LIV Golf's attempt to "secure world rankings points" via a partnership with the little-known MENA Tour for its next two events "has failed" after the Official World Golf Ranking launched a review into the submission, according to James Corrigan of the London TELEGRAPH. With less than 24 hours before the first round of the LIV event in Bangkok, the OWGR released a statement that, "for the time being at the least, blocks the avenue." The statement read in part, "Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) received a communication from the MENA Tour... (which) detailed significant changes to the MENA Tour’s membership structure along with an outline of the initial series of tournaments in the 2022/23 MENA Tour season. OWGR notes that the first two tournaments in this series appeared to be the same as the LIV Golf Invitational Series tournaments in Bangkok and Jeddah.... A review of the changes to the MENA Tour is now underway by the OWGR. Notice of these changes given by the MENA Tour is insufficient to allow OWGR to conduct the customary necessary review ahead of the LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok (7-9 October) and LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah (14-16 October). Corrigan notes now, the "dispute will get ever more contentious, with the looming possible of legal action from LIV which has long claimed that the OWGR is 'a closed shop'" (London TELEGRAPH, 10/6). The OWGR added that official MENA Tour events "played over 54 or 72 holes with a 36-hole cut remain eligible for OWGR inclusion" (GOLF DIGEST, 10/6).
MORE QUESTIONS: GOLF DIGEST's Joel Beall noted considering that LIV "already has a partnership with a OWGR accredited tour in the Asian Tour raises the question of why the upstart circuit would need to reach out to MENA." A source said that LIV’s "stalled launch in 2022 was part of the reasoning, and its lack of avenues for Asian Tour players to compete in LIV events -- an issue LIV has addressed -- was hindering that route" (GOLF DIGEST, 10/5).
HOLDING NOTHING BACK: GOLFWEEK's Adam Woodard wrote the “strategic alliance” is one of "many bold moves made by LIV to earn OWGR points and proves the upstart circuit will do doing anything and everything to earn them" (GOLFWEEK, 10/5). GOLF magazine's Seank Zak wrote in MENA (Middle East and North Africa), LIV "finds a tour that has existed for 11 years, but has hosted tournaments only intermittently since the start of 2020, when the global pandemic began." MENA "last hosted an event in the middle of May" (GOLF, 10/5). GOLFCHANNEL.com's Ryan Lavner wrote though "not unexpected, players who defected to LIV have seen their world rankings tumble in recent months." Overall, LIV "boasts 12 of the top 50 players in the world, but notables Cameron Smith (No. 3) and Dustin Johnson (No. 23) could slide significantly by the end of the year" (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 10/5).
GOING ABOVE & BEYOND: In London, Oliver Brown writes under the header, "Greg Norman and the Saudis are running rings around golf's establishment." For all the "distaste aroused by LIV Golf, the rebel tour’s maverick antics do suggest a certain diabolical genius." Just when it "looked as if all roads to the legitimacy of world ranking points were closed off," Norman "swerved down the scenic byway of the Mena Tour." In all the "extravagant mischief-making for which LIV has become synonymous, swooping to capture not just the reigning Open champion but a European Ryder Cup captain, the Mena move might well be the most audacious yet" (London TELEGRAPH, 10/6).
