Dustin Johnson’s astonishing career low as LIV Golf’s rankings problem continues

Dustin Johnson has fallen to his lowest point in the Official World Golf Ranking since his debut season on the PGA Tour back in 2008, as his LIV Golf problems go on.

Golfing star Dustin Johnson has slipped to his worst ranking in the OWGR since he joined the PGA Tour in his rookie season in 2008. The latest update of the OWGR list released on Monday saw Johnson ranked as the 453rd best player in the world.

This sharp decline comes after he defected to LIV Golf in 2022, similar to what Phil Mickelson did. Johnson, like Mickelson, was one of the big names to jump to the Saudi-backed circuit, signing a deal worth $125 million.

Despite his earnings skyrocketing, his world ranking has taken a hit. Since its inception two years ago, LIV has been hosting its 54-hole, no-cut events without offering world ranking points.

“We are not at war with them,” OWGR chairman Peter Dawson told the Associated Press. “This decision not to make them eligible is not political. It is entirely technical. LIV players are self-evidently good enough to be ranked. They’re just not playing in a format where they can be ranked equitably with the other 24 tours and thousands of players trying to compete on them.”

Dawson also singled out particular players when discussing the issues that the LIV series faced and the ranking system as well. “Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, and of course, they should be in the ranking,” he said. It is quite important to develop a strategy of how we can get that done. I really wish LIV can sort it out-not so much their format; that is easily solvable by an equation of proportionality- the qualification and relegation.

However, any hope of a resolution from LIV seemed to be extinguished earlier this year when Norman informed his players that they no longer sought OWGR points. “We have tried our best to struggle for your recognition and your achievements to be shown in the ranking system as it is,” Norman said to his players.

Greg Norman has slammed the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) for their lack of cooperation, saying: Unfortunately, OWGR has been hugely uninterested in productively engaging with us.” The rankings themselves were designed to set out bear traps for anyone who had not submitted their results of an ‘Eligible Tour’ and the field ratings incorporated a form of pay dirt for the PGA Tour.

He then went on to say, “And even if points were granted right at LIV Golf events, the mechanism of the OWGR I’m suggesting here is structured in a way that makes it practically impossible for you to climb closer to the top where a lot of you are now”