LIV Golf players will not receive world ranking points for their next two events after failing to give the Official World Golf Ranking enough time to study their new strategic alliance with the MENA Tour.
LIV players joined the MENA Tour en masse this week, hoping they could use the developmental tour to get world ranking points immediately, simply by incorporating their invitation-only events into the MENA Tour’s schedule.
But the OWGR insisted they need time to review the changes to the MENA Tour before awarding points to LIV Invitationals.
“Notice of these changes given by the MENA Tour is insufficient to allow OWGR to conduct the customary necessary review ahead of the LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok (7-9 Oct) and LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah (14-16 Oct),” the OWGR said in a statement. “Only after the review is complete will a decision be made on awarding points to the MENA Tour’s new ‘Limited Field Tournaments’...”
Séamus Power has no intention of going to LIV, but he failed to build on a great start to the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas, where a two-under 69 left him six shots behind Tom Hoge.
Power birdied the 10th, 11th, 14th and 16th to race into an early share of the lead, but he double-bogeyed the third and while he got a shot back at the sixth, he bogeyed the short eighth to sit just inside the top 30.
At the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship in California, Stephanie Meadow made five birdies in a four-under 68 to share second place in the clubhouse a shot behind early leader Alison Lee.
She’s 79th in the standings and will play in Korea, Japan and Florida over the next three weeks so she makes the top 60 who qualify for the $7m, season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. “Trying to give myself as many opportunities as I can to make it there,” Meadow said. Meanwhile, Jonathan Caldwell and Niall Kearney lead the Irish in Open de España at Madrid’s Club de Campo, where two-under 69s left them tied 31st, six shots behind Wu Ashun, Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Darius van Driel. Jon Rahm was tied fourth after a 64 with Paul Dunne and Gavin Moynihan 69th after 71s as Cormac Sharvin shot 74 and David Carey a 76.
On the Challenge Tour, local professional Tyler Hogarty shot a four-under 68 to lead the Irish challenge in the British Challenge at St. Mellion.
He’s one behind England’s Steven Tiley and Sweden’s Simon Forsstrom with Portmarnock’s Conor Purcell tied eighth after a 69.
Tom McKibbin’s 74 left him outside the projected cut mark with John Murphy 70th after a 75 and Ruaidhri McGee tied 96th after a 78.
Open de Espana,
Live, Sky Sports, 12.30pm
Shriners Hospitals Open,
Live, Sky Sports, 5,30pm
