As golf in the Olympics continues to navigate its way towards relevancy, its latest challenge may be the one that puts it most in line with golf’s major championships.
There was no complaining, no bitterness. Carlos Ortiz stood over a pitch shot on the final hole of LIV Golf Houston confident he would win, and certain he would be asked later about the fact he will not be playing in this week’s US Open at Pinehurst.
Some on LIV Golf accepted what can only be estimated as generational wealth. Their omission from the OWGR is not a punishment, but the price of that payday.
For every LIV golfer who has called for a direct pathway from the league into the four men’s major championships, there seems to be an equal number willing to travel to the corners of the globe in search of major-championship golf.
For all the hundreds of millions of dollars splurged to lure big-name players away from the PGA Tour, both of the first two LIV events have been won by players outside the top 100 in the world ranking.