PGA players say LIV must wait, change for world ranking points

PGA players at the Presidents Cup pushed back on Tuesday on a call by Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series players for world ranking points, saying they must wait and make major changes.

In an open letter to rankings board chairperson Peter Dawson, all 48 players in last week's Chicago Invitational asked for retroactive recognition of the 54-hole, shotgun start events.

"An OWGR (Official World Golf Rankings) without LIV would be incomplete and inaccurate," the players said, comparing it to England, Argentina and Belgium being left out of the FIFA rankings.

But Billy Horschel, a rookie on the US squad facing the Internationals at this week's team matches in Charlotte, said LIV doesn't meet the criteria for ranking points and players knew the risks when they left the PGA for the record riches on offer from the upstart series.

"I know it's a year to an 18-month process before they even get world ranking points. So just wait it out. Meet the criteria," Horschel said.

"They don't meet, from what I've been told, the first nine things on the criteria list. They don't have an average field size of 78. They don't have a cut. They don't have open qualifying. They don't award points or spots to local qualifiers. They don't have a Q-School. All these things that they don't have."

The move comes as LIV Golf chairman Greg Norman visits US lawmakers in Washington this week to discuss the upstart circuit and its anti-trust lawsuit against the PGA Tour. But he'll also get questions about Saudi Arabia's human rights record.

Obtaining world golf ranking points is vital for LIV players if they hope to qualify for majors based upon their world ranking, a pivotal step in playing in future major championships.

LIV players were allowed in this year's US and