2nd in Data Golf\u2019s rankings<\/a>, which has always included LIV Golf metrics, but has slipped down to 97th in the OWGR system \u2013 is pleased that the league has finally been acknowledged but he insists it is still not being treated fairly.<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s fantastic that we\u2019re being recognized in a way,\u201d Rahm said in Riyadh. \u201cWith that said, I don\u2019t like how we\u2019re not being treated the same as every other tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems like the rules that have been in place don\u2019t really apply to us, with only 10 of us getting points. It doesn\u2019t seem fair. The small fields out there throughout the course of the year, their players get full points.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s work to be done. While it\u2019s good for some people, it could cause some players to actually lose world ranking points instead of gaining them because finishing 11th is basically a missed cut, and we\u2019re already adding to the divisor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, Rahm\u2019s big concern is that LIV players will suffer due to the OWGR\u2019s formula. With those finishing 11th or lower in the standings not eligible for points, a tournament entry will still be included on their record and their average score will take a hit in the system. The Spaniard has echoed the point raised in LIV\u2019s fiery statement in response to the news.<\/p>\n
\u201cLimiting points to only the top 10 finishers disproportionately harms players who consistently perform at a high level but finish just outside that threshold, as well as emerging talent working to establish themselves on the world stage \u2013 precisely the players a fair and meritocratic ranking system is designed to recognize,\u201d LIV\u2019s statement read.<\/p>\n
LIV chief executive Scott O\u2019Neil has long been in discussions with the OWGR chairman Trevor Immelman in his mission to earn ranking points for his players, but he had mixed feelings about the result. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou look at their mission statement and it says \u2018we\u2019re fair and transparent,’\u201d said O\u2019Neil. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t feel fair, and it certainly isn\u2019t transparent, so I would say thank you to Trevor and your leadership, thank you to the majors who are also on the board. I appreciate the support.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope this is one step, and one step forward, and there is another step coming in relatively short order because when I look out there at the field, the top 25 guys in this league compete with the top 25 guys on the PGA Tour, and that\u2019s analytics speaking, that\u2019s not me, not bluster. I will show you any data point you want to see, I will roll it out to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
What are LIV Golf\u2019s other big names saying?<\/p>\n
The OWGR debate has dominated the agenda during LIV\u2019s season-opener in Riyadh. Here\u2019s what some of the league\u2019s other prominent names had to say \u2013 starting with the new Smash GC captain who is not happy\u2026<\/p>\n
![\"Talor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/talor-gooch-pga-championship-2024.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Talor Gooch: \u201cI don\u2019t think the right thing was done, which is not any different than what we\u2019ve experienced here at LIV for the last four or five seasons now. It\u2019ll be interesting to see how it plays out. But I think anybody who says that the right thing was done and the fair thing was done, I don\u2019t think they\u2019re in tune with the reality of things. Hopefully, there\u2019s some improvement there. Time will tell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ian Poulter: \u201cMixed views. I think first and foremost, it\u2019s good to have LIV recognised finally. After all these years, we should be getting points, so that\u2019s a massive plus. On the flip side, I\u2019m not about sure the algorithm that they\u2019ve used to figure out the points.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin Kaymer: \u201cOn one hand, it\u2019s great that we\u2019re tapped in and that we have a chance now to get world ranking points. It has been a long time coming for us and I believe it is a step in the right direction. On the other hand, it would have been nice for more players will get more world ranking points. Finishing 11th to 15th in some events is a great effort, is a good achievement, yet it gives you zero points. That\u2019s the downside of it. I think we should focus on the positives \u2013 it\u2019s a step in the right direction and let\u2019s see where we can go from here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lee Westwood: \u201cIt\u2019s a start. But if you think 11th in a LIV event doesn\u2019t deserve OWGR points, you\u2019re more biased than I thought. It\u2019s the young guys that have chosen LIV as the pathway for their careers that will suffer most from this decision. Still couldn\u2019t quite manage to do their job, and fairly rank the best players in the world, could they?!\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles Howell III: \u201cI think it\u2019s a great step. I don\u2019t necessarily see how it\u2019s done and the amount of points and only top-tens but any point is better than no points. It\u2019s a start in the right direction and I think LIV Golf is here to stay for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dean Burmester: \u201cI was probably doubtful we were going to get them so it\u2019s a big positive step in the right direction. I think it\u2019s the recognition for the league, recognition for the quality of players that are here and what we\u2019re trying to achieve so to be welcomed into that ecosystem is important\/\u201d<\/p>\n
Peter Uihlein: \u201cI might be one of the few that like it. We have more world ranking points today than we did yesterday. I saw the winner gets 23 points this week. In [the DP World Tour\u2019s Qatar Masters], he gets 20. In my mind, we\u2019re the second-best tour in the world right now. \u201cObviously, there are things that probably need to get worked out with the top 10 or whatever, but the reality is we have more points today than we did yesterday. I\u2019m all for it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LIV Golf have finally landed OWGR points. But, as Jon Rahm points out, the ranking board\u2019s decision comes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-460015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}