Jon Rahm didn’t know LIV Golf was still trying to earn Official World Golf Ranking points before the league withdrew its application on Tuesday, but that didn’t stop the Spaniard from once again calling out the ranking system.
In fact, the two-time major champion doubled down on his previous criticism of the OWGR ahead of this week’s LIV event in Hong Kong.
“I didn’t think it was a good system back then, and if anything, the more time that goes on, the more it proves to be wrong,” said Rahm. “If anybody in this world, for example, doesn’t think (Joaquin Niemann) deserves to be in the top 10 or doesn’t know that he’s a top player in the world, I don’t know what game you’re watching. We can tell. I think anybody who watches golf can tell who the best players in the world are, and obviously I don’t think the ranking is reflective of that right now to its entirety.”
LIV Golf CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman informed players of the decision to withdraw the points application via a letter on Tuesday. The original application was sent in July of 2022 and the OWGR initially denied points last October.
“We have made significant efforts to fight for you and ensure your accomplishments are recognized within the existing ranking system,” Norman wrote. “Unfortunately, OWGR has shown little willingness to productively work with us.”
When it denied LIV points, the OWGR claimed the league – which features a mostly-closed field of 54 players playing 54-hole, shotgun start, no-cut events – wasn’t able to be compared to the other 24 tours under its world ranking wing. Also stated to be of concern were the qualifying and relegation methods employed by LIV Golf.
“We are not at war with them,” Peter Dawson, chairman of the OWGR board, said to the AP. “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.”
LIV Golf was displeased, to say the least, with the OWGR news and released a lengthy statement condemning the ranking system by saying it had lost trust and clarity by not rewarding LIV player performances. The statement, however, failed to address the reasons given in the original AP report as to why the application for world ranking points was rejected. Bryson DeChambeau did the same on Wednesday.
He said if the OWGR wanted to right the system then LIV should’ve been granted points more than a year ago when they partnered with the developmental MENA Tour, which also features 54-hole events.
“The cut thing — there’s numerous things they brought up, and it’s like, we can solve for all that, just tell us what to do, and nothing has gone — anyway, it is what it is, and at this point we just need to figure out how to get all the governing bodies to come together and figure out what the best system is for the game of professional golf moving forward,” said DeChambeau, who failed to mention the closed shop or pathways to the league.
“I just think what’s right is in the best interest of the game, and we should focus on having the best players at the majors, and continuing to have that around the game of golf is only important to growing the game of golf and to make the game of golf continue to be as relevant as it is now and even more in the future,” said DeChambeau. “What I think about it is we need to find a collective way, all the governing bodies, everybody, come together, sit down and figure this out, because we need to do this for the fans.”
The one point we can all agree on is that the major championships are better when all the best players are competing. No player or fan would say otherwise. As LIV players drop in the OWGR and past champions lose their exemption status, the responsibility will fall on events like the Masters and PGA Championship to reward players like Joaquin Niemann, who have gone out of their way to try to qualify.
“But our job shouldn’t be to make the rules or impose the rules or enforce the rules,” Rahm added. “We’re here to entertain, and it’s the governing bodies’ job to be doing this and be adaptable to the changing environment.”
