Patrick Reed was No. 25 on the Official World Golf Ranking to start the year. By the time he started playing in LIV Golf events at the end of June, Reed had dropped to 38th.
As the upstart series led by Greg Norman and backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund tees up its regular-season finale this week with LIV Golf Jeddah at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, Reed has fallen to 56th in the world, a ranking he doesn’t agree with.
“I’m getting hammered,” Reed said of his current OWGR status. “The only thing I’ll say about all of that is the longer that you have competitive golf and competition with such great players and top players, the longer they’re playing events that aren’t getting World Ranking points, it just makes the World Ranking system insignificant.”
“Let’s be honest; it’s not a true system if you’re not counting all the events and having points for everybody,” he continued. “If you’re competing for a golf tournament and they meet every criteria that you’re supposed to meet in order to have World Ranking points, then they should be getting World Ranking points no matter what. It doesn’t matter where you’re playing, who you’re playing, what Tour you’re on, anything like that.”
Some OWGR guidelines include a 36-hole cut and direct access for players to enter events, two criteria that LIV currently do not meet. Sports Illustrated, however, has reported that while the OWGR handbook contains a list of guidelines, the OWGR board may award points to a tour whether they follow the guidelines or not.
“If you’re trying to say that we don’t deserve World Ranking points, this and that, then it’s a political battle, it’s not an actual true system,” added Reed. “Last time I checked, every sport you play, it’s based off of competition and who you’re playing, how strong that field is and who wins, and you’re allocated certain things. It doesn’t matter what tour you’re playing on.”
Reed is the latest in a choir of LIV players to sing the tune that questions the credibility of the OWGR, and follows Graeme McDowell, who said, “The word ‘Official’ has to go away’ from rankings, and Mickelson, who seemingly couldn’t be happier these days.
Following this week’s event in Saudi Arabia, the series will return stateside for the LIV Golf Team Championship in Miami at Trump National Doral, Oct. 28-30, where teams will compete for $50 million.
