LIV Golf stars slam world ranking mockery big names weigh in on major flaw that allows players to 'finesse' the system
Lee Westwood says he's proof the system's a mockery as LIV Gol f heroes waded into the world-rankings debate.
The stars of the Saudi-backed series are in Staffordshire this week for the UK event at JCB Golf and County Club.
Westwood and the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm made their way straight from The Open at Royal Portrush to England with the discussions reignited at The Championship after a latest application for OWGR.
The former World No.1 performed superbly in Northern Ireland, but says the boost he got in the rankings from the showing uncovers the flaws in the current system. Westwood tie for 34th at The Open rocketed him 3,759 spots in the OWGR and he said: 'I moved back above my son in the world rankings, which is nice. I think that just proves that without world ranking points it makes a bit of a mockery of the system. It's good that an application has gone back in.
'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. We either start to get world ranking points on LIV or the major championships have to revise their qualification system, which, some of them seem to want to do, but some seem reluctant to do and they'd have to have a separate qualification system for LIV players, which I don't think anybody particularly wants. You want it all to be based off the same system.
'It has to be looked at carefully, I don't know if they're going to back-date it or what, but we're all starting from a low position. I've only got one tournament counting on the world rankings I think and finishing mid 30s last week moved me up like 3,000 spots, which shows that there's something wrong with the system as it stands.'
Hatton had his say as he added: 'I think there's a lot of guys out here that you certainly want to be playing in majors. If there's a better pathway for that for us, then that's brilliant. There's a lot of guys out here, their current world ranking doesn't really reflect the type of golfer that they are and I think everyone would like to think everyone sitting here would agree with that statement. I guess the sooner the world rankings can become a little bit more realistic again, the better it is for golf.'
Hatton's LIV team-mate Jon Rahm continued: 'I'm going to start off this by saying that I have my disagreements with the world ranking system before I ever joined LIV. I already thought it was flawed before I ever came, and I was vocal about it.
'So I think the last few years, even the world ranking itself and both Data Golf do a strokes gained ranking, and I think that much more reflects who truly is playing the best because the actual points being a two-year ranking, you can have a poor week or a poor three weeks and that will hold you down for two whole years.
'It's crazy how you can actually finesse a little bit of the system by playing certain weeks and not playing certain weeks and things like that. It's always going to be somewhat accurate but not the most, and I think strokes gained usually is going to be the better representation of how truly everybody is playing.
'In Data Golf and world ranking, they both have their own version. I think they're somewhat similar for the most part, give and take certain players. But if you're top 10 in one, you're most likely going to be top 10 in the other one. The order might change a little bit, but I think it's a fair representation of where everybody is at.'
LIV CEO SCott O'Neil gave an update on the application, but said: 'It's still a bit premature. We have filed an application and I'm in pretty good contact with [OWGR Board chairman] Trevor Immelman. We have a call later this week. He's been a good source of encouragement, push-back, debate, and we've both agreed to keep those conversations between the two of us until we take another step forward. That's what we agreed to.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Liverpool to bank £46m as Darwin Nunez agrees huge Saudi contract
Liverpool are due to finally offload Darwin Nunez as Saudi side Al-Hilal come forward with an offer as the Uruguayan prepares to undergo a medical ahead of his Anfield exit Darwin Nunez is on the brink of completing a move to Saudi side Al-Hilal from Liverpool. The Uruguay striker, 26, is set to jet out to Germany where the Saudi Pro League outfit are currently training and undergo a medical once the terms are all finalised. Simeone Inzaghi's Al-Hilal have beaten AC Milan to his signature as they close in on a deal worth an initial £46million but rising well beyond £50m. Nunez is set to earn around £400,000-per-week at the PIF-backed club. The departure of Nunez is likely to see Liverpool press ahead with their plans to sign another forward with Newcastle striker Alexander Isak their top target. They've agreed to spend up to £79m on Hugo Ekitike but he can play in different positions across the front three while Nunez is following Luis Diaz out the door. The Reds also tragically lost Diogo Jota, who died in a car accident last month. Al-Nassr tried to sign Nunez at the end of the January window but Liverpool would not sell during the season as they chased glory in the Premier League and Champions League. Liverpool agreed a deal worth £85m on Nunez in the summer of 2022. It was an initial £65m and the player has not triggered all of the add-ons from the deal with Benfica. Jurgen Klopp wanted to sign Nunez in 2022 after he impressed against the club for the Portuguese side in the Champions League and they beat Manchester United to his signature. But he has failed to be a clinical finisher in the Premier League and Arne Slot could not unlock his potential with just seven goals last season. Harvey Elliott, who is being chased by RB Leipzig, and Federico Chiesa are also expected to leave along with Nunez this summer. The Reds have already sold Jarell Quansah, Caiomhin Kelleher, Tyler Morton, Diaz and Nat Phillips while they got £8m to allow Trent Alexander-Arnold join Real Madrid a month before his contract expired to raise over £150m. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Spectator
7 hours ago
- Spectator
Esports World Cup
They say chess is an art, a science and a sport. Now it's an e-sport too. The Esports World Cup, held in Riyadh, is an annual international tournament for major computer games such as Dota 2, this year with $38 million in prizes across the 25 events. For the first time, chess took its place on the roster, and the $1.5 million prize pool drew most of the world's elite. Magnus Carlsen represented Team Liquid, a professional e-sports organisation fielding competitors in various events. Two of his toughest opponents were Alireza Firouzja and Hikaru Nakamura, playing for the Saudi e-sports organisation Team Falcons. In many ways, this was the culmination of a trend which began with the Magnus Carlsen Chess Invitational, held online during the pandemic in 2020. Rapid and blitz chess events have become an established income stream for the top players. Some, like the Speed Chess Championship, dispense with physical boards altogether, even when the players face off in a studio. The distinction is not merely cosmetic. Games at the Esports World Cup were played with ten minutes per player, but no time increment after each move. Over-the-board chess played without increment becomes a fiasco when pieces tumble over in the desperate final seconds, but playing without increment on a screen maintains decorum, even when the clock decides the outcome. Carlsen looked in his element in Riyadh, and almost always outpaced his opponents. He scored a convincing victory against Firouzja in the final. The position below, from their first game, appears sterile, but Firouzja's last move 21…Qc3-a3 was a crucial oversight. It was better to make a bolthole for the king with h7-h6. Magnus Carlsen-Alireza Firouzja Esports World Cup, Riyadh, 2025 22 Nb8! The Ra8 is trapped in a most unusual way, due to the idea of mate on the back rank. Raxb8 23 Qxb8 Qxa2 24 Qe5 h5 25 Rb8 Carlsen's advantage of rook for knight is accentuated by exchanging more pieces. Rxb8 26 Qxb8+ Kh7 4 Qb1+ Qxb1 28 Rxb1 g6 29 Ra1 Kg7 30 Rxa7 The endgame is a straightforward technical win by gradually advancing the king and pawns. Black resigned at move 45. Carlsen's splendid interference move with the knight is a rare motif, but there are precedents. In the game below, Black's previous move was 16…a7-a5, overlooking the threat. Once again, making a bolthole for the king with 16…h7-h6 was called for. Gideon Stahlberg-Raaphi Persitz Ljubljana, 1955 17 Bb8! Ne4 18 Bxe4 Raxb8 19 Qxb8 dxe4 20 Qf4 h5 21 Kg2 Black resigned at move 39.
Reuters
9 hours ago
- Reuters
LIV Golf star expects OWGR 'to do the right thing for golf'
August 6 - Joaquin Niemann expects the Official World Golf Ranking "to do the right thing for golf" as it reviews LIV Golf's latest submission to receive world rankings points for its events. The Chilean star has won a third of the 15 tournaments he has teed it up in worldwide this year and is by most accounts among the top tier of golfers on the planet. But Niemann is currently No. 103 in the OWGR because his five wins in 11 LIV Golf events in 2025 haven't accrued any rankings points. He was No. 68 after a tie for third in an Asian Tour event in February and he also tied for eighth at the PGA Championship before missing the cut at the year's final two majors. Niemann will not have an opportunity to earn more rankings points until playing a few tournaments on other tours after LIV's season concludes later this month. Niemann, 26, is among those who are hoping the OWGR softens its stance and allows players to earn points thru LIV events beginning next year. "I feel like the ranking system is not up to me, it's up to them. I'm expecting that they're going to do the right thing for golf," Niemann said on Wednesday ahead of this week's LIV Golf Chicago event. He reached as high as 15th in the OWGR before signing with LIV, but Niemann added that the world rankings don't factor into how he views himself among the game's elite players. "No, not really. It's not something that I think about to tell myself in the mirror, 'Joaco, you are No. 5,' -- no, I don't do that. That's not my job," he said. "I feel like I'm just here to do my best and try to make as many birdies as possible and to make the crowd enjoy us playing golf around the world." Despite having won five of LIV's first 11 events this year, he can still be caught by Spain's Jon Rahm for the individual title over the next two events. Rahm beat Niemann by three strokes in Chicago last year, but has yet to claim an individual title in 2025. Rahm has stayed consistent throughout the season, consistently posting top-10 results. He was among the proponents to have scores from all players count in the team competition, which Rahm's Legion XIII leads, and said the league needs to evaluate other ways it can evolve to create world rankings points opportunities. "There's a process to hopefully enter those world ranking points and at least get our foot in the door," Rahm said. "And then once we're allowed, we can see what changes can be made to earn as many as possible, keeping the integrity of what LIV Golf is about." Rahm said he hasn't been involved in conversations about further format changes, but mentioned concepts such as adding a fourth round to events and expanding the number of teams to make a cut-line more feasible "There's many possibilities that I can think of," Rahm said, adding that his ideas were purely hypothetical. "There's things we could do I think to add more world rankings points if we need it, and I'm sure there's more that I can't think of that the folks at OWGR and maybe (LIV CEO) Scott (O'Neil) or the front of the LIV office can probably tell us about to give us a little bit more of strength of field." For now, Rahm is focused on trying to track Niemann down for the individual title while having Legion XIII lock down the team title. Oh, and a little thing called the Ryder Cup, for which Rahm remains hopeful of being selected by European captain Luke Donald. "There's nothing I can confirm nor deny. But I think he has been texting me like he has been texting quite a few other players that are on that list of the possibility of getting picked," Rahm said. "Luke is extremely dedicated and very well-organized as a captain, so I think there's probably -- six automatic and then six picks, right, so there's probably about at least 10 names on top of those guys who are qualified that he's probably constantly texting. "I don't think he's actually told anybody they're in yet because it's too early. He's probably waiting until the end of August through the (FedExCup) playoffs and our events to maybe start making statements like that. In my case, I think I'm just one more of those many names." --Field Level Media
