According to an OWGR release, a new “points distribution curve” will be applied to official OWGR events that have fields of 80 or fewer competitors, with a greater percentage of available points (around 21 percent compared to the usual 17 to 18 percent) allocated to top finishers. This would apply to the majority of the “signature events” on the PGA Tour in 2024, which will have smaller fields.

“Following internal and independent analysis, OWGR determined its standard distribution curve did not accurately reflect performances in these events,” read an explainer from the OWGR.

Meanwhile, if such events have no cut (again the case for several of the upcoming signature events, including The Sentry, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship and Travelers Championship), the number of players receiving points will be limited. Approximately 15 percent of the finishers at the bottom of tournament standings will walk away without any points. Likewise, in any match-play tournaments, first-round losers or players who fail to win any match in a pool format won’t earn points.

The effective impact of this change will be that players competing in limited-field, no-cut events are no longer guaranteed points simply for having qualified to play in the event. Players will have to perform in order to be rewarded for competing, a criticism of the system previously where tour pros who shooting high scores were still rewarded simply for finishing 72 holes.

Interestingly, had this policy been in place this year, the three bottom finishers at the Hero World Challenge earlier this month would not have received World Ranking points. That would have included Tiger Woods, who finished 18th and was able to jump from 1,328th to 898th in the OWGR.

OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING GOVERNING BOARD ANNOUNCES UPDATES TO THE RANKING SYSTEM

Read more here –https://t.co/uJ2HHlsm3y#OWGR#OfficialWorldGolfRanking pic.twitter.com/jArqVEDa6G

— OWGR (@OWGRltd) December 21, 2023

There are a few exceptions to tournaments where these changes will apply. The OWGR noted that season-ending events on various tours are exempt from. Points still will be awarded to all players in FedEx Cup Playoff events on the PGA Tour, the DP World Championship and the Nippon Series JT Cup on the Japan Tour, among others.

The second broader change is more basic: the OWGR will reward a 60-percent points bonus to a player who wins twice on any eligible tour in a 52-week period and a 70-percent bonus to a player who wins three or more times.

On its website, the OWGR noted that players with lower World Ranking are likely to gain more from the bonus. The organization reports that since 2019 there has been an average of 63 players per year with two wins in a 52-week period and 39 winners of three or more events. The bonus system was instituted “to more quickly identify emerging talent,” according to its website.

“Based on extensive analysis following the changes implemented in August 2022, we recognized these two opportunities to further enhance the OWGR and to accurately evaluate performances of the world’s participating players on all eligible Tours,” said Official World Golf Ranking Chairman Peter Dawson. “Adjustments to the Ranking are made after careful consideration, and we are confident that today’s updates will better position the OWGR for the future.”

The latest changes are the first since August 2022, when the OWGR overhauled its algorithm with a new Strokes Gained World Rating system that rewarded players competing in stronger fields. Of course, the OWGR took a pass on further updates in October when it denied LIV Golf’s application to be included in the rankings.

Scottie Scheffler is set to finish 2023 as No. 1 in the OWGR, having held the top spot since May.

Image: Ross Kinnaird

The post The Official World Golf Ranking announced two wonky changes for 2024. Here’s what they actually mean appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Mickelson has been vocal about this issue in the past, and this time, he responded to a tweet from a fellow Masters champion as the point to dive back in.

“If I were going to start a pro golf tour, and I decided that I wanted my tour to have world ranking points available for the players, I’d probably at the outset make sure that my tour did whatever the world ranking organisation required in order to comply,” Trevor Immelman tweeted late on Wednesday. Immelman, of course, is the 2008 Masters champion.

Later, Mickelson responded, which can be read below.

Trevor, LIV was NEVER going to get points. Why? 1)it’s a monopoly run by all the governing bodies 2) the PGA Tour tv contract is based on owgr criteria for them to get all their money 3) they would lose leverage in negotiations if LIV got points4) last but not least, Tour has…

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) October 12, 2023

As you can imagine, this opened the floor for more back and forth between fans and media alike. Here is Mickelson’s response to the “stop whining” crowd.

Stating facts isn’t whining and I don’t care if LIV ever gets points. This is move 6 in a long game of chess. You won’t believe moves 32-37. That’s when it gets REALLY good. ?

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) October 12, 2023

More of Mickelson’s explanations and takes can be read on his replies tab. But we’ll leave you with this one, where he reiterates that he believes not being ranked has nothing to do with the fact that LIV Golf only plays 54 holes.

Nope. That’s just their public excuse so they can protect each. A lot of people believe it too ?
Can’t blame them though cuz people like you simply don’t have all the facts. That’s why I’m sharing them with you now. You’re welcome.

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) October 12, 2023

Main image: Mike Stobe

The post Phil Mickelson had something to say about LIV Golf not receiving World Ranking points … again appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

DUSTIN JOHNSON

“I feel like you can’t really use the world ranking system anymore. That’s my take on it. Hard to use the world ranking system if you’re excluding 48 guys that are good players. The rankings are skewed.
“It doesn’t really affect me as it does some of the other guys. I want the points for the other guys.”

Patrick Reed. LIV Golf

PATRICK REED

“Obviously it’s disappointing. Until the actual world ranking reflects the actual top players in the world, then to me it’s just kind of a broken system. Just because we play on a different tour, it shouldn’t matter.”

TALOR GOOCH

“It’s not surprising given everything that’s gone on the last one-and-a-half years. Nonetheless, it further confirms the irrelevancy of the OWGR. Their job is to rank players all around the world. It’s not players’ and tours’ jobs to conform to what they decide is worth getting ranked, or how you’re able to get ranked. It’s their job to figure out who the best players in the world are — which they aren’t able to do. I don’t think they should be the keyholders for that.”

CAMERON SMITH

“I think it (OWGR) is almost obsolete now. We’ve got some guys out here who are playing some of the best golf in the world and they’re outside the top 100, 200 in the world. It’s pretty ridiculous.”
About which players suffer the most: “The up-and-coming guys for sure. Talor’s had probably his best career year. To see him probably not going to be in the majors next year is pretty poor. That’s the biggest thing — finding a resolution for those majors. If they do it, great. If they don’t — I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s a pretty sour place to be in at the moment.”

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU

“It’s just been par for the course, unfortunately, and I think at this point in time now that they’re not allowing it, we would love to find another way to be integrated into the major championship system since I think we have some of the best players in the world. Top 12 on the list, the money list at the end of the year or the points list at the end of the year would be, I think, obvious for the major championships to host the best players in the world at those four events each year. “

SEBASTIÁN MUÑOZ

About the actions on the final hole in Orlando that was a point of reference in the OWGR letter: “I remember that putt. I was one back of Brooks. He putted first. He left it short. And I left it short as well. It was not an easy putt, and everything past the hole was kind of feeding off the green. I did try to make it, but I tried to make it with a good speed, and unfortunately it didn’t get there.”
Would he have made the same stroke without a team element? “Brooks had a five-footer. It would’ve been kind of dumb for me to rail one nine feet past, kill my chances if he made a mistake. I would’ve hit the same putt no matter what.”

DEAN BURMESTER

“It’s sad they don’t want to recognise LIV with the rest of the world of golf because of the format, which I think is exciting and moving the game forward. But is it a forever announcement? Probably not. And if that’s how they feel — that they don’t want to give us world ranking points for the foreseeable future — then it’s tough to see how the elevated events get world ranking points, when they don’t have a cut and they have a restricted field, which is a similar thing to us.”

Peter Uihlein. LIV Golf

PETER UIHLEIN

“I actually played with Mr [Peter] Dawson [OWGR chairman] on Friday. We had a nice chat. Just the few conversations I’ve had with Mr Dawson, he likes LIV, he loves what’s going on here, I just think he would’ve liked to have seen a couple of tweaks. But it doesn’t seem like it’s that far off, from the understanding that I got in speaking to him.
“Obviously, we’re going to have to wait another whole year, and by that time, all guys’ world rankings are going to be so shot, you’re not going to get enough points. I saw Bryson made a comment about maybe how the majors might have to change their exemption criteria. It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out from here.”

RICHARD BLAND

“For DJ and Cam and Brooks, Bryson, and those guys, who I understand are exempt for majors probably for the foreseeable future, but that doesn’t last forever. And to not have those guys playing in majors is not right.
“I don’t care what people say about LIV and who’s playing on it and why they came to LIV, they’re still some of the best players in the world. In my opinion, Brooks has been one of the best players in the world this year, finishing second in the Masters and winning the PGA Championship. You can’t deny that.
“It doesn’t matter where you play your golf. The world rankings should show that — and it doesn’t. I don’t know how you get around that. It’s disappointing because you are just robbing the golf fan, maybe in a few years’ time, of the best players playing in the biggest tournaments. And that’s what it should be. It shouldn’t matter where you play your golf. The game has got to come together and go right. You know that LIV’s here to stay. So, instead of just trying to shut it out the whole time, and hurt the players, and hurt the golf industry, and hurt the golf fans. That’s just got to stop.”

The post LIV Golf players react to OWGR announcement appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The OWGR board sent LIV Golf officials, including LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, the notice Tuesday morning. Sources had originally told Golf Digest that the league had faced questions over its “competitive integrity,” and it appears those questions remain. According to GGP, the OWGR cited two broad areas for its decision: The 54-hole, no-cut format of 48-player fields, and both the limited access for players to join LIV and limited relegation for players who underperform.

“The important point is, this is not about the players. LIV players are self-evidently good enough to be ranked; there is no doubt about that,” Peter Dawson, chairman of the OWGR board, told GGP. “This is about, should a tour whose formats are so different and whose qualification criteria are so different, can they be ranked equitably with other tours who conform to the OWGR norm and have more competition to them than perhaps the closed shop that is LIV?”

LIV Golf applied for OWGR accreditation last July following its launch in June of 2022. OWGR accreditation is a one-to-two year process; nevertheless, Norman and LIV members went on the offensive for their case not being expedited, especially as LIV players plummeted down the ranking. When LIV began it boasted nearly two dozen players in the world’s top 100. As of this writing, only two LIV members are in the top 50 and six in the top 100.

Even as the league called the rankings flawed and inaccurate, LIV officials tried to earn their way into the system. Last fall LIV Golf attempted to circumvent the process by partnering with the little-known MENA Tour, believing its association with the mini-circuit would facilitate World Ranking points. However, the OWGR denied the workaround effort, citing insufficient notice and lack of time to review.

As part of the framework agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (the financial backer of LIV), there was a mention of the parties in question cooperating to help LIV secure OWGR consideration. Conversely, because of Norman’s protests, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley and Keith Waters of the International Federation of PGA Tours had previously recused themselves from the LIV decision.

OWGR accreditation for LIV events was imperative to members who were otherwise not exempt for major championships through past victories. With the decision, LIV Golf members will have to resort to local and sectional qualifying for the US Open and Open Championship, with their avenues to the Masters and PGA Championship fields likely restricted.

In a statement, LIV Golf said the decision shows the OWGR “can no longer deliver” on the objective of ranking the best players in the world.

“Players have historically remained subject to a single world ranking to qualify for major championships, the biggest events, and for corporate sponsor contract value,” the statement read. “A ranking which fails to fairly represent all participants, irrespective of where in the world they play golf, robs fans, players and all of golf’s stakeholders of the objective basis underpinning any accurate recognition of the world’s best player performances. It also robs some traditional tournaments of the best fields possible.

“Professional golf is now without a true or global scoring and ranking system. There is no benefit for fans or players from the lack of trust or clarity as long as the best player performances are not recognized.

“LIV will continue to strive to level set the market so fans, broadcasters, and sponsors have the assurance of an independent and objective ranking system and the pure enjoyment of watching the best golf in the world.”

LIV Golf is playing its 13th event of its 14-tournament schedule this week in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Main image: LIV Golf chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan interacts with Peter Dawson, chairman of the Official World Golf Ranking board, on Day 2 of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at Carnoustie. Richard Heathcote

The post LIV Golf denied World Ranking points appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Scheffler deserves credit, though, for not going away on Sunday, making six birdies over the last 12 holes to claim his second runner-up finish in a major in 11 months.

If there’s any consolation, Scheffler’s finish at Oak Hill did allow him to jump Jon Rahm and return to the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking. Although that was news to Scheffler as you can see in this exchange from his Sunday press conference at the PGA:

Q: What is significant according to World Ranking gurus you, become No. 1 again this week. Is that something important to you? Does it make any difference?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Do I become No. 1 again?

Yes, you do Scottie. It’s actually the fourth time in his career he’s moved into the top spot. All the jumping back and forth between Scheffler, Rahm and Rory McIlroy appears to have made the honour a little less inspirational than it was when he first rose to No. 1 in March 2022.

“That’s great. I mean, it’s just an algorithm. It’s nice, but I really don’t care [laughing],” Scheffler said.

“I don’t play for World Ranking. I play to come out here and compete. Right now, I’m a little sad that I wasn’t able to get the tournament done, but I’m proud of how I fought, I’m proud of how I played the back nine today to give myself a chance. I got beat by somebody that played better this week, and tip of the cap to Brooks.”

The post PGA Championship 2023: Scottie Scheffler has a priceless reaction to becoming World No. 1 … again appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The freefall for most LIV Golf participants in the Official World Golf Ranking has been spectacular since joining the circuit last year, one that, unfortunately for them, doesn’t offer OWGR points. Headlines of major champions hitting all-time ranking lows — Dustin Johnson falling outside the top 50 for the first time in 13 years, Bryson DeChambeau outside the top 100, Sergio Garcia outside the top 150 — have been constant, with seemingly only one way for them to be curbed: play well in a major champions.

Brooks Koepka. JD Cuban

The latter was indeed the case for at least a trio of LIV regulars competing at the Masters. Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka shared second place on Sunday, four shots off the pace of eventual winner Jon Rahm. And Patrick Reed enjoyed a T-4 finish at Augusta National, a place where he’s had four top-10s in 10 starts, including his 2018 win. Those performances reversed personal slide that had begun to look like they couldn’t be halted.

For Mickelson, the change was most pronounced. The 52-year-old World Golf Hall of Famer entered the week at Augusta ranked 425th — the lowest he had been since 1990 — but rocketed back inside the top 100 to 72nd place. It’s still far from the 32nd-place ranking Mickelson held after winning the 2021 PGA Championship, but it’s nice to move in the right direction.

Koepka, a four-time major winner, admitted he wouldn’t be able to take many positives away from his stumble on Sunday at Augusta, where he held a two-shot lead entering the final round only to post a closing 75. Still the consolation could be jumping from 118th to 39th in the OWGR.

Patrick Reed

Like Mickelson, Reed seemed to come out of nowhere on Sunday to push his way on to the leaderboard. Unlike some of his LIV peers, Reed has played in a few DP World Tour and Asian Tour events that offer World Ranking points, so he had fallen only to 70th in the OWGR ahead of the Masters. His T-4 finish bumped him to 45th.

Below is a list of all 18 LIV golfers who competed and how their OWGR fates shook out this week at the Masters. Mickelson, as you can see, started 2023 ranked 213th, was 425th entering the Masters and 72nd after his T-2 finish, for a 353-spot jump.

The post LOOK: LIV’s Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed have good news on the World Ranking front appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

RELATED: Jon Rahm labels OWGR as ‘laughable’
Rahm throws more shade on OWGR

OK, so it’s an unlikely scenario. Make that a very unlikely scenario. But it’s still a scenario that could play out at the American Express this week. And one that was pointed out by who else than Twitter’s OWGR guru Nosferatu:

?BREAKING

As things stand now, if Patrick Cantlay wins @theamexgolf and Scottie Scheffler finishes solo 8th, those two could share the No.1 place in the world rankings and Rory will drop to #3… #OWGR

(that will change if there are further changes in the field)

— Nosferatu (@VC606) January 17, 2023

Got that? All we need is a win by current World No. 5 Patrick Cantlay — the favourite behind World No. 4 Jon Rahm this week — and a solo-eighth-place finish by current World No. 2 Scottie Scheffler. That’s it! Well, provided nothing else changes before the tournament starts.

Again, it’s unlikely, but also again, it could happen. And in this unlikely scenario, current World No. 1 Rory McIlroy, who has yet to play in 2023, would drop to No. 3. Hey, you snooze, you lose.

For Scheffler, it would be a return to the top spot after holding that position for 30 weeks last year. Cantlay has never been higher than No. 3.

Meanwhile, according to Nosferatu, Rahm — who has won three of his past five starts — can’t become No. 1 this week even if he wins. Again. We’re sure the Spaniard will be extra pleased to know that.

The post How Scottie Scheffler and Patrick Cantlay could become the first-ever joint-world No. 1s this week appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Happily, Harrington was at his thought-provoking best over the course of a half-hour chat two days before he tees-up in this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. This will be Harrington’s 467th DP World Tour start, the first of five “young guys” events the US Senior Open champion is using as preparation for the PGA Tour Champions campaign to come. As ever, his responses to any and all questions travelled far and wide, his stream of consciousness providing a fascinating insight into one of the game’s most active minds.

At the age of 51, what is motivating you these days?
My motivation hasn’t changed. It’s the same as always: to win. If I win now, I’ll be the oldest guy ever to win on the European Tour. If I win a major, I’d be the oldest guy ever to win a major. That would be significant. Winning in Europe would be, too, but winning a major would be bigger.
I was playing well before I turned 50. But the Champions Tour has sharpened my game no end. Mentally that is. All the way through the bag, from driving to short game. Which is not to say I didn’t reach a point in my career when the game became hard. This is starting to change, but every golfer, and I might be among the last of them, gets 20 years of competitive play. You have a few years of building, a dozen years where you are really competitive, then maybe three or four on the end where, although the public wouldn’t know, you are there but not really there. You get 20 years before you burn out.
I was definitely burnt out around 2016. But even then I believe that every player gets an “extra” tournament. Jack Nicklaus won the 1986 Masters when he was basically retired. Maybe mine was the Honda Classic I won in 2015. I’m hoping that’s not the case though. I was worried in 2008 when I was up against Greg Norman in the final round of the Open. I was worried that the golfing gods were going to give Greg one more win. It’s amazing, but the great players nearly all get one more chance late on in their careers.
Every player also gets about 18 months at their absolute peak. That’s every player. One might make the Ryder Cup team. Another might move up 50 places in the rankings. And another might win a major. Or get to No. 1. In my case, at least in terms of my performance, my 18 months spanned 2007 and 2008. But I know I played better golf in 2009 and 2010, although I didn’t win a major.

OK, let’s say your peak is 10-out-of-10. Where are you now?
Physically I’m capable. I’m long enough. I’m sharp because I was in contention so often on the Champions Tour in 2022. Early last year I played in regular tour events and finished between 15th and 20th. People were congratulating me. That was frustrating. I wasn’t there to finish 20th. It meant I was usually between six and eight shots behind the winner. And the only way to bridge the gap is to hit the ball better. You have to make your technique better.
So here’s the difference between then and now. On the Champions Tour, I know I’m going to be in contention with nine holes to play. If I haven’t had a great week, I might need a big last nine holes. If I’ve had a great week, I’m ahead. But either way I’m in with a chance. So at the end of every week, I sit back and bemoan one tee-shot or one putt. It’s not a question of me thinking I’m not good enough. It’s always, I slipped up somewhere. And the reason is always mental.
When you are two shots off the lead, the reason you didn’t win is mental. When you are six shots off the pace, the reason is physical. So I’ve had a lot of weeks where I’ve thought any issue has to be mental, which was also the case around 2006. By that time I was going into events preparing for Sunday, not Thursday. I knew I was going to be in contention so I wanted to be as mentally strong as I could be.
I would be in tournaments back then and never look around. It would be wrong of me to say I didn’t take a sneaky look to see where Tiger was. I’d be hoping that my good week didn’t coincide with his. But besides that, I felt like I was good enough to win on my own. I didn’t need help from anyone else. I didn’t need any breaks.

So the PGA Tour Champions has made you a better player at 51 than you were at, say, 45?
I’m saying that going to the Champions Tour showed me something I was talking about but not actually doing. The only reason I wasn’t winning was myself. It wasn’t physical. I wasn’t doing the right stuff mentally. But I was paying lip service to what I thought I was doing.
Last year I competed in a few regular tour events. I was playing well going into those, but I panicked. I went into a couple of major thinking I was playing well. I’m not here this week thinking that, if I don’t win, I’m not what I think I am. I’m giving myself time by playing five young guys events early this year. So if I finish 10th will I chase my tail trying to get a win on the regular tour? Or will I go back to the Champions Tour?
Burning out to me is trying too hard. But that’s my nature. Now I know I can’t go at the same pace in the gym or on the range. I just can’t. The eye-opener for me was missing the FedEx Cup playoffs in 2016. I came home and played in the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Germany, Holland and England. Five events. All my Irish friends were playing in those, too. So I was out for dinner every night and had a whale of a time. I had so much fun and enjoyed the lifestyle, even though my golf was no better.
I realised then that, if I was going to continue playing, I couldn’t be the old Padraig Harrington. If the lads had told him they were going to dinner at 8pm, he might have said he was going to be in the gym at that time. Now, I change my plans and go to dinner at 8. I’m looking for enjoyment. I know I can enjoy professional golf in a different way. I love going out with the lads.

Imagine LIV Golf came along 20 years ago and they made you an offer. Would you have gone?
I think LIV can be good for some players. Like the Champions Tour, it’s 54 holes, no cut and a limited field. So if you’re any good you’ll be in contention a lot. Sweating it out on the cut-line every week kills players.
But the majors are it for me. So anything that would have harmed my ability to contend in and win those, I wouldn’t have done. I joined the PGA Tour because I didn’t want it to be like playing in Europe, where I stop and chat for five minutes with almost everyone. Those minutes add up. And that’s what it was like for me when I went to a major in the States. When I was just a European Tour member, I would meet all sorts of people I hadn’t seen for months. They would all be at the majors, and I would feel obliged to talk to them.
If I played on the PGA Tour more often, I would have seen nearly all of those people very recently. So I could give them a wave and go about my business. It all became more familiar just by me playing in the States. It was a big thing. I had to make sure I could prepare properly for the biggest events.

4 Aces’ Dustin Johnson and Pat Perez. LIV Golf

So you’re OK with LIV and all its implications?
Whether you like the concept of team golf or not, or the source of the LIV money, whatever, to some extent we should just let them have a go at it. If you don’t like it and think it will fail, leave them alone and let them fail. Let them see what they can do.
Most people who don’t like what LIV is doing think it’s just a bad idea. To be fair, I did watch one round last year, when Dustin Johnson holed a great putt to win. I enjoyed the flipping back and forth between all the players. I thought that was fabulous. But when I told that to someone, they responded by saying they didn’t know what was going on. I did because I’m a player. I don’t like the fact that, where you’re not in contention, you don’t get shown. But LIV shows everyone. I like that. That’s why LIV have gone to the smaller fields. They can show everyone. Plus, like the Champions Tour, it’s pretty predictable. If Dustin Johnson isn’t in the top-five at the end of a LIV event, he’s had a terrible week. But put him in a PGA Tour field with 155 other players and there are no guarantees. That’s a problem for golf. You can’t always depend on the biggest names being in contention on Sunday. It’s hard to tell who is going to be on the leaderboard.

What about the World Ranking? There is lots of talk about them at the moment. Some think it now favours PGA Tour players too much. Where do you stand on that?
I actually have a bee in my bonnet about the World Rankings. A good player in Europe can often ruin his game by going to the States a little too early. He gets an invitation to play in one event. He goes to a course they have never seen. And he plays like it is the final round of tour school. It is all such a big deal to him.
Here’s the bigger thing though. In the States, he gets the worst draw. He plays with two guys who are struggling to keep their cards. All very different from home, where he gets TV draws alongside the best players in the field and gets treated like a star. In Europe his game is hyped-up and he plays like that. But in the States no one knows who he is and he shoots two 75s. And those 75s are used to judge the 150 European Tour players who stayed at home. All because our guy is a fish out of water.
It works the other way, too. When an American comes to play in Europe, he gets a great draw. He gets the penthouse suite and feels like a star. So he shoots two 65s. So if it was up to me, I’d adjust the World Ranking points. About 40 per cent of every field should actually get them every week. You should never be last and get points. If there are only 20 guys in the field, only eight get points. I’d say the same about LIV events. Give points to 40 per cent of the field. And if it’s only three rounds, cut that to 75 per cent of what a 72-hole event gets. Fair enough.
It’s a travesty that winning smaller events is devalued. If you win on the Asian Tour, you might get only four points. But winning is the big thing for me. First, second and third should get the vast majority of the points. Finishing 20th in a PGA Tour event is not better than winning a tournament. It’s just not, even if it’s a win on the Alps Tour. I know that’s a hard sell, but winning is how we should be judging players.
Having said that, everyone who makes the cut in a major should get a 10-point bonus. There’s not enough points in the majors. Making the cut in a major is a big deal.

The post Q&A: Padraig Harrington on what LIV got right, the World Ranking problem and what senior golf has taught him appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The World No. 5 shot a final-round 63 at Kapalua to pull off one of the greatest come-from-behind wins in PGA Tour history on Sunday evening. And the next morning he woke up to find out that he’s … still World No. 5. Say what?

RELATED: The OWGR is adding a new 54-hole series — and it’s not 
Jon Rahm labels OWGR as ‘laughable’

Even more bizarre is that Rahm has been on an absolute heater the past few months and has barely budged in the OWGR. In his last six starts, he has three wins and nothing worse than a T-8 finish, yet, somehow, he has only moved up one spot. And yes, he’s well aware of it.

Following his eighth PGA Tour win and earning a $2.7 million cheque, Rahm was asked about the OWGR and if he’s competitive about getting back to World No. 1. His answer involved taking another shot at the organisation, and involved World No. 4 Patrick Cantlay catching a few strays!

“Oh, I definitely do, yeah. And had they not changed the World Ranking points, I would have been pretty damn close right now,” Rahm said. “At this point I’m thinking will I pass Patrick Cantlay? Because since the playoffs, I have not missed a top 7. I’ve won three times, and I don’t even get close to him. So I’m trying to understand what’s going on.”

So are we, Jon. So are we.

Seriously, the Spaniard has a point. And as was the case in November, his main gripe is with the OWGR’s decision to limit points awarded to smaller-field events. Even if those smaller fields are elite ones like at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, where 17 of the top 20 in the world teed it up.

And we’re guessing it’s nothing personal against Cantlay. Although, Rahm is probably still feeling a little snake-bitten being “beaten” by him at the 2021 Tour Championship. We put “beaten” in quotes because Rahm shot the best 72-hole score, but lost the $15 million bonus to Cantlay, who began the week with the lead thanks to the FedEx Cup finale’s staggered leaderboard. OK, yeah, so maybe this is a bit personal …

To be fair to Cantlay, he’s played a lot of great golf the past few months as well with three top-two finishes in his past six starts, including a win at the BMW Championship. And to be fair to World No. 1 Rory McIlroy, World No. 2 Scottie Scheffler, and World No. 3 Cameron Smith, all of them are coming off pretty special years themselves.

“I feel like since August I’ve been the best player in the world, I feel like, and I think a lot of us should feel like a lot of times we’re the best,” Rahm continued. “Earlier in the year clearly Scottie was that player, then Rory was that player, and I feel like right now it’s been me. Anybody any given year can get a hot three, four months and get to that spot. It’s the level of golf we’re at nowadays. It is what it is. It’s very difficult to stay up there and it requires a lot of golf.”

In other words, there’s a lot of competition at the top of pro golf these days, which is a good thing! Just not necessarily if you’re one of those trying to get to the very top like Jon Rahm.

The post Jon Rahm throws some shade on the Official World Golf Ranking (and Patrick Cantlay!) after latest win appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

But it would be nice.

RELATED: Rahm slates OWGR as ‘laughable’

“Had they not changed the World Ranking points, I would have been pretty damn close right now,” Rahm said after firing a 10-under 63 and 27-under 265 total at the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort to overcome a seven-stroke deficit at the start of the day. “At this point I’m thinking will I pass Patrick Cantlay? Because since the playoffs, I have not missed a top seven. I’ve won three times, and I don’t even get close to him. So, I’m trying to understand what’s going on. But in my mind, I feel like since August I’ve been the best player in the world, and I think a lot of us should feel like a lot of times we’re the best.”

Rahm, who moved up one spot to fourth in the world with his eighth PGA Tour title, certainly can make a case. His two-stroke victory over Morikawa was his third worldwide win in his last four starts, and in the other, at the CJ Cup, he ended up T-4. He last finished outside the top 15 in July.

Rahm’s prospects for success looked suspect at Kapalua, where a year earlier he lost by one stroke to Cameron Smith despite posting a remarkable 33-under 259 total. They dimmed even more after he bogeyed the first hole on a gorgeous Maui morning to fall eight behind.

But a bounce-back birdie at the par-3 second hole was huge, as Rahm, a fiery sort, said he “just took the approach of just trying to hit the best shot I could at each moment. It really helped out.”

Give an assist to his caddie, Adam Hayes, who a day earlier delivered a brief pep talk after Rahm played the reachable par-5 ninth hole poorly and settled for a par. “I could tell he wasn’t focused on one shot at a time,” Hayes said, “so I just told him on the cart ride [to the 10th tee] try to be uber-committed and really clear picking your start lines, picking your finish lines, be real committed to a number. And that’s what he did. He hardly missed a shot after that.”

Rahm played the inward nine in five-under to cap a six-under 67. Then came the Sunday rally.

Victory didn’t feel in the realm of possibility, however, until Rahm nearly drove the green at the par-4 14th hole and then chipped inside of a foot for a tap-in birdie to get to 24 under par and within three. An eagle at the 15th, set up by a 355-yard drive, combined with Morikawa’s first bogey of the tournament at the short par-4 14th set off a chain of events that eventually led to a redeeming victory after last year’s bitter setback.

“It does. Yeah, it does. I’m not going to lie. Had I shot 60 under par [combined] in two starts here and not won either one of them, that would have been a hard pill to swallow,” he said. “Something just doesn’t register to say that, right, to do that well and lose both times.

“I had the image in my head right before my turn to hit the [birdie] putt on 18 because I was thinking, ‘Man, I don’t want to give him a chance to just chip in or make a putt or anything. I just really want to get this one in.’ And I did. So that definitely was in my mind. I’m like, I don’t want to say 59 under and two years wasn’t enough.”

“It was pretty cool to watch,” said Tom Kim, who was paired with Rahm. “It just shows that, you know, anything can happen, and you just got to keep playing and keep playing your best. And it was really inspiring to watch and definitely learn a lot today.”

As competitive as they come in the game, Rahm was asked if he had sympathy for Morikawa, and he was brutally honest. It’s sports. Empathy, sure. But beyond that, no.

“I don’t know how to answer that without sounding very rude. I want to win. That’s all I can tell you,” he began. “I’ve been where he’s been before. I’ve made a mess of a round before. I think we’ve all been there. You don’t want to see that happen, really ever. You want to beat everybody at their best. But if the best Collin had shown up today, I wouldn’t have won. That’s all I can say. So I always wish the best for everybody, but at this moment it’s something … not that he needs to learn a lot more from golf, because we all know what he’s capable of, but it’s something he’s going to learn a lot from.”

The golf world is learning what Rahm is capable of. Or relearning it. And with this victory to begin the new year, he seems primed to add more to his trophy case — especially big ones to go along with his lone major title, the 2021 US Open.

“There’s many ways to make a mark, right? I think, listen, we all want to break a lot of records, but you have to take it week by week,” he said. “I think, what I’m going to say, what I can say, is I’m going to try my absolute hardest every day of the year to try to be the best golfer I can be. And that’s all I can do, period. Whatever results that come with, it will be. But all I can tell you I can do is exactly that, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

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