After declaring one year ago that it would no longer seek accreditation from the Official World Golf Rankings, LIV Golf nevertheless made changes to its formats in November 2025 while continuing to pursue legitimacy from the organization. Those appear to have turned the tide in their favor as a verdict was rendered on Tuesday with the OWGR announcing that it will award rankings points stemming from LIV Golf events for the first time.
“After conducting an exhaustive and collaborative process, and in an effort to reflect the changing landscape of the men’s professional game, the OWGR Board has made the decision to award world ranking points to LIV Golf events for the 2026 season,” the group announced. “Ranking points will be allocated to the top-10 finishers (and ties) in LIV Golf’s individual stroke play events, which recognises there are a number of areas where LIV Golf does not meet the eligibility standards set out by OWGR.”
LIV Golf was initially denied accreditation by the OWGR in October 2023 after applying in July 2022. It then withdrew its application in March 2024, attacking the system’s credibility and legitimacy, before submitting a fresh application in June 2025. Five months later, in November, LIV Golf adjusted its own game, adding qualifying spots and expanding tournaments from 54 holes to 72 holes, a move that the league had long resisted.
The decision to award points under the “Small Field Tournaments” classification and limit points to the top 10 finishers is essentially a compromise from the OWGR. The organization noted that LIV Golf still falls short of certain eligibility standards, most notably its average field size (57, not 75), continuing to run no-cut events and having limited pathways for joining the league.
Still, by expanding to 72 holes and adding qualifying spots, LIV Golf hit some marks for the OWGR, which noted that its overall aim is to equitably rank the best players in men’s golf, which should include the top players on LIV Golf.
“This has been an incredibly complex and challenging process and one which we have devoted a huge amount of time and energy to resolving in the seven months since LIV Golf submitted their application,” OWGR chairman Trevor Immelman said. “We fully recognized the need to rank the top men’s players in the world, but at the same time, had to find a way of doing so that was equitable to the thousands of other players competing on other tours that operate with established meritocratic pathways. We believe we have found a solution that achieves these twin aims and enables the best-performing players at LIV Golf events to receive OWGR points.”
Shortly after the OWGR announcement, LIV Golf indicated its displeasure with the decision to limit points to the top 10 and ties, claiming it “disproportionally harms players who consistently perform at a high level but finish just outside that threshold.”
The 2026 season figures to be a critical one for LIV Golf. After seeing Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed leave to return to the PGA Tour, all eyes are on the remaining big names at LIV to see how they will approach their upcoming contract negotiations. Bryson DeChambeau’s current deal runs up after the 2026 season, while Jon Rahm has two more years left on his initial contract. Both were extended the same opportunity as Koepka but declined to jump ship immediately.
Gaining OWGR points is a step in the right direction for LIV Golf under new CEO Scott O’Neil, but he still faces a tall order in convincing the best players that the tour remains their best option for competing at the highest level.
While points are now available to top 10 finishers in the individual competition, the limited number of LIV Golf events, combined with those tournaments offering fewer ranking points compared to PGA Tour events, will make it extremely difficult to climb near the top of the world rankings for those who compete on LIV.
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