Matt Fitzpatrick shared his opinion that golfers associated with LIV Golf are not accurately evaluated by the Official World Golf Rankings due to their lack of participation in the PGA Tour.
Matt Fitzpatrick no longer focuses on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), particularly because they do not take into account LIV Golf players.
The 29-year-old admitted that he now relies on alternative sources to gauge the current top-performing players. Fitzpatrick openly criticized the OWGR ranking system, believing it is biased towards PGA Tour players and fails to consider a player’s overall performance, including LIV.
There’s a lot of strength and depth on this tour,” he said to Golf Today. “This is absolutely no disrespect to the winners because they played better than me this year but I don’t think the world rankings are a true representation of the golf game at the minute. I don’t really look at them or pay attention to them anymore. I just don’t think they’re right.”
Instead of using the OWGR to see where golfers are ranked, Fitzpatrick said he used data golf as an alternative because it provided him with more pertinent information than what the OWGR offered. Additionally, Fitzpatrick said that his decision to move away from using the OWGR is proof of how talented the field is on either side.
“I think it’s partly a sign that there’s plenty of depth on here, which we’ve known that for years on the PGA Tour, there’s always been a lot of strength and depth, but I certainly think nowadays the ranking side of it is a little bit skewed,” Fitzpatrick added.
When further pressed about what made the OWGR obsolete in his eyes, Fitzpatrick explained how some of the best golfers are missing from the rankings because of their LIV Golf affiliation. And while he understands why that is, he does not necessarily agree with it.
“I don’t think it’s right to not have these players involved in the world rankings, I mean what’s Dustin Johnson in the world? I don’t even know,” he continued. “What’s Brooks Koepka? I just think that’s the only issue, in my opinion, right now with the world golf rankings.”
Fitzpatrick’s comments come shortly after LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman penned a letter to players explaining that LIV is no longer pursuing ranking points from the OWGR after a handful of failed attempts. “We have made significant efforts to fight for you and ensure your accomplishments are recognised within the existing ranking system,” Norman’s letter read, per Sports Illustrated. “Unfortunately, OWGR has shown little willingness to productively work with us.
“”The rankings are designed to disadvantage individuals who have not consistently competed on an ‘Eligible Tour’, with a strong bias towards rewarding performance on the PGA Tour.”
“Although points for LIV Golf events were awarded right away, the OWGR system is structured in a way that would make it practically difficult for you to climb back up towards the top of the rankings, where many of you rightfully should be.”
Some of the top players in golf, such as Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson, are currently competing in the Saudi Arabian-backed league.
It is uncertain if the Official World Golf Rankings will adjust to fit the 54-hole, no-cut format of this new league.
Both sets of players seem to have made clear their opinions on the matter.