Lee Westwood became one of LIV Golf’s biggest signings when making the move in 2022, but like many of his fellow players, the former world No. 1 has tumbled down the rankings
Lee Westwood has become the latest LIV Golf star to label the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) ‘obsolete’, having fallen to a career-low in the list on the back of his move.
Westwood is just one of several LIV players who have fallen in the standings after agreeing to a deal with Greg Norman and company. Despite all of its achievements over the previous two years, the Saudi-backed circuit still has a chink in its armor—namely, it hasn’t received ranking points or recognition from OWGR.
Former world No. 1 Westwood is currently languishing in 875th place on the list and faces the possibility of dropping out of the top 1,000 in the upcoming months. This is a far cry from his previous position as the greatest golfer on the planet.
With LIV players falling further and further down the list, and less and less of its players earning spots at golf’s four major championships, Westwood believes the current ranking system is no longer saveable. “I think the Official World Golf Ranking has got itself into a real hole,” he told Australian Golf Digest.
“It’s got itself to a point where it’s obsolete, really, if I’m being completely honest. It’s managed to be so stubborn that it no longer ranks all the best golfers in the world fairly. And it’s gone so far that I don’t see how it can come back from the hole that it’s in because you can’t backdate them.”
Of course Westwood is not alone in taking aim at OWGR, with fellow LIV star Louis Oosthuizen expressing his frustrations with the system last week. Oosthuizen will miss his first Masters Tournament since 2008 this April, after his own tumble in the rankings means he is no longer eligible to compete.
The South African is one of many LIV stars – including Westwood – who will not tee it up at Augusta National this Spring, and therefore believes a complete overhaul of the current world ranking system is needed. He toldGulf News:”I think the whole system needs to change completely.
“If they don’t want to give us World Ranking points on LIV Golf then they should change the system where they give spots to Majors on each tour around the world or something like that. I’m surprised those (OWGR) guys have a lot more experience than me, sitting on boards and doing their things, that I can’t believe there’s no solution to it.”
Another prominent figure in LIV golf who has publicly criticized the OWGR system recently is Joaquin Niemann, a former star of the PGA Tour who called the current ranking “unfair” in January. The Chilean has been obliged to play some of his golf on the PGA Tour of Australasia, DP World Tour, and Asian Tour in an effort to make his way into the majors.
But Niemann’s success has been well-deserved; in December, he won the Australian Open, which secured his place in this year’s Open Championship at Royal Troon. In an attempt to gain more ranking points, he then made a comeback to the DP World Tour last month, where he tied for fourth at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.