The Official World Golf Rankings has been a huge talking point amid the ongoing saga surrounding the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, and former world No. 1 Jon Rahm has had his say
Jon Rahm has become the latest star to hit out at the Official World Golf Rankings, labelling the system ‘laughable’. The world rankings has become a heated topic in recent months following a system revamp in August.
A number of golf’s biggest names, including Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick and Rahm himself are in Dubai this week to compete for the end of season DP World Tour prize. The field is made up of the Tour’s 50 top players, with eight coming from the world’s top 30.
Whilst this goes on the PGA Tour continues to operate Stateside, with this week’s RSM Classic only boasting four of the world’s top 30 – and none from the top 10 – due to the prized event taking place on the European-based circuit.
Despite the contrast in fields the winner of the RSM is expected to rake in more ranking points than the winner in Dubai amid the OWGR changes. As a result, points are now distributed on the field rating of the tournament, which takes into consideration a number of different factors.
The fact the DP World Tour event has a reduced field means its rating has been ranked lower than the RSM Classic, thus meaning less ranking points are on offer. One man astounded by this is Rahm, and the fiery Spaniard did not hold back when discussing the subject ahead of this week’s tournament.
He said: “I’m going to be as blunt as I can, I think the OWGR right now is laughable. I understand what they are trying to do with the depth of field but having the best players in the world automatically makes the tournament better. I don’t care what their system says. I think they have made a mistake.
“I think some aspects of it might be beneficial but I think they have devalued the value of the better players. The 30 best players of the year should not be punished because it’s a smaller field. Depth of field doesn’t mean a better tournament. I could go on and on. I think they have missed the mark on that stance quite a bit.”
The boss of the DP World Tour Keith Pelley holds a position on the OWGR board, and following Rahm’s outburst, the Tour commissioner has revealed a number of his points will be raised at the ranking system’s next boarding meeting. Pelley told the BBC: “There is no doubt that Jon Rahm’s conversation and some of the other noticeable changes around OWGR will be a topic at our next board meeting.
“It is prudent to bring it up based on our top players and their comments. The OWGR is a hot topic for many reasons. There were four universities that did a detailed study and all came to the conclusion that the world rankings didn’t necessarily reflect the game of golf. As a result we implemented a new system. And like with any new system you evaluate it and modify it if changes are needed.”
Source: Daily Star
