Cameron Smith talks to Dustin Johnson at the LIV Golf Invitational – DC event in May 2023. | Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images
Ahead of this week’s LIV Golf event in Saudi Arabia, Cam Smith and Dustin Johnson spoke about the OWGR’s decision to deny LIV Golf points.
Plenty of players for LIV Golf strongly oppose the Official World Golf Ranking’s (OWGR) decision not to award ranking points to the Saudi-backed tour.
Australian Cameron Smith is one of them, as he called the ranking system “obsolete.”
“We’ve got some guys out here who are playing some of the best golf in the world, and they’re outside the top 100, 200 in the world,” Smith said ahead of LIV Golf’s final regular season tournament in Saudi Arabia. “It’s pretty ridiculous.”
Two-time major champion Dustin Johnson agrees.
“I feel like you can’t really use the world ranking system anymore,” Johnson said.
“That’s my take on it. Hard to use the world ranking system if you’re excluding 48 guys who are good players. The rankings are skewed. It doesn’t really affect me as it does some of the other guys. I want the points for the other guys.”
Photo by Ben Hsu/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Dustin Johnson at the 2023 LIV Golf Invitational – Chicago event.
Thanks to his victory at the 2020 Masters, Johnson receives an invitation to all four majors through 2025.
He can also return to Augusta National for the rest of his life.
As for other players on LIV Golf, especially those who have not won a major championship lately, qualifying for a spot in the four majors will be a tall task, thanks to the OWGR’s decision.
LIV Golf stages 54-hole events, which feature 48 golfers and no cuts, starkly contrasting the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and other top tours worldwide.
Moreover, LIV Golf does not feature much turnover on a year-to-year basis.
Only three new golfers will play on the Saudi-backed tour in 2024, as will most everyone who played in a LIV Golf event in 2023.
“This decision not to make them eligible is not political,” Peter Dawson, the Chairman of the OWGR, said Tuesday.
“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.”
The OWGR not only ranks players but exists to balance the competitive equity among the tours worldwide.
More or less, the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour, the Japan Golf Tour, and many others have the same competitive structure, hence the OWGR awarding points to tournaments held on those tours.
Yet, Bryson DeChambeau offered a pitch for LIV Golf that grew interest from Martin Slumbers, the Chief Executive of the R&A, the governing body that conducts The Open Championship.
Whether that plan comes to fruition remains to be seen.
As for now, LIV players remain disgruntled over the decision not to allow OWGR ranking points.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
