Dustin Johnson feels the Official World Golf Ranking system is no longer fit for purpose if 48 LIV golfers are going to be excluded from earning ranking points.
Johnson, a 2016 US Open and 2021 Masters champion feels the rankings are now skewed in favour of players who play on the PGA Tour and that LIV golfers will continue to be pushed down the rankings, particularly when it comes to qualifying for major championships.
The former world number one still has an exemption for his US Open win and of course, from his Masters win, but feels other top players are being excluded from future major championships.
“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,” said Johnson ahead of LIV Jeddah.
“It doesn’t really affect me as it does some of the other guys. I want the points for the other guys.”
Johnson, now ranked 121st in the world, failed to qualify for last month’s USA Ryder Cup team in Rome having become the first American in four decades to go 5-0 in 2021.
OWGR chairman Peter Dawson sent a letter to LIV chief executive Greg Norman and chief operating officer Gary Davidson last Tuesday informing them that LIV’s application for ranking status had been rejected.
“The board committee does not believe it is equitable to thousands of players who strive every day to get starts in OWGR eligible tournaments to have a tour operate in this mostly closed fashion,” Dawson wrote.
Dawson added the decision was “technical” rather than “political”.
LIV’s 14-tournament schedule is funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which is currently in talks with the PGA and DP World Tours to try to ratify a framework agreement struck last June.
Any potential agreement could shape the future of men’s professional golf but for now, it seems LIV Golf will enter its third season running parallel to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour rather than in conjunction.
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