Just three days ago it's likely the vast majority of golf fans - even golf professionals - had never heard of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Tour.

But since MENA's provocative "strategic alliance" with Greg Norman's LIV Golf series, it's become a factor in the war between the establishment - headlined by the US PGA Tour and DP World Tour - and the rebel start-up.

And MENA is firing salvos of its own over its new members' eligibility for Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points.

LIV Golf wants its 54-hole, 48-man field events to earn OWGR points to bolster its legitimacy and to entice top players to join the new league.

Players in the OWGR top 50 have automatic access to each of golf's four major championships.

On Wednesday, MENA declared that LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok would earn ranking points and that every one in the 48-man field was henceforth a MENA Tour player.

The OWGR, a body containing representatives from the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, R&A, Augusta National and others, stymied the plan, saying that it needed more time to review the "significant changes to the MENA Tour's membership structure".

In a statement, OWGR said it "notes that the first two tournaments in (MENA Tour's 2022/23) series appeared to be the same as the LIV Golf Invitational Series tournaments in Bangkok and Jeddah."

In his own statement MENA's commissioner David Spencer hit back, effectively saying, "Yes, so?" - and then using OWGR's own eligibility rules against it.

"We have had various communications with OWGR since submitting our 2022/23 schedule ... and our field ahead of our opening event of our new season which tees off today," Spencer said.

"None of this communication pointed towards any technical reason for the LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok to be treated any differently to any MENA Tour event, every one of which has received OWGR (points) since we were accepted into the OWGR framework in 2016.

"We have followed the OWGR guidelines for our 2022/23 season.

"Recently, there has been much talk in the golf world about limited field tournaments and 54-hole tournaments.

"For absolute clarity, the OWGR itself defines a limited field tournament as a tournament which has less than 30 qualified players.

Furthermore, the MENA Tour has always had the OWGR's blessing to stage 54-hole tournaments."

In hot and humid conditions with spectators spread across Bangkok's freshly minted Stonehill Golf Club, Australian Marc Leishman had seven birdies in his six-under 66 to be one shot from the lead after day one of LIV Golf's first foray into Asia.

Queenslander Jed Morgan, who won the 2022 Australian PGA Championship by a record 11 shots, shot five-under 67.

A double-bogey on the par-3 16th hole saw Australia's world No.3 Cameron Smith post an even-par score of 72.

Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra of Spain, Richard Bland of England and South African Branden Grace lead the field on seven-under par.

Round two will commence via shot-gun start at 13:15 AEST.