The ongoing frustration with the golf rankings system is not limited to LIV Golf members whose inability to gain points was put in the spotlight once again after Talor Gooch scored back-to-back victories.
Taking down a field that included multiple major champions, including the reigning British Open champ Cameron Smith, and three of the top-four finishers at this year’s Masters, twice in two weeks earnt the American a demotion in the rankings.
Gooch dropped from 59 to 60 despite two wins in two weeks and it moved LIV headliner Phil Mickelson, who was runner-up at Augusta, to engage in a Twitter debate with former pro Colt Knost about the real reason the OWGR won’t recognise the LIV events being the financial implications from the US PGA Tour.
Officially, LIV events don’t meet the four-round criteria, the major sticking point, and a request sent by LIV boss Greg Norman nearly 12 months ago for official recognition for his tour remains unaddressed.
But the emergence of rival ranking systems, and outrage from the world’s best including Masters champ Jon Rahm that the current system is “laughable”, have fuelled Norman’s expectations that a shift will come and potentially sooner rather than later.
The Data Golf Rankings are an alternative that Norman says are running “true algorithms” to create a more accurate system because the calculations are done “without fear or favour” and don’t bow to commercial imperatives.
“The OWGR institution has hurt themselves, hurt their own credibility, hurt their product because they’re not including the best of the best,” Norman said.
“It’s a crying shame that’s happened to be honest with you.
“But it’s also on the flip side of that, it’s interesting how there’s three new ranking systems have come out to make sure it’s a true balanced system, running true algorithms across every tour, across everything with no fear or favour, no bias.”
The OWGR remains the official measurement used for major championship entry criteria, which, should the exclusion of LIV continue, could impact a significant number of players beyond this season.
Frustrated by the confusion, revered publication Sports Illustrated launched its own rankings system in February, including LIV players to “treat all pro tours equally in its calculations”.
The other active system is the The Universal Golf Rankings, which tracks competition across all tours and uses “cloud computing to produce the world’s most accurate, understandable, all-inclusive and unbiased golf rankings”.
As a comparison, all four systems have Rahm at No.1, with Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy completing the top three in all but the Data Golf Rankings. They have Tony Finau at No.3 after his win in Mexico last weekend.
Smith is the highest-ranked LIV golfer on all four, at varying places from No.8 on the OWGR to 15, 14 and then 18 on Data Golf.
But most telling is the ranking of Gooch, who is just outside the top 20 on all systems except the OWGR, another nail in the coffin for a system Norman is adamant will be redundant.
“These ones will take over the OWGR … they’re going to be basically obsolete,” Norman said of the rival systems.
“And that’s gonna happen.”
