The Official World Golf Ranking has come under huge scrutiny from those at LIV Golf, and Majesticks GC captain Ian Poulter has become the latest to hit out at the system
Ian Poulter has taken aim at the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), after the system was forced to admit to making an error when handing out ranking points following last week’s Sentry Tournament.
The winner of the first PGA Tour event of 2024 was Chris Kirk, an American who won the Sentry title by one shot over Sahith Theegala. Kirk achieved this by rising 27 spots to No. 25 in the world rankings as a result of his triumph.
But four days later, OWGR acknowledged that they had erred in allocating points for the Tour’s first event of the season, which led to a minor reordering of the rankings on Friday.
Luckily for Kirk, the correction of the error resulted in him moving up to 21st place and gaining an additional four spots. Since the LIV setup was formed in June 2022, the world rankings have been in the news more than ever during the past year.
The breakaway league has drawn in some of the top players in the world, but OWGR has not yet recognized it, so competitions have continued without ranking points being awarded. It is not surprising that members of the Saudi-sponsored series have expressed their disappointment with the rankings during the previous two seasons.
And after making a mistake on Friday, Poulter, a mainstay of LIV, could not resist making another jab. The Englishman posted a response on social media to OWGR’s correction, saying: “What [an] Organization… A few digits between friends is nothing.”
The veteran European has previously voiced his dissatisfaction with the ranking system. Poulter entered the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship four months prior to giving up his DP World Tour membership last May in an effort to gain some ranking points to aid in his quest to qualify for the Ryder Cup in 2023 as well as the four major championships in golf.
But the Englishman was unreserved in his criticism of the system after his return. He declared in January of last year, “We all know that the World Rankings are not reflective of the World Rankings.” “They become more and more outdated with each passing week that they continue to click. What we see today is an unfair system in the past. Take a look at what transpired.
This week’s winner will receive 26 World Ranking points and one top-20 player. How then does it not bother me that I’m not in the majors? Would I want to participate in each one of them? Naturally, I do. That’s my road to the Ryder Cup. However, I refuse to participate. My only option, then, is to compete in World Ranking competitions.
