Anirban Lahiri opened his fifth straight LIV Golf season with a T-30 finish in Riyadh, but the bigger story this week was the World Ranking points awarded to LIV Golf.
Lahiri shot 69-70-69-69 to finish 11-under at the season opener as LIV shifted to 72 holes for 2026 and began awarding Official World Golf Ranking points again — though only to top-10 finishers (and ties).
That restriction matters for Lahiri more than most. He is currently No. 858 in the OWGR, a steep fall from No. 91 when he joined LIV in 2022 — a drop of 767 spots that has left him with little hope of making it to the Los Angeles Olympics Golf event in 2028.
On the team side, Lahiri’s Crushers GC finished seventh at 48-under, with Bryson DeChambeau and Paul Casey both ending T-17 at 14-under as the best performers for the team.
The individual title went to Australia’s Elvis Smylie, who won at 24-under.
With LIV now inside the OWGR system — but with points limited to the top 10 — Lahiri’s path to climbing the rankings is clear: high finishes count, mediocrity will not be recognised.
Photo – Asian Tour
