Amid Recent Chris Kirk Blunder, OWGR to Grace the 2024 American Express With an Unimaginable Benefit

The OWGR has been at the center of attention for a while now. From setting up the new points system for low-field events to initially failing to keep up the same in the event that Chris Kirk won, the system has found itself under constant limelight. Besides, it seems no different this time around as well, as the PGA Tour gets ready to welcome its third event at the PGA West La Quinta Country Club.

A post was shared on social media, commenting on the field that The American Express is set to witness next week. But, astonishingly, the tweet also pointed out how the ranking body’s recent decisions would prove to be nothing short of a boon for the event!

OWGR displays its gracious side to the PGA Tour

The tweet shared by Nosferatu reports a whopping 60 points to be given to the champion of the upcoming tournament. The numbers also include the “winning bonus,” which is awarded by the ranking body if the athlete has managed to emerge victorious more than once over the past 52 weeks, as per the new rules.

But there’s a highlight. The post on X also indicates how the world rankings awarding 60 points to the winner of the field would “make it the strongest field for that event in the OWGR era.” This holds true since, as per the previous tourney, the champion Jon Rahm could only rake in a total of 52.63599 points when he won at 261 (-27). This makes the points awarded during the 2024 edition the highest ever for the tournament since its inception in 1960.

The benefit has come as a surprise to the community, which recently witnessed the world rankings engage in an error following the Sentry. Kirk, who won the tourney, was initially only awarded 60.00488, propelling him to the 25th position, while he should have been given four more points with the winning bonus because of his 2023 Honda Classic win. Although the OWGR did make up for the mistake by remedying the same, enabling him to reach 21st on the board, it was nevertheless a blunder on their part.

However, the golfer’s case is not the first time that the ranking body has found itself in the limelight. It had garnered a lot of criticism owing to the disparity of points being awarded to the two Hawaiian tournaments.

The OWGR disparity and the havoc it caused

The winner of the Sentry was allocated a total of 60.0048 points, while the Sony Open champion would enjoy only 48.43712, despite there being only a difference of 0.65533 between the two’s ratings. The 11.56768 point difference between the full field event and the limited field no-cut event was called out for its “BS,” apparently on social media.

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This was but one of the reactions that followed in the golf community, as many more took to their X handles to express their dissatisfaction with the skewed distribution. Anyhow, it appears the OWGR can finally have some breathing space because of the upcoming tournament and the numbers it boasts!

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