The significant spike enjoyed by several LIV Golf players following the league\u2019s first event that earned Official World Golf Ranking points has stirred plenty of debate in the golf world, but Sergio Garcia cautioned that only time will tell what the true impact is.<\/p>\n
Following a win in his LIV Golf debut in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, Australia\u2019s Elvis Smylie jumped from 133rd to \u200b77th in the world rankings. Meanwhile, former World No. 1 Jon Rahm used his runner-up finish to climb from 97th to 67th, \u200cSebastian Munoz moved from 767th to 566th, Abraham Ancer from 616th to 449th and Thomas Pieters from 564th to 419th.<\/p>\n
That led many critics to call out LIV Golf players and CEO Scott O\u2019Neill, who were highly critical of the OWGR\u2019s decision to award points only through the top 10 finishers and ties in each event. While the early returns were tangible for those who earned points in Saudi Arabia, Garcia noted that it essentially equates to missing a cut for those who finish outside of the top 10 because it \u200cadds another \u200bevent to their equation with zero points.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a step forward. Is it fair? I mean, I \u2060guess time will tell us,\u201d said the 46-year-old \u2060Spaniard, who added that he\u2019d like to see the number of players earning points expanded. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like it\u2019s totally fair.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow the first few weeks obviously when one of us is winning, that guy is going to make a jump in the rankings, which is great, but then every time you finish 11th or worse you\u2019re getting a zero and you\u2019re getting an extra event on your divisor. So that in \u200bthe near (term). A little farther future, it can hurt a lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut like I said, it\u2019s a step forward, so it is positive. I think that at the end of the day, it\u2019s going to help some of these kids performing well to move up the rankings. Hopefully they play really \u2060well.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of those kids is the 23-year-old Smylie. If he can rise into the top \u206050, Smylie would be eligible for each of the four majors, making this week\u2019s event in Adelaide a tremendous \u200bopportunity as he eyes the Masters in April.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, the Masters is something that\u2019s on my mind now,\u201d Smylie said. \u201cThat\u2019s a conversation that I can start to have \u200band that is fuel to the fire for me. Let\u2019s see what happens these next few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cam Smith was ranked \u200cNo. 2 in the world when he signed with LIV. He\u2019s now 227th, dropping six spots after tying for 13th in Riyadh. He also missed the cut in all four majors in 2025 before closing the year with a runner-up at the Australian Open.<\/p>\n
Smith said he never considered accepting the PGA Tour\u2019s offer following Brooks Koepka\u2019s return, and called the initial OWGR inclusion a \u201cwork in progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is nice to have that behind us. That\u2019s been a long time coming, \u2060so it\u2019s nice to get the recognition,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s so hard out here. I don\u2019t think we get the respect of the golfing world that maybe we respect sometimes because of what it is and how we play.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a work in progress, but it\u2019s a step in the right direction, \u2060nonetheless. It was good for Elvis last week. He \u200cloves it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of LIV\u2019s effort to swing the tide with the OWGR was to expanding events from 54 \u2060to 72 holes in 2026. That has drawn mixed reactions from outside and from within LIV, with Bryson \u200bDeChambeau saying \u200clast week that\u2019s not what players signed up for.<\/p>\n
Garcia noted that 72-hole events should benefit players who are \u200bin the best \u2060form for a given week, and new Smash GC team captain Talor Gooch said those he has talked to are \u201cover the moon\u201d to be playing for LIV Golf.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have 14 great opportunities, and with the world ranking and majors and things kind of softening up on all of those fronts and kind of the ecosystem starting to accept us slowly but surely, I think it\u2019s going to continue to make this place more and more enticing for people,\u201d Gooch said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s obviously some frustrations with us not getting the whole (rankings) pie, let\u2019s just say. But you know what, at least we got some pie and let\u2019s keep trying \u200bto get some more pie.\u201d<\/p>\n
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