How have OWGR rankings of golfers changed since joining LIV Golf? Current standings explored ft. Bryson DeChambeau and Lee Westwood
In another loss for the series, LIV Golf's recent request for its players to be awarded ranking points on the world leaderboard has been denied by the OWGR board. LIV Golf players will continue to fall off the leaderboard.
Despite winning quite a few battles over the last 16 months, the OWGR board has turned out to be one of the main pain points for the Saudi breakaway series. When players initially defected, they knew that they would be giving up their points. However, there was hope for them to get those points as LIV Golf fought for them.
The biggest tumble of them all was taken by German golfer Martin Kaymer, who fell 1696 places since joining the league last year. On the other hand, Bryson DeChambeau also took quite a big hit. He started off his LIV Golf journey ranked World No. 29, and currently sits at World No. 299.
Lee Westwood's original ranking on the OWGR board was World No. 74. After playing two seasons with LIV, he currently stands at 565th in the world.
Sergio Garcia, who also missed out on the Ryder Cup team this year, has tumbled down from World No. 54 to World No. 375. Garcia was also forced to miss the Open Championship for the first time since 1997.
LIV Golf denied world ranking points by OWGR board
The OWGR denied LIV's request to be a part of the world leaderboard on a technical basis and not on the fact that it is at war with the majority of the golf world. OWGR chairman Peter Dawson said that the board could not come to a consensus regarding the issue.
"This decision not to make them eligible is not political. It is entirely technical. LIV players are self-evidently good enough to be ranked. They're just not playing in a format where they can be ranked equitably with the other 24 tours and thousands of players trying to compete on them," Dawson said (via ESPN).
Dustin Johnson was quick to point out that the points system has now become rather obsolete, and cannot be used. Along with him, several other golfers have also expressed their dissatisfaction with the decision.