Why Did LIV Give Up Their Quest for Ranking Points?
Greg Norman and his chorus of defectors from the PGA and DP World Tours haven’t stopped whining about the loss of Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) points since they defected from the tours and signed for millions of dollars with LIV Golf League; a tour that does not meet the criteria for receiving points. Instead of altering their format – the simplest and easiest strategy – they chose to complain, whine, and point fingers at OWGR and the major championships.
But suddenly, they reversed course and withdrew their application for OWGR ranking points.
Why Did They Give Up Their Quest for Ranking Points? Here’s a theory…
Clue #1 – Joaquin Niemann’s constant whining pays off and he gets special invitations from the Masters and PGA Championship after playing well in non-LIV events but still falling short of the OWGR Top 100.
Clue #2 – Norman submits a letter to his LIV players stating that he has withdrawn his OWGR application.
Club #3 – He leaks it to the media
Clue #4 – In this Sports Illustrated Golf piece, Alex Miceli wrote, “Near the end of Norman’s letter, he said that LIV continues to seek meaningful communication and relationships with each of the Majors to ensure that LIV golfers are adequately represented.”
Clue #5 – In this piece, the Irish Star announces that 20 of the top 21 LIV players have signed up to play in Asian Tour events in an attempt to secure ranking points, even though it is impossible for them to ever get enough ranking points to return to the Top 50 in the world.
So, What’s up? Simple…
Norman saw Niemann get the special invitation through solid performance outside of LIV, plus constant whining, and decided to employ a two-front “special invitation” strategy.
The first step of the strategy was to suggest to his LIV players to take the same route as Niemann and enter non-LIV events.
Then, armed with that information and with the precedent set by the Masters and PGA of America, go direct to the majors and request special invitations, larded up with plenty of whining and victimhood language thrown in for effect.
Armed with the successful Niemann strategy and the 20 LIV players playing in events on the Asian Tour, Norman is going directly to each of the majors and saying something like, “Look at our guys! They’re now playing nice in the sandbox by attempting to earn ranking points, but they’ll never get enough to return to their earlier rankings. Doesn’t the LIV Golf League deserve a special exemption category just like the OWGR Rankings? Make our Top 5 players exempt into your major.”
If that strategy fails, he will do the bidding of individual players, again using the Niemann strategy (i.e. divide and conquer) saying, “Well, how about Dustin Johnson (or any number of LIV players falling short)? Doesn’t he at least deserve a special invitation like Niemann?”
Greg Norman will never stop, and neither will PIF, until they are told categorically that they will never receive a special exemption category and that there will be no more special invitations for LIV players outside the OWGR Top 50 rankings.
LIV Golf League and the Saudi Arabian Investment Fund are a malevolent force in the game of golf, and are intent on “owning” the professional game, just as they are attempting to do in football (soccer) and other sports.
The Head Nut
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