LIV Golfer Cameron Smith slams the 'obsolete' world ranking system
Cameron Smith is unhappy with the OWGR, which does not count LIV Golf events. Smith was the world's number three ranked golfer in the world with a real chance at getting to number one over Rory McIlroy before defecting.
Smith said via BBC:
"For sure, it hurts. I was really close to getting to number one, and that was definitely something I wanted to tick off."
He continued:
"When you rock up at a tournament, you know who you have to beat, whether there is a world ranking or not. There are generally seven or eight guys that are in that field that you know are going to put up a pretty good fight."
He went so far as to say that the way OWGR operates is obsolete:
"However, the longer this stuff goes on, the more obsolete those rankings become. Do we need them? It would be nice, but you know who you've got to beat when you get on the golf course."
LIV Golf has submitted an application for their events to be considered for the rankings, but given the vitriol pointed at LIV from almost everywhere, it's very unlikely.
With Smith no longer on the Tour, he will peak at the top two ranking. He's dropped since then, too, as he's currently number four. Jon Rahm, who's having an excellent year thus far, passed him.
It has cost other golfers as well. Bryson DeChambeau has seen his ranking plummet. The same can be said for Dustin Johnson, who was the individual champion of LIV in 2022. He's ranked 46th.
Louis Oosthuizen was in danger of slipping past 50th and thus being ineligible to compete in the Masters in 2023 as a result.
There's reason for LIV players to be upset that their performances won't count for the rankings, but they also knew that when they switched sides. Was moving to the controversial league worth it?
Cameron Smith likely wouldn't change that, but he can at least admit his disappointment with currently being unable to move up on the leaderboard.
Why did Cameron Smith join LIV Golf?
As with many golfers, money played a big role in getting Cameron Smith to defect from his position as the second-best golfer in the world. According to Golf Digest, Smith admitted that:
“[Money] was definitely a factor in making that decision, I won’t ignore that or say that wasn’t a reason. It was obviously a business decision for one and an offer I couldn’t ignore.”
He added that there were other factors, too:
“The biggest thing for me joining is [LIV’s] schedule is really appealing. I’ll be able to spend more time at home in Australia and maybe have an event down there, as well. I haven’t been able to do that, and to get that part of my life back was really appealing.”
LIV did add an event in Australia for 2023, so Smith's hopes will come true. It just may have come at the price of being the world's top-ranked golfer.