Peter Dawson led the Official World Ranking for a decade, until last April, when he was replaced by Trevor Immelman.
The history of his presidency was marked, right in the final phase, by the troubled relationship with LIV Golf, led by Greg Norman.
The Saudi League, as is well known, still does not guarantee its players world ranking points, resulting in a gradual decline in their rankings.
For example, Jon Rahm, who won the LIV individual ranking this season, currently sits at 71st; Joaquin Niemann, who has won five tournaments and is currently in second place, is 120th; Sergio Garcia, with one win this season and ninth place in the final rankings, is 431st.
LIV submitted an accreditation application in 2022, which the organization's Board rejected in 2023, highlighting a series of critical issues that would prevent its acceptance unless corrected.
Greg Norman's response was to withdraw the application.
But let's get back to Peter Dawson.
Peter Dawson, statements
The former OWGR Chairman, in an interview with the Global Post, expressed his perspective on the matter.
“The OWGR has a formidable record of inclusivity…it increased the number of accredited Tours from five to twenty-five. It goes to great lengths to help Tours receive accreditation.”
“I was very disappointed that we couldn't do this for LIV. It's clear that LIV players are strong and deserve a spot in the rankings, given that they were already part of it.”
“But the OWGR is responsible for ensuring that the thousands of players who belong to it are ranked fairly, and certain aspects of LIV Golf make that impossible.”
“My opinion is that the OWGR made the only decision it could.”
Dawson considers LIV Golf an initiative that has brought no benefit to the golf system, but only to the few players who were signed.
"I just can't understand why the PIF and Saudi Arabia insist on the LIV."
"They're doing great things for women's golf with the PIF Global Series and have major projects within their country to promote golf both among the local population and in terms of tourism. These are initiatives that deserve our praise, but the LIV seems to be an intruder."
