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“I think (OWGR) is kind of outdated now…We have guys here playing some of the best golf in the world and they’re not in the top 100 or 200 in the world. It’s quite funny.”
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 at this point in time now that they’re not allowing it, we would love to find another way to be integrated into the major championship system since I think we have some of the best players in the world,” DeChambeau said at LIV Jeddah. “Top 12 on the list, the money list, at the end of the year or the points list at the end of the year, would be I think obvious for the major championships to host the best players in the world at those four events each year.”
The rejection was also addressed by Phil Mickelson who took to Twitter (X) to have his say, telling former Masters champion Trevor Immelman that LIV’s previous rivalry with the PGA Tour had something to do with the OWGR’s decision. Mickelson tweeted: ” Trevor, LIV was NEVER going to get points. Why? 1) It’s a monopoly run by all the governing bodies 2) the PGA Tour tv contract is based on owgr criteria for them to get all their money 3) they would lose leverage in negotiations if LIV got points.
“4) last but not least, Tour has BORROWED against the tv deal! If they don’t hit their bench marks and don’t get all their tv money(from CBS 🙂 they will have an immediate capital call. Don’t believe me? Ask Sean McManus.” Responding to a critical fan, Mickelson went on to claim that he ‘does not care’ that LIV will operate without the awarding of ranking points.
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