via Getty
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – NOVEMBER 15: Tiger Woods of the United States looks on after a shot on the second hole during the final round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on November 15, 2020 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
via Getty
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – NOVEMBER 15: Tiger Woods of the United States looks on after a shot on the second hole during the final round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on November 15, 2020 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
The countdown for the return of Tiger Woods to a professional golf event has begun. The legendary golfer, who will host the upcoming Genesis Invitational, will also compete in it. However, ahead of his return, a surprising revelation was made on Twitter that would downgrade LIV Golf stars like Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson.
Woods hasn’t competed at a PGA Tour event since the 2020 ZOZO Championship. As many are excited upon his return, one account on Twitter pointed out the biases of the Official World Golf Ranking System.
The OWGR revealed its new pointing system last year, which apart from PGA Tour, has been quite harmful to the rest of the Tours. The biggest victims of the ranking body have been the LIV Golf stars. To make matters worse, Tiger is only a win away from surpassing most of the defectors.
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Tiger Woods is closer to the Top 50 than LIV Golf defectors?
The cold war between the OWGR and the Saudi-funded Tour began when the governing body rejected the lucrative Tour by providing them with the points system. Since LIV Golf uses a 54-hole and no-cut format, they fail to fall in the criteria of OWGR.
As of todays OWGR, Dustin Johnson is no longer a top 50 player in the world and Bryson is no longer a top 100 player.
If Tiger Woods were to win this week, he would jump close to the top 50 in the world despite not having played a regular PGA Tour event since 2020.
Wild.
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) February 13, 2023
Nonetheless, the breakaway Tour has taken several measures to earn the ranking system but is yet to attain it. This has resulted in the plunging of nearly all defectors, including Bryson DeChambeau, who is currently ranked 110th. Meanwhile, Dustin Johnson, who won the inaugural LIV Golf season, is not even in the top 50 golfers in the world. He is ranked 51.
Read More: Will LIV Golf Players Be Playing in the 2023 Ryder Cup?
However, Tiger Woods, who is set to participate in his first PGA Tour event in nearly three years, is only a win away from getting much closer to the 50th rank than many LIV Golf stars. He is currently positioned at 1283 rank. The winner of the Genesis Invitational will earn 46 OWGR points.
Tiger currently has 1.86 total OWGR points, while DeChambeau has 48.44. Johnson has 73.74 points, but they seem to remain unchanged since they won’t earn points anytime soon. The Twitter account Flushing It posted the tweet, disclosing the unsettling revelation to its followers. Some supported the LIV Golf defectors while others shared their hatred towards the 54-hole Tour.
Golf world reacts to the strange Tiger-LIV Golf fact
That is mental 🤯
— Hannah Holden (@HannahHoldenNCG) February 13, 2023
That's what happens when you only play exhibitions instead of real tournaments.
— Bertil Spolander (@RookieB) February 13, 2023
OWGR irrelevant now the some of the best players are on LIV and don’t get points! Just ignore it!
— dave madden (@DaveNavy1731) February 13, 2023
How is it wild? DJ and Bryson (one of my favourite players by the way) chose to play in a league where they knew points weren’t on offer! So their choice and until that changes it is the way!
— Alan Graham (@ATG0104) February 13, 2023
Nor should they be. They're playing highly paid exhibition no-cut golf. Their choice and I am sad they made that choice.
— JCTexas (@bhawkhack222) February 13, 2023
Just realistic outcome of neither playing in rated events.
LIV & players knew the deal going over. The 💵 was the cushion for all the negatives.
If LIV eventually qualifies; same field, 54-holes, no cut, 14-events won’t boost much I’d guess. But again, all aware prior.🤷♂️⛳️
— Keith Cook (@_KeithCook) February 13, 2023
Is there no wonder that fans and players alike are totally disgusted with the OWGR system. Either come up with something new, or change the name. It is not "official" nor "world".
— Denise Wierck (@DeniseWierck) February 13, 2023
Or LIV had to meet some simple criteria to gain points…and yet they refuse to
— Landon Paulson (@LPaulson7) February 13, 2023
Points decay every 13 weeks so that more weight is placed on recent form rather than distant results. This is a feature not a bug
— Big Man (@BrianWoods1969) February 13, 2023
OWGR is broken. It should include all professional golf. Including mini-tours etc… otherwise it's just specific affiliated tour rankings and not World.
— Kyle Hrubes (@KyleHrubes) February 13, 2023
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It's ridiculous
— Pete Chapman (@chapatoni) February 13, 2023
While many are excited about Woods’ return to the sport, the discrimination among the Tours is immensely heartening. Upon many recent changes in the sport, hopefully, a solution for such regulation must also come into effect immediately.
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What are your thoughts on Tiger Woods going above LIV Golf stars in the rankings? Let us know in the comments section below.
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