So the OWGR has given LIV the middle finger once again, and, as one might expect, the polarising response on social media made for interesting reading in the aftermath.
Hank Haney, former swing coach to Tiger Woods, has long been a supporter of LIV Golf as a project and a long-time detractor of the OWGR, and he called the decision to continue to overlook LIV for world rankings points “a joke.”
Peter Kostis, swing coach to Paul Casey among others, went further and said that ever since the OWGR’s “contrived beginning in 1986,” the ranking systems “have been corrupt. It has always been about promoting and protecting tours rather than actually ranking players. It promotes a closed shop and then can’t justify ranking LIV tour because they say it’s a closed shop! What a joke.”
In their letter to LIV Commissioner Greg Norman and Chief Operating Officer Gary Davidson, the OWGR detailed the reasons why LIV was again being rejected, and in basic summation, they are that “clear pathways” onto the tour have not been established – it’s likely that only four graduates will be admitted through the LIV Promotion Events and the International Series – and that doubts remained over the integrity of simultaneous team and individual play, citing comments by LIV player Sebastian Munoz back in April.
Munoz trailed fellow Smash member and final-round playing partner Brooks Koepka by a shot on the final hole and both faced lengthy birdie putts. Both made par, but Munoz, putting second, knew that holing it would mean a playoff and a potential first LIV victory, but three-putting would see Smash drop to second in the team competition.
“It’s weird, because I knew we were one stroke ahead on the team, so I couldn’t go extra. I knew I couldn’t be too aggressive,” Munoz said at the time. “He got the individual, we got the team. I call it a tie.”
So here’s my take on it. Yes, I feel that the OWGR does promote a ‘closed shop’ mentality, is unfairly tilted towards the PGA Tour, and its board members – which include both PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley – have their own biases which mean they are unlikely to act in a truly objective manner.
But I also feel that LIV, in it’s current format, doesn’t really conform to the necessary requirements to be treated as an authentic OWGR pointed venture.
Sure, nobody in their right mind would see Brooks Koepka, with major finishes of first, second, 17th and 64th this year, and say there are 17 players worthy of a higher ranking. The same goes for Cameron Smith, ranked 15th, who has a win, a solo fourth and a T9 in his last five major appearances.
Bryson DeChambeau’s ranking is even more ridiculous. You’d be hard pushed to name a dozen golfers you’d rate higher than Bryson in your own power rankings, but the OWGR have him currently ranked 132.
Talor Gooch, second only to Smith in LIV’s 2023 season rankings, is 187th on the OWGR, but hasn’t picked up a ranking point since The Masters back in April.
I’d wager, that playing a full schedule against the other legitimate best players in the game, Smith and Koepka would again be top-10 players, Bryson not far behind, and Gooch, Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson, Joaquin Niemann and maybe one or two others would all be inside the top-25 or 30.
But as for the supporting cast? How do you rank Sihwan Kim? Officially 400th in the world, but has finished DFL – that’s dead f**king last in case you’re wondering – in a quarter of his LIV starts in 2023, and his T33 finish at Bedminster last month is the only time he’s been outside the bottom five.
Martin Kaymer hasn’t been much better, you could make a case that Chase Koepka is only a LIV player because they were trying to woo his big brother and James Piot has finished in the top half of an event just once this year, and that was a T22.
How do you adequately assess the worth of a LIV Golf win – or even a LIV Golf 10th place – in a 48-man field that’s effectively reduced to 30-odd?
So give us an ecosystem where the deadwood is properly eliminated, where team captains (including those who signed ultra-lucrative deals to jump ship) are not exempt from relegation, and where legitimate players, capable of providing adequate competition to the genuine LIV stars, are brought in to replace.
But where do these legitimate competitors come from? From the PGA Tour? Nobody is jumping ship without a big signing bonus, that much we know. From the DP World Tour? Most of the genuine stars have already turned down approaches and there are 10 more set to earn PGA Tour cards. Outside of those, recruiting the DP World Tour’s supporting cast won’t add to the legitimacy in any discernable way.
As the framework deal with the PIF, the PGA and DP World Tour’s looks to be increasingly fragile with the PGA Tour reportedly actively seeking alternative investment, any actual merging of LIV and the established tours looks as far away as ever.
And with it go any hopes of LIV’s OWGR approval. Is it “a joke?” Or is it the inevitable result of the creation of an incalculable, niche breakaway?
Why can’t it be both?
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