareButter

If PGA tour only wants their golfers in their events, that's their prerogative. BUT the PGA tour doesn't own or control any majors. Major fields have mostly had PGA tour players because they are the best. It has to do with the skill level of the player, not which tour they are on. If the US Open or the Masters doesn't include the best players in the world, some of whom play for LIV, is it really a major? And since the PGA tour sold out to the PIF, does it really matter? They're all playing for the same Saudi prince anyway.


pjunior66

Prestigious is CERTAINLY the first word that comes to mind when I think of the John Deere Classic and the 3M Open. Let’s not kid ourselves, nobody gives a flying fuck about 90% of the Tour schedule. I’m no fan of LIV but when the majors use OWGR as their main metric for entry aside from past finishes, that’s where it becomes an issue. Obviously Joaquin Niemann is a lot better than his ranking of 70 something… the big issue is that he’s being given special exemptions into majors with really no set criteria. There has to be some sort of set criteria. I think it was foolish for young guys who haven’t recently won a major to leave for LIV but discounting their ability is what most people have an issue with.


adflet

This is it. The owgr is fully capable of finding a middle ground. Give reduced points to reflect the differences, or at least have a conversation with LIV rather than saying our way or the highway. It is simply the golf establishment protecting itself.


curlyhairedpeanut

A reasonable solution at this stage would be weighting points for the LIV tournaments at 75% of a European/Asian tour events and only allocating points to the top 1/3 finishers seeing as though their fields are roughly 1/3 size of any other major tour. Agree with the sentiments that they knew the risks of signing up for the league but I do find it funny how the same people getting fired up about this are the same people who said that the players going to LIV wouldn't be competitive anymore and they'd have no drive to practice etc. after their big pay days. The complete opposite has happened and LIV players are overperforming in majors and other eligible tournaments they've been playing in


[deleted]

Did everyone forget LIV and the PGA merged last year? They are one and the same. Just some are getting the dollars!! Ha ha ha The PGA came begging for money from LIV.


[deleted]

To distract from the murderous dictator that pays for all of it.


pjunior66

Yawn. Found Brandel’s burner account. Do you know who funds a shit ton of the Tour’s sponsors? Here’s a hint: it rhymes with Shmurderous Dictator.


Large_Peach2358

A lot of the comments and ideas here really miss the mark. The OWGR is independent of all the golf tours on earth. It’s a way to evenly assess talent regardless of where you are playing. *drops mic**


Opposite_Turn7946

Had they just followed the OWGR standards in the first place they would have points by now. For whatever reason they felt OWGR should mold to them.


monndog7

The whole cry baby position about the world golf rankings is yet another reason to hate on the LIV guys. One of the majors is an invitational- if they want to invite you, they will. This was proven by Neimann getting an invite. One is run by the PGA of America- just write that one off LIVers unless you won the tournament last year like Brooks did. So I guess LIV players are not really being denied summarily in that one either. The other two have Open Qualifiers. Do you expect me to believe you are one of the best in world if you can’t secure one of the qualifying spots. Go qualify you cry babies. Otherwise, take your guaranteed money from the exhibition tour and be happy with it. No one is going to skip watching the Majors because Taylor Gooch, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter, Harold Varner and Pat Perez are not in the field. Do they expect to be let into the Players Championship too which is actually run by the PGA Tour?


RoryIsACuck

Because the OWGR currently does a poor job of ranking golfers.


gabbagoolgolf2

Golf fans lose by not having the best players in majors.


lookslikeamanderin

The LIV format does not lend itself to players maintaining top form. The majors will bear that out this year.


gabbagoolgolf2

Heard that last year, and that didn’t pan out. I suppose one year it will, broken clock twice a day


Emergency_Wolf_5764

*"Why are we hearing about this OWGR constantly now?"* We won't for much longer. Guaranteed, it will probably be replaced by a new and far more accurate and inclusive world ranking system, and possibly in time for the 2025 season. Meanwhile, the four majors would be wise to modify their own qualification systems to allow for entry spots into their tournaments for the best players in LIV Golf on an annual basis. The organizers of the four majors should be solely focused on having the world's very best golfers compete at their tournaments every year, and not care what the OWGR, the PGA, or anyone else thinks. Next.


Superb-Classic1851

If it’s a completely different product then I guess they aren’t “competing” right? Listen the PGA tour now has weaker fields for most of their events. The OWGR is supposed to be a 3rd party entity, but now are saying that no cut events aren’t legal? I guess the WGC’s or the the signature events shouldn’t get points either because they are no cut? What about 72hole tournaments that are cut short? Do those not get points now? It’s anti-competitive BS from the PGA tour.


Turdburp

No cut events on the PGA Tour do not award points to the bottom 15% of the field, and tournaments shortened by inclement weather give reduced points (75% of what would otherwise have been given).


Superb-Classic1851

They get points though right? Based on the strength of the field. The challenge is that the OWGR is going to box themselves in and people will stop paying attention to it because it’ll be a meaningless number.


adflet

Tigers shits and giggles weekend away in the Bahamas with 20 players and no cut was awarded points all the way through the field though, wasn't it?


MrSwaggerVance

> tournaments shortened by inclement weather give reduced points Only if they're shortened to 36 holes. 54 hole events, like Pebble this year, get full points.


GeotusBiden

Same reason you started hearing about the pga fraud at the same time. Before rocking the boat, all the Shady stuff Jay was doing seemed normal.


dropthehandle

All LIV has to do is change the format to 72 holes. That’s the loophole the PGA Tour is using for its no cut limited field events. Make the guys play an extra day and they have a much stronger argument.


kerrlybill

Not true. The main issue is the fact that they play in a closed field with no reliable way to rank their performance against the rest of the golfing world. There are several methods to qualify for the PGA Tour, tour events, including the Open and US open. Try and qualify for LIV. You can’t. They could literally sign Charles Barkley for the name recognition. While he would finish last in every event, he would gain world ranking points that would undoubtedly put him way above where he would be ranked if it was accurate.


jcommeau91

Majors are supposed to be the best of the best regardless of what tour you play on. OWGR was created to rank all the best golfers in the world regardless of what tour you play on. Neither are what they were anymore even though they easily can be.