OWGR and LIV Golf. They are like two lines that never interject with each other. The reason? The Saudi-backed league’s unique format along with limited player movement. However, such reasons seem hard to accept, especially for the CEO of the alternate tour, Greg Norman, as he took another jab at the world ranking system.
The Australian entrepreneur shared a post on Instagram including a list of the various types of rankings used in the golf world. However, while doing so, he made sure to point out the absurdity of the OWGR, which, as a result, went ahead and elicited the ire of many in the community!
Greg Norman doubles down on OWGR
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The post shared by Norman showcased the top 50 golfers in the world as per the different kinds of rankings present in golf. They included the Universal Golf Rankings, Official World Golf Rankings, Sports Illustrated rankings, and Data Golf Rankings. He uploaded the four lists with a caption taking a savage dig at OWGR out of the three, calling it “laughable” no less!
Why “laughable”? Well, out of all the four systems of grading the athletes of the sport, only the current world ranking system used by the PGA Tour does not reward points to the players who have defected to the rebel league and thus there are the fewest number of LIV golfers on the list of the top 50 in OWGR. He added, “LIV would have 2 players in the top 50 OWGR if you exclude recent signees!” while alluding to Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith at the 29th and 44th positions, respectively, out of the total of 5 LIV golfers.
However, TUGR has seven athletes who jumped ships early on out of 10 players. Meanwhile, SI boasts seven out of a total of nine, and Data Golf has six out of eight defectors in the top 50. Regardless, pointing out the same did not bode well for the Australian shark, as he got rammed with comments left and right from the golf world, including responses such as “LIV is a joke” and “LIV = laughable.”
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Even Norman wouldn’t have guessed the amount of backlash he would receive as a result of sharing the list. Moreover, it went ahead to rake in a frenzy of comments just an hour after it was shared on Instagram.
Norman’s Instagram post sends the golf world into chaos
There were comments, including those criticizing the format of the PIF-funded circuit and others taking a dig at the CEO of the league himself. Nevertheless, support was low for the ex-professional. Let’s take a quick look at some of the reactions.
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A follower went ahead to highlight the reason for OWGR not giving them points, albeit in an aggressive manner. They pointed out how playing the sport over three days is the main issue with not getting recognition, as they commented, “No cut 54-hole golf is the issue not the players in the field nitwit.”
A fan of the sport couldn’t help but implore the entrepreneur to better the Saudi-backed league. They also recounted the first time the disruptive tournament aired on television: “Make LIV more watchable – I’m a die-hard golf fan – I watched the first LIV event and turned it off after 10 mins to never try again.”
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Another enthusiast was a bit more on the rational side as they took to explain the reasons for the OWGR snub, all the while beseeching Norman to do something to help the players on the alternate tour. They commented, “Greg, the reality is that OWGR is not going to be awarded to LIV players. It doesn’t matter if it’s “laughable”. It’s the rules and reality of the situation, and until you do something that changes that reality, the majority of LIV players WILL miss playing in the majors. It’s that simple.”
Some followers called attention to the no-cut format of the circuit, which boasts a total of 54 golfers at the moment on the field. It was as if they were pointing out the obvious as they responded, “No cut exhibition golf Greg. Wake up. Even you know LIV isn’t working.”
Meanwhile, some PGA Tour loyalists couldn’t help but allude to the Jay Monahan-led tour. They did so while referring to how the circuit helped these defectors get into the top 50, as they commented, “What tour organization did those players play before LIV that made them top 50?????”
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There is a lot of debate going around about whether the defectors should be allowed points in the world rankings. In the meantime, they can only hope everything turns out better once the merger takes place. They would surely have their fingers crossed!
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