Getty Image / Suhaimi Abdullah
The LIV Golf stars who were fortunate enough to receive invitations to The Masters this year made the most of their time in Augusta when it came to OWGR points.
Phil Mickelson jumped from 213 in the world to 74th. Brooks Koepka jumped from 52nd to 39th. And Patrick Reed rose the OWGR board from 72nd to 46th.
The OWGR points are crucial for getting into golf’s four major championships after any exemptions from winning majors expire. And LIV Golf has still yet to receive OWGR points approval for the invitationals despite having some of the best golfers in the world on the LIV Tour.
Phil Mickelson has spoken out in the past about OWGR and LIV Golf but he was drawn into a Twitter argument with former PGA Tour golfer Colt Knost on Monday and dragged OWGR again.
It started when Mickelson replied to Knost who was himself asking a question about OWGR to someone else. Then Knost and Mickelson started going back and forth:
Phil Mickelson is set when it comes OWGR points because he can continue player majors for the rest of his career due to winner’s exemptions. But he certainly seems invested in getting OWGR points for other LIV golfers:
If there was a cut line then LIV would’ve received OWGR points by now or they would be guaranteed to in the future. It’s pretty simple.
LIV Golf Receives Positive OWGR News
The LIV Golf Tour is waiting on an answer from OWGR about points awarded.
An announcement in December opened a path for LIV to secure the much-needed OWGR points. That came when the Gira de Golf Professional de Mexicana was awarded points.
The primary difference between LIV and Gira de Golf Professional de Mexicana is the latter has a 36-hole cut in the 54-hole events. LIV has no cut.
An interesting tidbit though is it was revealed the application process took 16 months from application to decision. So LIV could have a long wait.
More recently, LIV received good news on the OWGR front after a statement from DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley. Pelley revealed to The Telegraph that he, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, and DP World Tour chief operating Officer Keith Waters had all removed themselves from the OWGR board for this decision-making process.
“At the last OWGR board meeting (in December) myself, Jay Monahan and Keith Waters recused ourselves and now a separate committee made up of the four Majors will now determine the application.”
Keith Pelly added “I have not looked at the LIV application and I’ve not given my opinions on an application I’ve not seen. So, as far as LIV goes, we are not involved in it and have no influence or say in what transpires.”
It remains to be seen when OWGR will approve or deny LIV’s application but the pending status certainly hasn’t stopped Phil Mickelson from speaking about these things publicly.