Jon Rahm says golf rankings not a ‘good system’ after LIV pulls out
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LIV Golf Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm (left) and Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau talk to the media ahead of the LIV Golf Hong Kong.
PHOTO: AFP
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HONG KONG – Masters champion Jon Rahm said on March 6 that the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) was not a “good system” after LIV Golf formally withdrew its application to join.
LIV Golf chief executive officer Greg Norman had sent a letter to players a day earlier, saying the breakaway circuit had ended its efforts for OWGR accreditation.
“We have made significant efforts to fight for you and ensure your accomplishments are recognised within the existing ranking system,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, OWGR has shown little willingness to productively work with us.
“It’s now clear that the best way forward for LIV and you as LIV golfers is not through the current ranking system.”
He also called for an independent ranking system that recognises how the game is “expanding and modernising”. The OWGR, whose rankings are used to decide exemptions into the four Majors, denied LIV’s bid last October.
Rahm said ahead of LIV Hong Kong, which begins on March 8: “I’m going to go back to what I said two years ago. I didn’t think it was a good system back then.”
“If anything, the more time goes on, the more it proves to be wrong,” added the Spaniard, who left the PGA Tour for LIV in December and is still ranked world No. 3.
LIV and PGA Tour players compete against one another at Majors, with many LIV players having earned their way into the fields based on previous achievements. But they could one day be left out as they are not earning points.
The Majors can make exceptions and issue their own invitations, as has been done in 2024 with Joaquin Niemann – arguably the hottest player of the series, having won two out of three LIV tournaments this season.
He won the Australian Open in December which gained him a British Open place and has been given special invitations into the Masters in April and the PGA Championship in May.
“Now they’ve given one player a chance, before you know it, there will be a solution. I think it’s opening the door slightly,” added Rahm.
“If anybody in this world doesn’t think Joaco (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.”
With players getting no points from the LIV circuit’s 54-hole events, many of the big names who defected from the PGA Tour have tumbled down the rankings.
Only four of LIV’s 54-player roster are in this week’s OWGR top 50, led by Rahm.
Fellow Major champion and LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau said it was incumbent on everyone running the game to find common ground, saying: “We should focus on having the best players at the Majors.
“All the governing bodies, come together, sit down and figure this out. Because we need to do this for the fans.”
Some leading PGA Tour players agreed that something needed to be done.
“I think that there has been so much uncertainty and change in the last couple of years that it’s inevitable that things need to be updated or changed,” said world No. 6 Patrick Cantlay.
Former US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick thinks the OWGR does not represent the entirety of the game and that he does not pay attention to the rankings any more. AFP, REUTERS
