LIV Golf never abided by the rules of traditional golf and followed a 54-hole format. As a result, when they requested OWGR points for their players, their plea was denied. The only ones who suffered because of it were the golfers. Most recently, Jon Rahm faced the same fate as fellow LIV golfer Dustin Johnson following the Masters Tournament, as per a report.
Jon Rahm, who joined the Saudi-funded league as World No. 3 came down to World No. 4 after being replaced by Xander Schauffele on the list. On the other hand, Dustin Johnson who was once the World No. 1 golfer, moved down to 343 from his most recent rank at 336.
This fall in rankings was a result of average performances displayed by the two golfers at the Masters last week. Jon Rahm finished in the 45th place despite winning the title last year. His rank was way behind that of Xander Schauffele, who finished in 8th place individually. Dustin Johnson’s performance was even worse. He couldn’t make the cut after 36 holes, after having won the same event in 2020.
The perfomances might be a result of the weather issues that prevailed on the green for the first two days of the major but had the OWGR allowed LIV golfers to achieve ranking points, they wouldn’t have to rely on the majors to gain them. Counterintuitively, LIV Golf announced that it would be withdrawing its OWGR plea, which came as a major blow to its players.
Why Did LIV Golf Withdraw Its Plea For OWGR Rankings?
LIV CEO Greg Norman announced last month that they would no longer be pursuing the OWGR for ranking points. He addressed the issue in a letter to his team and the golfers. He was visibly frustrated by the authorities calling LIV Golf a non-eligible professional golf tour. The Saudi-backed league even tried to get OWGR points by introducing a promotional event this year, which would act as a qualifying criterion for the league. But, despite that, the OWGR ended up denying their plea. As a result, Greg Norman decided to back and wrote a letter stating:
“A resolution which protects the accuracy, credibility and integrity of the OWGR rankings no longer exists…We have made significant efforts to fight for you and ensure your accomplishments are recognized within the existing ranking system. Unfortunately, OWGR has shown little willingness to productively work with us.”
In the same letter, he also highlighted the fact that only four LIV golfers were inside the top 50 on the rankings list due to the OWGR bias towards the PGA Tour.
“The rankings are structured to penalize anyone who has not played regularly on an “Eligible Tour” with the field ratings disproportionately rewarding play on the PGA Tour…This is illustrated by the fact only four players inside the top 50 are not PGA Tour players (Jon Rahm (3), Tyrrell Hatton (17), Brooks Koepka (30) and Cam Smith (45)).”
As per the latest OWGR reports, Cameron Smith has dropped to the 52nd rank, leaving only three LIV golfers inside the top 50 – Tyrrell Hatton (16), Brooks Koepka (33), and Jon Rahm (4). If the situation continues to be this way and no merger agreement is reached between the two leagues, the best LIV players will soon end up at the bottom of the OWGR list, some even losing their chances to play in the majors.
