LIV Golf stars could not be capable to play at Olympics as Cameron Smith speaks out

While their profession earnings have trended upwards, LIV Golf stars have seen their world rating spots pattern in the wrong way which might see them lose out on a spot on the Olympics

LIV Golf stars have encountered a brand new drawback in regard to their gradual fall down the world rankings, with their possibilities of making subsequent 12 months’s Olympic Video games set to take successful.

Gamers who’ve made the transfer to the breakaway league over the previous 12 months have sung the praises of the LIV setup, however for all its plaudits there has at all times been one obtrusive drawback – the Saudi-backed sequence’ lack of Official World Golf Rating (OWGR) recognition.

LIV has been internet hosting occasions since final June, however all have gone forward with out the awarding of world rating factors, regardless of having a few of the world’s high gamers of their fields. The breakaway league’s bosses have lengthy disputed with the OWGR about sanctioning their occasions, however to date their efforts have been in useless.

In October LIV confirmed it had shaped a ‘strategic alliance’ with the lesser-known MENA Tour, which noticed them co-sanction their occasions in a bid to make see them granted rating factors.

However this was rejected by OWGR bosses, and LIV’s utility with the rating system stays beneath assessment, with the method typically lasting as much as two years. This has posed an issue for a lot of insurgent gamers, who’ve seen themselves tumble down the rankings over the previous 14 months.

Initially their concern was making it into golf’s 4 main occasions, with the rankings a key manner of figuring out fields on the flagship championships. One man specifically who felt the brunt of this was Spaniard Sergio Garcia, who missed his first Open Championship in 25 years following his OWGR hunch and failure at qualifying.

Except for the majors, LIV gamers now look set to overlook out on the possibility to signify their nation on the Paris Olympics with the 2 highest-ranked gamers on the earth rankings from competing nations set to make the journey to Paris subsequent summer time. However with no signal of OWGR factors being granted any time quickly, this seems to be a trigger for concern for LIV gamers.

This was an issue shared by LIV’s present 2023 season chief, Cam SmithPer Channel 9, he stated: “We’ll have to attend and see how the whole lot unfolds. With the Olympics being subsequent 12 months I do not understand how for much longer I can maintain onto that spot.

“That is positively one thing in my thoughts and hopefully they’ll make it a bit simpler for me.” Smith is the very best rating LIV participant on the earth in the intervening time, sat in eleventh. Regardless of this, he’s nonetheless aware about falling out of Olympic competition, with the Video games nonetheless a 12 months away.

“I do not assume I’ve appeared on the rankings however it’s one thing I’m aware of,” Smith stated. Lots of the opposite boys in LIV have slid fairly dramatically [in the rankings]. I do not know what it will take for me to make it, however it’s positively one thing I’m enthusiastic about.”