LOS ANGELES: LIV Golf's bid to be recognized by the sport's global rankings body has been rejected, a US media report said Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).
The Global Golf Post website reported that Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) had turned down LIV's request due to the circuit's 54-hole no-cut format and limited access for players to join the venture.
The report said OWGR President Peter Dawson had informed LIV chief executive Greg Norman of the decision in a letter sent on Tuesday.
'The Board Committee met recently to again review your OWGR submission in light of your latest responses to the Committee's questions and concerns,' Dawson wrote in the letter.
'At the meeting, the Board Committee unanimously determined that at this time the LIV Tour will not be recognized as an Eligible Golf Tour in the OWGR system.'
The issue of whether LIV players should be granted rankings points has been a thorny subject of debate since the lavishly funded Saudi Arabia-backed circuit plunged golf into an acrimonious civil war last year.
Rankings points were seen as a crucial step in LIV's developments, giving its players the chance to secure qualification for major championships.
Dawson told Global Golf Post that OWGR's decision was not aimed at punishing players who had joined LIV.
'This is entirely technical. OWGR has no hostility toward LIV whatsoever,' Dawson was quoted as saying.