Update: The only thing that is even remotely “official” about the Official World Golf Rankings these days is its clown world image. Make that super clown world. Dustin Johnson is now ranked No. 50, and below players such as Kurt Kitayama (No. 44), who couldn’t hit the side of a barn yesterday at Pebble Beach.
In an effort to damage the careers and earning power of the LIV Golf Series’ players, the OWGR, in concert collusion with the PGA tour, has refused to award points to the Greg Norman-led breakaway tour.
Making matters worse for the OWGR, from a PR perspective, the LIV Golf Series events are scheduled so as not to conflict with the majors or the PGA Tour’s more elite (“elevated”) events.
Thus, weekends with LIV Golf in action, you’ll see names like Cameron Smith, Paul Casey, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Joaquin Niemann, Abraham Ancer, Patrick Reed, Henrik Stenson, Matthew Wolff and Louis Oosthuiuzen, among many others, filling the first page of the leaderboard. Meanwhile, opposite those star-studded leaderboards, the PGA tour’s 3M Duct Tape Open or the Wyndham Timeshare Classic has no-names like Joe, Jim and Billy-Bob Blow sitting atop the leaderboard.
Yet it’s the little-known Blows – Joe, Jim and even Billy-Bob – who get the world ranking points while DJ, Brooks and Cam walk away with zilch.
It’s embarrassing… and criminal.
Exhibit A: DJ, who’s fallen from world No. 15 to No. 38 50, despite a torrid stretch of late summer/early fall golf, which saw the former world No. 1 compile nine straight top-25 finishes, including seven (7) top-10s and five (5) top-5s, headlined by a big overtime win in Boston.
To have journeymen like J.T. Poston, Chris Kirk, Kurt Kitayama, KH Lee, Ryan Fox, Brian Harman, Tom Hoge, Seamus Power and Corey Conners, among others, ranked higher than the superstar Johnson, who’s in top form, is next-level clown world.
By the Numbers: DJ’s Red-Hot Pace
9 of 9 Top-25 finishes
8 of 9 Top-15 finishes
7 of 9 Top-10 finishes
5 of 9 Top-5 finishes
4 of 9 Top-3 finishes
3 of 9 Top-2 finishes
Results: DJ’s Finishes
Date: Tournament (Place) – OWGR Pts
6/11: LIV London (8th) – 0.0
6/19: U.S. Open (T24) – 5.4
7/02: LIV Portland (T3) – 0.0
7/17: The Open (T6) – 19.0
7/31: LIV Bedminster (T2) – 0.0
9/04: LIV Boston (1st) – 0.0
9/18: LIV Chicago (T2) – 0.0
10/09: LIV Bangkok (T15) – 0.0
10/16: LIV Jeddah (T5) – 0.0
This post was initially published on November 27, 2022.
