FILE PHOTO: Sep 4, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; A giant LIV Golf ball before the final round of the LIV Golf tournament at The International. Mandatory Credit: Richard Cashin-USA TODAY Sports
(Reuters) - The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) said on Thursday it was reviewing changes to the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Tour after it forged an alliance with LIV Golf that would see players from the breakaway circuit get world ranking points.
LIV Golf is holding the sixth event of its inaugural season this week just north of Bangkok and the MENA Tour said on Wednesday that players competing at Stonehill Golf Course will immediately qualify for official world ranking points.
The MENA Tour is eligible for world ranking points, unlike the controversial Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Series that has led to several top players abandoning the U.S.-based PGA Tour and Europe's DP World Tour.
The OWGR said it had received a communication detailing significant changes to the MENA Tour's membership structure along with an outline of the initial series of tournaments in the 2022-23 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," read a statement on its website.
"A review of the changes to the MENA Tour is now underway by the OWGR."
It added that a decision on awarding points to the MENA Tour's new "Limited Field Tournaments" will be taken once the review is complete.
According to the OWGR website, the ranking points breakdown is derived from each tournament's total field rating and points are awarded to players who make the cut and complete an event, subject to their finishing position in the tournament.
LIV Golf's 54-hole events do not have a cut.
(Reporting by Dhruv Munjal in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
