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Lee Westwood’s tie for thirty fourth at The Open Championship vaulted him 3,759 spots within the Official World Golf Rating.
Now at No. 930, Westwood is now again forward of his son, Sam, a mini-tour participant who presently sits 2,759th. That served as Exhibit 1 for the Englishman’s rant towards the world rankings system.
“I feel that simply proves that with out world rating factors it makes a little bit of a mockery of the system,” Westwood mentioned Wednesday forward of this week’s LIV Golf UK occasion.
The feedback got here after the league re-applied for submission to the OWGR final month. That submission presently is beneath evaluate.
LIV initially utilized for accreditation in July of 2022, shortly after the league launched, however was denied. LIV golfers presently can solely earn rating factors by competing in main championships and worldwide tour occasions.
With restricted skill to amass factors through the DP World Tour and different excursions, LIV gamers like Westwood have continued to plummet down the OWGR. Dustin Johnson, who spent 135 weeks at No. 1, dropped as little as 907th earlier than a T23 final week vaulted him again as much as 571st.
The present high 50 consists of solely two LIV gamers: No. 16 Bryson DeChambeau and No. 21 Tyrrell Hatton of England.
Westwood applauds LIV’s current second submission and believes that with out incomes OWGR, the 4 main championships should alter their processes to incorporate extra LIV gamers sooner or later.
“I feel primarily it relates again to wanting one of the best gamers within the main championships, not wanting this dialog the place there’s a number of folks lacking out as a result of we do not get world rating factors on LIV,” he mentioned.
“We both begin to get world rating factors on LIV or the main championships need to revise their qualification system, which they appear — a few of them appear to need to do however some appear reluctant to do, they usually’d need to have a separate qualification system for LIV gamers, which I do not assume anyone notably desires. You need all of it to be based mostly off the identical system.”
That he was capable of leap greater than 3,000 spots based mostly off a tie for thirty fourth at one occasion speaks to the core points Westwood has with the system. Jon Rahm’s points with the OWGR pre-date becoming a member of LIV in December 2023, and helps a system that focuses extra on key taking part in metrics.
“I already thought it was flawed earlier than I ever got here, and I used to be vocal about it,” he mentioned. “So I feel the previous couple of years, even the world rating itself and each Information Golf do a strokes gained rating, and I feel that rather more displays who really is taking part in one of the best as a result of the precise factors being a two- yr rating, you possibly can have a poor week or a poor three weeks, and that can maintain you down for 2 complete years.
“It is loopy how one can really finesse somewhat little bit of the system by taking part in sure weeks and never taking part in sure weeks and issues like that. It is all the time going to be considerably correct however not essentially the most, and I feel strokes gained often goes to be the higher illustration of how really all people is taking part in.”
For now, LIV gamers will proceed to tumble down the OWGR. Positive, they will accumulate some factors on different excursions outdoors of LIV occasions, however the subsequent main is not till the Masters subsequent April. And until they’re included within the OWGR, it is going to change into more and more troublesome for LIV gamers to qualify for the 4 largest tournaments annually.
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil mentioned earlier this month that he is hopefully the approval course of can progress forward of the 2026 main season.
“I feel there’s loads of guys out right here that you just actually need to be taking part in in majors. If there’s a greater pathway for that for us, then that is sensible,” Hatton mentioned.
“There’s loads of guys out right here, their present world rating does not actually mirror the kind of golfer that they’re, and I feel everybody wish to assume everybody sitting right here would agree with that assertion.
“I suppose the earlier the world rankings can change into somewhat bit extra practical once more, the higher it’s for golf.”
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