Report: Greg Norman tells LIV players breakaway tour has given up in key battle

LIV Golf have officially given up in their most enduring battle, according to a report. 

Per SI, the breakaway tour is no longer attempting to get Official World Golf Ranking accreditation. 

LIV put in their bid to get OWGR points in July 2022 before the landmark 150th Open at St. Andrews. 

Since then, the topic of whether LIV deserve or should have points has been debated at length. 

The big issue is that, given LIV players are still banned from playing on the PGA Tour, there are reduced pathways for the rival league players to get into golf's four major championships. 

Some LIV players are already exempt into the majors for the foreseeable future, but in future years there is the distinct possibility the majors won't have the strongest fields they could have. 

Just last week LIV's 2023 individual champion Talor Gooch caused a stir on the topic with his asterisk claim. 

LIV were told 'no' by the OWGR in October 2023. 

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OWGR chairman Peter Dawson claimed there is no conspiracy against LIV and admitted the players were 'self-evidently' good enough to be ranked. 

But concerns were raised about the league's format, pathways to the league and the fact the individual element could be compromised by the team component. 

Dawson gave an interview to The Times of London in late February whereby he doubled down on his previous claim. 

"I'm not here to say the LIV format is worse or better than anything else," he said. "But it is different and that's what makes it tricky."

He added: "If it comes down to a no-change situation then the world of golf will have to decide whether they would prefer to have a totally inclusive ranking system that is perhaps not mathematically as good as it could be, or a mathematically sound system which excludes some players.

"That's a decision to come in the future because we are in a bad place."

LIV have now officially given up, according to SI's report. 

A letter addressed to LIV players from their chief executive, Greg Norman, read:

Norman went on to say that, even if LIV were now given OWGR points, the system is, "designed such that it would be functionally impossible for you to regain positions close to the summit of the ranking, where so many of you belong". 

At the time of writing, only four LIV players are in the top 50 of the OWGR. 

They are reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm, five-time major winner Brooks Koepka, 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith and Tyrrell Hatton. 

LIV's 2024 recruit Adrian Meronk - who was slapped with a slow-play penalty in Jeddah - has slipped to 51st in the rankings. 

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