LIV Golf has functioned without world ranking points ever since their launch back in 2022, but the league have launched a fresh bid for accreditation to the OWGR
Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton had their say on the world rankings(Image: Getty Images)
Both Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm have become the latest LIV Golf players to have their say on the Official World Golf Ranking, with the breakaway league back in Europe this week.
LIV has been competing without world ranking points on offer since its inception in 2022, leading to a number of the league’s names falling down the list. Hatton has managed to maintain a fairly strong position thanks to impressive performances on the DP World Tour and the majors.
Access into said majors, however, could soon dry up without a victory, making his position in the world rankings all the more important.
There is hope that the league will soon be able to be included, having submitted a fresh OWGR application earlier this month. Hatton believes the sooner a deal is done, the better—not just for the breakaway circuit but for men’s professional golf as a whole.
“I think there are a lot of guys out here that you certainly want to be playing in the majors,” Hatton said at LIV UK. “If there’s a better pathway for that for us, then that’s brilliant. There are a lot of guys out here; their current world ranking doesn’t really reflect the type of golfer that they are.
“I think everyone would like to think everyone sitting here would agree with that statement. I guess the sooner the world rankings can become a little bit more realistic again, the better it is for golf.” Hatton was speaking alongside his Legion XIII captain, Rahm, on Wednesday.
The Spaniard became LIV’s biggest signing at the end of 2023, having been the third-best-ranked golfer on the planet at the time. On the back of last week’s Open, the former world No. 1 now finds himself 66th on the list, having drifted as low as 72nd.
Jon Rahm joined LIV in 2023(Image: Getty Images)
Even before his LIV switch, though, Rahm had reservations about the OWGR system. “I’m going to start off this by saying that I had my disagreements with the world ranking system before I ever joined LIV. I already thought it was flawed before I ever came, and I was vocal about it.”
With the rankings skipping the performances of LIV players, Rahm admitted he looks elsewhere, focusing on strokes gained data to best rank the current crop of players across all tours. “I think the last few years, even the world ranking itself, and both Data Golf do a strokes gained ranking.
“I think that much more reflects who truly is playing the best because the actual points being a two-year ranking, you can have a poor week or a poor three weeks, and that will hold you down for two whole years. It’s crazy how you can actually finesse a little bit of the system by playing certain weeks and not playing certain weeks and things like that.
“It’s always going to be somewhat accurate, but not the most, and I think strokes gained usually is going to be the better representation of how truly everybody is playing.In Data Golf and world ranking, they both have their own version.
“I think they’re somewhat similar for the most part, give and take certain players. But if you’re top 10 in one, you’re most likely going to be top 10 in the other one. The order might change a little bit, but I think it’s a fair representation of where everybody is at.”
