LIV Golf’s bid for the Official World Golf Ranking was rejected on Tuesday, leaving many players in the breakaway tournament unhappy with the decision.
Many LIV Golf stars have spoken out against the decision of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) to deny the breakaway tournament’s request for ranking points, including Open champion Cam Smith.
It was confirmed on Tuesday that OWGR had chosen to reject LIV’s latest application for world ranking status because the Saudi-backed tournament did not meet the required criteria, followed by 24 tournaments. other professional. LIV officials quickly responded with a scathing statement, questioning the legitimacy of the ranking system without covering its facts.
Subsequently, several golfers on the breakaway tour also criticized the decision, including Smith, LIV Golf’s highest-ranked golfer, currently ranked 15th in the world, second. upon signing Greg Norman and a little more. A year ago. Continuing his tour, Smith spoke ahead of this week’s event in Jeddah:
“I think (OWGR) is almost outdated now… We have people here playing some of the best golf in the world and they are outside the top 100, 200 in the world. That’s ridiculous.”
A similar view was shared by former Masters champion Dustin Johnson, who questioned the decision to exclude some of the world’s best golfers from the rankings because of their standing in the tournament. “I feel like you can’t really use the world ranking system anymore,” Johnson said.
“It’s difficult to use the world ranking system if 48 good players are excluded. The rankings are skewed.” Patrick Reed, another former Green Jacket winner and Johnson’s 4Aces teammate, continued his criticism, calling the current ranking system “broken” without the inclusion of LIV events.
He added:
“Obviously disappointing… Until the world rankings actually reflect the best players in the world, for me it’s just a flawed system. Just because we play on a different track doesn’t mean it matters.” The big issue regarding LIV players and their rankings is their eligibility to compete in major championships.
The further they slip, the less likely they are to secure a spot in the sport’s four most important events. One man who has come up with an alternative in the wake of the rankings drop is Bryson DeChambeau, who believes LIV deserves its own qualifying criteria for spots at the Masters, Open Championship, US Open and PGA Championship.
“I think right now, when they don’t allow it, we want to find another way to fit into the major league system because I think we have some of the best players in the world,” he said. Jeddah. “Top 12 lists, money lists, year-end lists or year-end points lists, I think, will be obvious when major championships welcome the best players in the world. four events per year.
Phil Mickelson also commented on the rejection, telling former Masters champion Trevor Immelman that the OWGR’s choice may have been influenced by LIV’s previous conflict with the PGA Tour. Trevor, LIV was NEVER going to get points, Mickelson wrote in a tweet. Why? 1) All the governing bodies run the monopoly. 2) The PGA Tour television contract is based on owgr standards in order for them to receive full payment. 3) If LIV won, they would have less negotiating power.
4) Tour has borrowed against the TV deal, which is the last but not least. They will immediately receive a capital call if they don’t reach their benchmarks and receive all of their television revenue (from CBS). Never believe