Arjun Atwal urges unity amid Paris Olympics qualification ‘politics’

Kolkata, March 19

Veteran golfer Arjun Atwal today described the stalemate between LIV Golf and the Official World Golf Ranking as a “funny” situation that could potentially cost Anirban Lahiri a spot at the upcoming Paris Olympics. The 36-year-old Lahiri, who plays in the Saudi-funded LIV Golf league, faces Olympics qualification challenges as the league is not recognised by the world ranking body, which will determine the eligibility for the 60 spots in the Paris Games.

PGA Tour and LIV Golf working towards alliance

New York: PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan confirmed that he and the player directors, including Tiger Woods, from the tour’s policy board met with the head of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia in the Bahamas. The PGA Tour and PIF have been in discussions since June about an alliance with the DP World Tour and PIF that would bring along billions in cash from Saudi Arabia. Reuters

“He’s playing well there, but they don’t receive any world ranking points for playing in the LIV Golf league, so he won’t qualify for the Olympics unless he earns world ranking points,” Atwal said during the announcement of the Kolkata Challenge. “That’s the funny part. There’s a lot of controversy surrounding world ranking points and Olympics qualification,” he added.

Lahiri, who has already participated in two Olympics, is racing against time as he is currently the third Indian in the official rankings behind Shubhankar Sharma (202) and Gaganjeet Bhullar (240).

Lahiri will have to earn the ranking points denied to the LIV Golf fraternity via the Asian Tour and also the Indian Open where he will return after five years.

The first Indian to play the PGA Championship, Atwal urged everyone to work towards a solution. “I have a lot of friends on the LIV Tour, as well as on the PGA Tour, the European Tour, and the senior Tour. To vilify someone because they’re playing on a different tour, I don’t like the politics of it,” he said.