Lee Westwood was understandably critical of the world ranking system this week after climbing nearly 3000 places following his performance at The Open Championship.
LIV Golf has now submitted a fresh application for world ranking points having previously written off their chances. It will be interesting to see whether Trevor Immelman and the OWGR see anything different in their application this time around.
It goes without saying that Bryson DeChambeau should not be down in 16th. Meanwhile, it seems ridiculous that Jon Rahm is officially the 66th best male player on the planet. Data Golf lists the Spaniard at number three behind Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.
Those on LIV understandably want to see a change made. Lee Westwood joked that his jump from 4689 to 930 after The Open Championship made a ‘mockery‘ of the system.
LIV Golf need to consider their own change as Lee Westwood criticises the world rankings
Whatever you think of LIV, there is no question that there is a strong case to be made that they need to receive some points for their events – even if they are scaled down to reflect the smaller fields and the fact that their events last three rounds.
But perhaps Westwood should also be pushing those on LIV to make a change to their own ranking system following his performance at Royal Portrush.
The Majesticks co-captain currently sits 45th in the standings. He has finished in the top 10 on just one occasion this season. There is a very real chance that the Englishman ends up in the drop zone and is relegated from the league.
Now, there are real question marks over the credibility of relegation on LIV after Branden Grace was able to keep his place ahead of this season. But if Westwood ends up in the drop zone, he may wonder whether he should have received some points for his performance at The Open.
Of the LIV players in the field, only Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton and Dustin Johnson finished ahead of the 52-year-old. And yet, Westwood’s performance at the final major of the year has done nothing for his ranking on LIV.
Theoretically, he could have won the Claret Jug and ended up being relegated.
Elsewhere, Joaquin Niemann would probably welcome the chance to have major performances count towards points on LIV.
Joaquin Niemann would probably welcome LIV players earning points for major performances
It is Niemann who currently leads the way this season. The Chilean is having a phenomenal season, having won four times on LIV. However, that has not translated into success in the majors by any means.
Niemann has just one top 10 in 26 major appearances, while he has missed the last two cuts. The PGA Tour‘s number one player meanwhile has four major wins in 25 starts.
It does the 26-year-old no favours whatsoever to seemingly be in the position of being LIV’s top player while also failing to make any sort of impression in the majors. LIV players are under the microscope at the four biggest events of the year, so Niemann becomes an easy target when he underperforms.
But both the FedEx Cup and the Race to Dubai do award points for major performances. It seems strange that LIV would not award their players points for how they perform at The Masters, the PGA Championship, the US Open and The Open Championship.
It does not need to be the same points that they award for their own events. But surely, it would help LIV further integrate itself into the golfing ecosystem if their standings at least acknowledged their players’ performances in the majors.
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