While OWGR Keeps Running Into Controversies, What Are Its Three Best Alternatives?

OWGR ran into a fresh controversy after it awarded more points to the PGA Tour’s RSM Classic than the DP World Tour Championship. Players and detractors pointed out that the former had a much stronger field with Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, and Viktor Hovland in the race to the title. But, this wasn’t the first time OWGR’s points-giving methodology baffled many. 

Most importantly, their denial of points to LIV Golf players didn’t sit well with golf fans. In fact, Brooks Koepka’s former coach, Pete Cowen, dubbed it a “joke.” LIV Golf players have slipped in the OWGR ranking, and because of the snub, Talor Gooch, despite winning the season-long championship, won’t be able to tee up at the Majors. Naturally, there have been rallying cries for a change. We look at three alternatives to the current points-giving authority.

Alternatives to OWGR rankings

TUGR – 

The Universal Golf Ranking doesn’t dip their toes into needless complications. They only rank players based on their individual performances over the past eighteen months. The head-to-head scores are pitted against each other in a powerful computer that brings out the final rankings. 

Interestingly, no LIV Golfers feature in TUGR’s top ten. Their current chart is topped by Scottie Scheffler with Rory McIlroy in second place here as well. However, Viktor Hovland takes the third spot instead of Jon Rahm, who is in the fifth position on the list.

SI World Golf Rankings –

This one comes from Sports Illustrated itself. Launched early this year in collaboration with Golf Intelligence, the ranking will be the average points earned over the course of 12 months. Like OWGR, Majors are given more weightage. Interestingly, SIWGR also considers the course difficulty, and strength of the field to determine the value of a particular event. 

Read More: Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge Enjoys OWGR Supremacy Over LIV Golf Despite Its 20-Man Field; Here’s Why

But, contrary to OWGR, this ranking system considers Distance per Shot instead of Strokes Gained to add points, with recent rounds gaining more weightage. Notably, Scheffler tops the chart followed by Hovland, McIlroy, and Rahm. However, Brooks Koepka is in the fifth position as per the SIWGR list. 

Data Golf Rankings 

This one ranks golfers who play in any OWGR-sanctioned events along with LIV Golfers. To be eligible golfers need to tee up at least 40 rounds in the last two years and a minimum of one round in the last six months. 

The players’ scores are averaged out based on the field strength. Recent rounds get more weightage like SIWGR. As of now, the list is topped by Viktor Hovland, with McIlroy and Scheffler rounding off the top three. Notably, no LIV Golfers feature in the top ten. 

One interesting pattern we noticed here is that both McIlroy and Hovland have featured in the top three in all the lists. Interestingly enough, Talor Gooch, the 2023 LIV Golf champion, and Cameron Smith who came second didn’t come in the top five in any of the leaderboards. Cameron Smith’s best position was in SIWGR, where he ranked at No.10. While Talor Gooch’s best position came in SIWGR as well at 14.

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