Sergio Garcia said he ‘doesn’t think Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points are worth it anymore’ given the majority of LIV Golf players have now tumbled so far down the list.
Garcia, 44, was speaking exclusively to GolfMagic ahead of hosting his third annual FORE Kids ATX golf tournament & PAR-Tee on 1-2 November that contributes to the Sergio & Angela Garcia Foundation.
The 2017 Masters champion addressed a number of hot topics with GolfMagic Editor Andy Roberts this week, none bigger than him potentially making a shock return to the DP World Tour and Luke Donald’s European Ryder Cup team.
Garcia also declared one of the players on his Fireballs GC will be leaving ahead of 2025.
But on the topic of OWGR points, Garcia admits he and the rest of his LIV Golf peers have all-but given up the chase for inclusion.
As it stands, LIV Golf League events remain shut out of receiving valuable world ranking points to ensure players are able to compete in the majors.
Despite now having a number of the world’s best players such as Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, the OWGR’s board of directors have deemed the Saudi-bankrolled circuit is not worthy of inclusion for points.
Their 54-hole format, shotgun start and limited fields are just three of the reasons the OWGR have provided for omitting LIV Golf events from points.
It has resulted in major champions such as Garcia dropping all the way down the list to a current 390th in the world.
Even two-time major champion and former World No.1 Dustin Johnson now lies an unthinkable 429th.
In the eyes of Garcia, who remains eligible for The Masters as a past champion, the majority of LIV Golf players are so far down the world rankings right now that even being handed OWGR points in LIV events would do very little for their chances of getting back into the world’s top 50, and most importantly back into all of the majors.
“To be totally honest, I don’t think world ranking points are worth it anymore for us,” Garcia told GolfMagic on the topic of OWGR.
Even if we got world ranking points now with the rankings we have like myself down in 390th, it just wouldn’t really help the majority of us.
“We were looking at it and for someone to be able to stay in the top 50 in the world, you would probably have to win like 10 of the 14 tournaments on LIV Golf.”
LIV Golf superstar Jon Rahm is now down at 13th in the world, which just about reflects how out-of-date the current OWGR system is heading into 2025.
Garcia has only played in two majors in both of the last two seasons – The Masters and US Open.
The Spaniard is eligible to play in The Masters at famed Augusta National for the remainder of his career as a result of having slipped on the coveted Green Jacket in 2017.
The only way Garcia can play his way into the other three majors is via qualifiers, something he admits he will continue to do.
‘Other options are being discussed’, says Sergio Garcia.
Despite remaining shut out of receiving OWGR points, Garcia told GolfMagic “other options are being talked about at the moment and hopefully they come around in the very near future.”
Garcia continued: “I think at the end of the day the governing bodies that run the majors want to have the best players in the world, and a lot of the guys are on the league with us, so they are going to have to figure something out to have the best players there.”
Garcia still believes that he could get some majors’ invitation thanks to his third place in the individual LIV Golf rankings in the 2024 season, which might make him get invites to the 2025 majors.
Or at least he would like to believe that golf’s ruling boards will look more into what is being delivered by LIV Golf when the professional game does appear to be inching closer towards a unified system.
“Yeah I hope so … at the end of the day I just need to play like that and put myself there and hopefully the majors and the organisations that look after the majors give it the credit it deserves,” said Garcia.
At the end of the day all I can manage is what we have worked on here today. If for some reason they feel it is not good enough, well I will just carry on doing my thing, and go and play in the qualifying rounds, and just attempt to get as many major tournaments as possible.
Of course The Masters that I will be playing anyway, the others I will look for what I have to do so as to qualify for the tournaments. It’s pretty much all which I am able to do.
Sergio Garcia was talking to GolfMagic prior to FORE Kids ATX, a 2-day golf charity that was started by him and his wife Angela Garcia.