Peter Dawson, OWGR Chairman (right), played golf with LIV Golf Chairman Yasser Al-Rumayyan on 6 October
Peter Dawson played golf with the manager of Saudi Arabia's $600bn (£488bn) sovereign wealth fund on Friday and three days later told Yasser Al-Rumayyan, one of the world's most powerful men, that no, his LIV Golf League is not will be given access to the inner sanctum and will therefore receive no points in the world rankings.
If nothing else can be said about Dawson, a former R&A chief executive who is now chairman of the Official World of Golf. rating board, then he is certainly a faithful servant of the rules.
How Yasser Rumayyan, head of the Public Investment Fund and chairman of Newcastle United, will feel is anyone's guess after playing 18 holes not only with Dawson during the illustrious pro-am, but also with Martin Slumbers, chief executive of the R&A . the day before, the DP World Tour had played over St Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie.
“With the PGA Tour and DP World Tour withdrawing from OGWR discussions, it was essentially the four majors voting against LIV's bid. And so Dawson, who seemed so positive in his comments on the dilemma last week, delivered a message that means there's another dizzying twist to the battle that should be in the peace talks.
Negotiations have begun. Between the PIF and the two traditional tours, and early deals actually mentioned traditional circuits helping to ensure that LIV would be given official ranking status. But Tuesday's news was grim. LIV Golf: «rejected» stamp.
“We’re not at war with them,” Dawson told the AP. “This decision not to grant them the right to participate in elections is not political. This is a completely technical task. LIV players are obviously good enough to be ranked. They just don't play in a format that puts them on par with the other 24 tours and the thousands of players trying to compete.»
Dawson has no voting rights, but has said so in the past . that the committee could not accept the absence of half the squad and the participation of only 48 players. But the stumbling block, apparently, was the belief that LIV is a “closed shop.”
LIV insists promotion and relegation are taking place — and that this week's final individual competition in Jeddah will see four players kicked out of the league — but OGWR felt the scale of turnover, and therefore the danger, was not enough.
< p>“The top 24 players in the 2023 standings are guaranteed a place in the 2024 season, but LIV has signed several superstars to contracts that guarantee them a place regardless of their performance. Those currently outside the top 24 include Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Bubba Watson, Paul Casey and Ian Poulter.
Lack of ranking points has been one of LIV's main problems since it played its first tournament at the LIV tournament. The Centurion Club in St Albans 16 months ago. Dawson himself sees the absurdity of some of the game's biggest names being relegated in the rankings to neutral territory.
“Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, of course they should be ranked,” Dawson said. “We need to find a way to achieve this. I hope LIV can find a solution — not so much their format; this can be dealt with using a mathematical formula — short of qualification and relegation.»
LIV players contacted by Telegraph Sport were not shocked, but no one was ready to speak officially for obvious reasons, since the deal is a production continues. “Yasir will do some kind of deal with Dunhill,” one LIV player said. “I predict that we will have spots for eight players at the top of the standings at each major. And this solves the problem.”
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