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Did Brooks Koepka’s wife let the big secret slip? Jena Sims congratulates LIV golfers for achieving world ranking points at this week’s event in Thailand… in what would be a HUGE move of the Saudi-backed rebel tour
- LIV’s latest event kicks off this week in Thailand – and players can get ranking points
- On Wednesday, reports surfaced that LIV is participating in the MENA tour
- And Brooks Koepka’s wife also said that the players now get ranking points
- LIV’s move with MENA is, it seems, a loophole for players to earn points
- Click here for all your latest international sports news from DailyMail.com
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It seems LIV Golf has solved one of its biggest problems and found a way for players to earn world ranking points by participating in the events.
Amid reports surfacing Wednesday that LIV found a loophole in the golf rules, Brooks Koepka’s wife, actress and model Jena Sims, posted a video of a pre-tournament event to her Instagram story captioned “Congratulations to these guys, get World Golf Ranking Points this week’.
LIV is in Thailand for the final three-day event and Sims posted a photo of a stage full of players who have joined the breakout circuit.
Brooks Koepka’s wife, Jena Sims, posted a video of a pre-tournament LIV event on her Instagram story with the caption, “Congratulations to these guys, who are getting World Golf Ranking Points this week.”
Koepka – pictured with Sims – is one of LIV’s most talked-about players on Saudi-backed tour
It is essential for players like Koepka to earn ranking points or they will end up missing Majors
The lack of ranking points offered was arguably LIV’s biggest weakness in its first year. It meant that players would quickly slip out of the fight to compete in the Majors unless they were exempted from their world rankings based on previous Grand Slam wins.
Sims’ post comes as a report in The Telegraph and also claims that LIV players will now start earning ranking points.
It says LIV has essentially become part of the little-known MENA Tour – a circuit for tournaments in North Africa and Asia – which is recognized and accepted by the Official Golf World Rankings board.
MENA will eventually enter the LIV field as its own, meaning Koepka, Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau can now play for ranking points.
The Telegraph quoted an LIV source as saying: ‘We are adamant that it ticks most if not all OGWR boxes. We don’t know how they can rule us out now that the LIV Golf Series and next year’s LIV Golf League are on the MENA Tour.”
The news is a boost for other big names such as Cameron Smith (left) and Dustin Johnson
The lack of ranking points was the biggest weakness of the LIV Gulf lineup, which Greg Norman (left) has taken action on—here he is pictured with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund that funds the money— rotating circuit
Even Rory McIlroy, arguably LIV’s biggest player critic, says LIV golfers should get points in the world rankings.
“I would definitely like the best players in the world to be ranked accordingly,” said McIlroy. “I think if Dustin Johnson is somewhere around 100th in the world, it’s not an accurate reflection of where he is in the game.”
But McIlroy also alluded to how LIV players play 54 holes – hence the name in Roman numerals – and the rest of the golf world 72 holes.
“At the same time, you can’t make up your own rules,” McIlroy said. “If they want to run to meet the criteria, they can… I certainly have no problem with them getting world ranking points.
“But if you don’t meet the criteria, it becomes hard to justify why you should have them.”
McIlroy also suggested holding talks with LIV and the PGA Tour to try and ease the tension between the organizations tearing golf apart.
“I’ve always said there’s a time and place where everyone involved has to sit down and work together,” McIlroy said. “It’s very difficult to do that now with lawsuits pending.
Rory McIlroy has called for talks between the PGA Tour and LIV about the future of golf
“There’s a natural timeline to let things settle down a bit. People can go into those meetings with a cooler head.
“I don’t want a broken game. The game of golf is tearing itself apart and that’s not good for anyone. It’s not good for the guys from the traditional system or the guys on the other side.
“Right now, with where everything is, it probably isn’t the right time, but we probably can’t let it go for too long. I’m all for sitting around the table and sorting things out.’