LIV gets OWGR points, Players major debate ramps up

Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we discuss LIV getting OWGR points, the Players Championship’s major worthiness and our favorite new golf clubs.

After years of battling for valuable World Rankings points, the OWGR  announced it had accepted LIV Golf’s application for membership and the league will receive points effective immediately. Although since the OWGR said LIV fits into the “small-field tournaments” classification, it will only be awarded points for top-10 finishers and ties. In its own statement, LIV said, “a player finishing 11th in a LIV Golf event is treated the same as a player finishing 57th” and that this “disproportionately harms players who consistently perform at a high level but finish just outside that threshold.” How would you untangle this?

Zephyr Melton, associate game-improvement editor (@zephyrmelton): Afraid that one is above my pay grade. But I will say that LIV should be ecstatic with this result. The depth of fields has never been the league’s strong suit, but they’ve always had some solid top talent. With this result, the big guns (Rahm, DeChambeau, Hatton, Niemann) will finally get some points and have an easier time getting into majors. Seems like as good a result as they could’ve hoped for.

Josh Schrock, associate news editor (@Schrock_And_Awe): I don’t feel it needs untangling. LIV should be thrilled it got recognition from the OWGR board. It should allow its best players to hoover up the same number of points given out at an opposite-field event. Elvis Smylie received more points for winning LIV Riyadh than Patrick Reed did for winning in Qatar. It seems fair given all of the other things the OWGR board noted, including selecting members for the tour “based on their nationality and not meritocratic reasons.” 

Dylan Dethier, senior writer (@dylan_dethier): These points are a big, big deal. There would be relatively few points available outside the top 10 anyway, so — despite the grievance note — what they got far, far outweighs what they didn’t. LIV’s young stars now have a legitimate pathway to climbing the ranks and playing their way into majors. For the likes of David Puig, Tom McKibbin and Elvis Smylie (plus more established pros like Joaquin Niemann) that’s a potential game-changer.

World Ranking points are valuable pathways for LIV players to earn entry into major championships. But is last week’s news — and the points distribution — enough to lure players to LIV who were already on the fence about their major eligibility?

Melton: Perhaps, but with the PIF seemingly restricting the LIV budget of late, I’m not sure the massive paydays from yesteryear are still viable. Would a big name be willing to jump to LIV without a Rahm-like signing bonus? I’m not so sure.

Schrock: I doubt it. They might be able to lure one or two younger players who might have been on the fence but I don’t think another big name jumps unless the PIF decides to loosen the belt a bit.

Dethier: If you’re an established PGA Tour star, probably not. But LIV has picked up some young talents from outside the U.S. and that particular profile of player could be pushed over the edge by this decision. LIV and the DP World Tour continue to be on a collision course — competing for players, for regions, for legitimacy as the “World Tour” and now for points, too. More to come on that subject.

The ‘major’ debate surfaced again last week, when the PGA Tour released a Players Championship promotion with the tagline: “March is going to be major.” When asked for comment, the Tour told GOLF.com, “Fans and players have long discussed THE PLAYERS Championship’s status as a major. We understand that is not for us to decide. Ultimately it is up to our sport and its fans to recognize what the professionals who play the game already know.” [Eds note: the Players, by definition, is not a major.] Any thoughts on the peculiar messaging around this?

Melton: The Tour is simply doing its job in promoting its biggest event. Does declaring the Players a major make it one? No — but you can’t fault the Tour for trying. 

Schrock: The PGA Tour doesn’t own the five most important events in golf. They are promoting their flagship product. Can the Players be made into a major? Probably not, but the majors as we know them weren’t “majors” until Arnold Palmer basically created the idea in the 1960s. The tournaments existed but the idea of a “major” or the “grand slam” could have meant any number of things until Palmer said he wanted to win the Open Championship and PGA Championship to have a “grand slam” of his own after winning the Masters and U.S. Open. Majors can be created and deleted. The PGA Tour might as well try. 

Dethier: I went deep on this exact subject here, but one feeling I can’t shake is that there should be four major championships. Five per year suddenly messes up history and the entire idea of the Grand Slam, which is a big deal in contextualizing great golfers. The Players has hit its stride in recent years as the PGA Tour’s greatest event. If it’s going to become a major it needs to stage a duel to replace one rather than add a fifth.

Days later, Brandel Chamblee created headlines when he said the Players has the best and deepest field in golf and is “the hardest major championship to win,” adding: “the Players, to me, stands alone and above the other four major championships as not just a major, it is in my estimation, the best major.” What is going on here?

Melton: Ok this one was definitely strange. I can see an argument for making the Players a major, but to say it’s “the best” major? Now that’s a hot take. Credit to Brandel for sticking his neck out there, but I’m gonna have to disagree. 

Schrock: He honestly kind of lost me with the argument that because “Live From” broadcasts at majors and the Players, it makes the Players a major. I’ll listen to an argument that the Players is more of a major than the PGA, but Brandel lost me with his soliloquy. But it got people talking!

Dethier: Brandel is a provocative thinker and talker. When he’s on TV he has my attention. And some of his nuance got lost with this headline-grabbing declaration. With that said — I think this pretty clearly misses the mark. A better major than the brawny, epic U.S. Open? Than the vaunted, iconic Masters? Than the Open Championship and its 150-year history? The cover ruins the book for me here.

Regardless of how it’s labeled, do you agree with Chamblee that the Players is the hardest marquee event to win?

Melton: Winning is hard no matter if it’s your Saturday skins game or a major championship. Although with all the trouble on the closing stretch at TPC Sawgrass, it does make the Players a uniquely difficult tournament to close out with a lead. I know I wouldn’t feel comfortable with a one-shot lead heading into those holes.

Schrock: I think that all depends on who is in the cauldron. We saw Rory pretty effortlessly navigate TPC Sawgrass in a playoff to beat J.J. Spaun but throw up on himself at Pinehurst and Augusta. The closing stretch at TPC Sawgrass is arguably the best in golf, but I think the majors might be in a different category of pressure because of what they mean to a player’s legacy. 

Dethier: At the moment, the easiest argument against the Players as a major is that it’s an exclusive PGA Tour event. Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau are not permitted to play. But let’s put on our imagination caps for a minute. Is there a world in which the Tour seeks to elevate the Players by inviting LIV golfers, using its flagship event as a bridge? I’m not so sure. But I’m interested to see their next move in this campaign.

Last week, GOLF launched Fully Fit 2026, in which several of our dedicated staffers tested and reviewed the newest and best gear out there. Quick, what’s your favorite club you have added to your bag over the last few years?

Melton: My Titleist GT1 9-wood (yes, 9-wood!). I can hit it much higher than a 4-iron and I can even hit it out of the rough in a pinch. It’s quite a weapon. 

Schrock: I’m excited to add the Odyssey No. 7 with a slant neck to my bag here soon. It can only help my shaky play on the greens. 

Dethier: I got fitted into a TSi3 driver a couple years ago and immediately started hitting more fairways. I’d say the fitting was just as important as the golf club, making sure I got into the correct shaft and the correct head. It’s easier to trust.