Does LIV Golf caddie make valid point about distribution of OWGR points?
LIV Golf's Craig Connelly labels latest distribution of winner points on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour as "shocking"; Lee Westwood agrees.
LIV Golf caddie Craig Connelly has labelled the latest distribution of Official World Golf Ranking points as "shocking" after comparing the winner's points from the BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour and Fortinet Championship on the PGA Tour.
Connelly, who caddies for LIV Golf Tour pro Martin Kaymer, is still bewildered like many on the Saudi-backed circuit how LIV Golf tournaments still do not receive OWGR points like the rest of the Tours around the world - especially given the strength in depth of their latest fields.
It is understood that LIV Golf could be waiting until 2024 to even receive OWGR points, if they do at all.
LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman is getting increasingly more frustrated by the situation, as reflected in his choice of words on social media following Cameron Smith's victory at LIV Golf Chicago on Sunday night.
But aside from all that where LIV Golf is concerned, Connelly still has a problem with the distribution of points across world golf at large, using the DP World Tour and PGA Tour the past two weeks as examples.
Two weeks ago, Shane Lowry won the DP World Tour's flagship tournament of the season at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, and the Irishman received 38 points in the OWGR.
The tournament featured five of the top 15 players in the world, and yet the field was rated by the OWGR as 221.
Lowry bumped himself up just four spots in the OWGR from 23rd to 19th.
The event was shortened to 54 holes due to the death of The Queen, but this is understood to have had no effect on the distribution of points.
Connelly's boss Kaymer chose to skip the BMW PGA Championship due to "not feeling welcome".
Meanwhile last week in the PGA Tour's curtain raiser at the Fortinet Championship, Max Homa clinched a dramatic victory thanks to an 18th hole implosion from Danny Willett, and the American picked up 40 points for his win.
The tournament featured none of the top 15 players in the world, with Hideki Matsuyama the only player in the top 20 prior to the start. The field was rated 235 by the OWGR.
Homa vaulted six spots from 22nd to 16th in the OWGR following his fifth career title on the PGA Tour.
Fortinet tournament on @PGATOUR receives 40points to the winner. @DPWorldTour flagship event, @ShaneLowryGolf received 38 points.
Why was this allowed to happen?!?
4 of the top 11 and 5 of the top 15 in the world rankings.
Shocking!
— Craig Connelly (@theweeman77) September 12, 2022
"Fortinet tournament on @PGATOUR receives 40points to the winner. @DPWorldTour flagship event, @ShaneLowryGolf received 38 points," tweeted Connelly.
"Why was this allowed to happen?!? 4 of the top 11 and 5 of the top 15 in the world rankings.
"Shocking."
It’s beyond me Craig. https://t.co/NC5tl3Q2Jk
— Lee Westwood (@WestwoodLee) September 12, 2022
LIV Golf player Lee Westwood replied to Connelly's tweet with: "It's beyond me Craig."
The main issue here is that the OWGR recently made some big changes to its system.
What have the OWGR said?
In the document explaining the changes, they said: "OWGR's field rating calculation has been modernised so that fields will be evaluated based on the skill level of every player in the field, rather than just those in the field among the current top 200 of the ranking.
"With this enhancement, minimum point levels, flagship tournaments and home ratings are no longer needed, removing the bias that can result from their use.
"Additionally, all players making the cut will receive ranking points according to the points breakdown.
"The other primary components of the OWGR system will remain the same."
