{"id":435965,"date":"2025-07-24T13:49:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T13:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/?p=435965"},"modified":"2025-07-24T13:49:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T13:49:13","slug":"liv-golf-players-blast-owgr-as-a-mockery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/liv-golf-players-blast-owgr-as-a-mockery\/","title":{"rendered":"LIV Golf Players Blast OWGR as a \u2018Mockery\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several LIV Golf players have spoken out against the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), calling the system outdated and unfair. Their criticism came after the recent release of updated rankings, which showed dramatic shifts for players who performed well at The Open Championship.<\/a><\/p>\n

Westwood Critical of Official World Golf Rankings<\/h2>\n

Veteran golfer Lee Westwood has called the Official World Golf Ranking<\/a> a \u201cmockery.\u201d Westwood, who finished tied for 34th at The Open, jumped an incredible 3,759 places\u2014from being unranked to No. 930. He is now back ahead of his son Sam, a mini-tour player who is currently ranked 2,759th in the world. He said such wild movement proves that the system no longer reflects the true performance and quality of players, especially those competing on the LIV Golf tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that just proves that without world ranking points it makes a bit of a mockery of the system,” Westwood said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Keep Reading: LIV Golfers World Rankings Continue to Plummet<\/p>\n

LIV Golf events are currently not awarded OWGR points. That means many top players who joined LIV have dropped far down the rankings, even though they continue to play at a high level. Dustin Johnson, a former world No. 1, once fell outside the top 900 before a T23 finish last week lifted him to 571st. Jon Rahm, another major champion, has also seen a significant decline. Only two LIV players\u2014Bryson DeChambeau (No. 16) and Tyrrell Hatton (No. 21)\u2014remain in the top 50, largely due to strong performances in majors.<\/p>\n

This issue has made it harder for LIV players to qualify for major championships. Most majors rely on OWGR points to decide who gets into the field. Since LIV players don\u2019t earn any points in regular events, they must rely on past wins, exemptions, or special invitations.<\/p>\n

OWGR Reviewing LIV Golf Application Amidst Criticism<\/h2>\n

The OWGR board rejected LIV\u2019s first application for ranking points in October 2023. One of the main reasons was the format of LIV events. LIV tournaments are 54 holes (instead of the standard 72), have no cut, and feature a team competition alongside individual play. These differences have made it difficult for the OWGR to evaluate LIV players fairly compared to those in traditional formats.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Augusta, Georgia, USA; LIV golfers Harold Varner III, Talor Gooch, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson walk the 11th fairwayduring a practice round for The Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Network<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, LIV has submitted a second application, and the OWGR board is reviewing it. LIV may need to make some changes to gain approval. These could include introducing a system of promotion and relegation to allow new players to earn spots based on merit, creating more pathways for young or unknown players, and making the individual competition clearer and more structured.<\/p>\n

Westwood praised LIV Golf\u2019s second application for world ranking points. He said that if LIV events still don\u2019t count, the four major championships may need to change their entry rules to allow more LIV players to take part.<\/p>\n

“I think mainly it relates back to wanting the best players in the major championships, not wanting this conversation where there’s a few people missing out because we don’t get world ranking points on LIV,” he said.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several LIV Golf players have spoken out against the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), calling the system outdated and unfair. Their criticism came after the recent release of updated rankings, which showed dramatic shifts for players who performed well at The Open Championship. Westwood Critical of Official World Golf Rankings Veteran golfer Lee Westwood has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5425,"featured_media":435970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,200],"tags":[121,79,83,115],"class_list":["post-435965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-liv-golf","tag-bryson-dechambeau","tag-jon-rahm","tag-the-open-championship","tag-tyrrell-hatton"],"modified_by":"Ajayi Segun","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5425"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435965"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":435973,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435965\/revisions\/435973"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}