Lee Westwood has agreed with his former caddie Billy Foster, who said the DP World Tour has been “absolutely destroyed” by the change to the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) algorithm that came into effect in August 2022.
The updated system uses modern metrics like strokes gained to calculate the field strength, which then determines the ranking points on offer.
Given that the majority of the world’s best players ply their trade almost exclusively on the PGA Tour, it has had a major impact on what was formerly the European Tour.
Taking the BMW PGA Championship, the DP World Tour’s flagship event, as an example, Billy Horschel earned 64 ranking points in 2021 for his thrilling victory at Wentworth, while 2022 and 2023 winners Shane Lowry and Ryan Fox both received less than 40.
Rory McIlroy was awarded less than 30 ranking points for his Dubai Desert Classic triumphs in 2023 and 2024, down from the 48 Viktor Hovland picked up in 2022.
Away from the Rolex Series events, the drop-off has been even more dramatic. In 2019, 44 ranking points were on offer for the Italian Open champion, with that reduced by more than half in 2023.
“I don’t know how the system works but it’s all biased towards America which is rubbish,” Foster said ahead of The Masters.
“The European Tour has been absolutely destroyed by it. It’s so difficult to build ranking points on the European Tour, all the points go to America.”
Westwood, who is now a member of LIV Golf, which isn’t recognised as an eligible tour by the OWGR, hasn't teed it up in a Major since the 150th Open at St Andrews in 2022.
The Englishman reached the summit of the world rankings in 2010 and 2011 playing predominantly on the European Tour but such a scenario is now unlikely under the current model.
“Billy’s spot on as usual,” the World No. 1,066 wrote on social media in response to Foster's comments.
It's not the first time Westwood has hit out at the OWGR. Speaking to Australian Golf Digest back in February, he described it as “obsolete” and admitted the damage done would be hard to reverse.
“I think the Official World Golf Ranking has got itself into a real hole,” Westwood said. “And it’s gone so far that I don’t see how it can come back from the hole that it’s in because you can’t backdate them.
“I don’t know where the OWGR goes from there. It’s not fit for purpose anymore. It’s there to rank the best golfers in the world and it doesn’t do that.”
LIV’s OWGR plight has been well documented, with the likes of Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith plummeting down the rankings since their defection.
Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann is another who has been impacted. The Chilean added non-LIV events to his schedule at the start of the year in a desperate bid to gain entry into this year’s Majors.
While he didn’t book his spot at Augusta National through the rankings, his victory in the ISPS Handa Australian Open was recognised by the Green Jackets, who gave him a special invite to the 2024 tournament.
It remains to be seen what the solution to the stalemate is, but whatever happens, it’s unlikely the criticism is going to die down anytime soon.
