LIV Golf rebel Carlos Ortiz seized a rare chance to boost his position in the world rankings with victory in his native Mexico on Sunday.
Ortiz and other LIV renegades are still unable to claim elusive ranking points on the Saudi-funded breakaway tour and have instead been seeking opportunities elsewhere. LIV's ongoing failure to secure ranking point status has been a key battleground in their disruption plan for men's professional golf.
There is a growing frustration within the circuit fronted by firebrand Greg Norman over the continued snub from the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) board.
A host of LIV players are now unable to qualify for majors without crucial access and the contentious enterprise is even reported to be considering ditching the traditional system for a less established ranking structure.
Patrick Reed, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell and various others have been playing on either the DP World Tour and Asian Tour during gaps in LIV's calendar. And Mexican Ortiz, who is part of the Fireballs team captained by Sergio Garcia, has capitalised by playing on a new tour, that, unlike LIV, has recently been granted OWGR recognition.
Ortiz was part of the field at the V Copa Prissa on the tour known as the Gira De Golf Professional Mexicana (GGPM) in his homeland over the weekend. The fledgling circuit, which like LIV is played over 54 holes but crucially has a cut, was only established in 2017 and was made eligible for ranking points this year.
Former PGA Tour player Ortiz ousted Isidro Benitez by two shots to taste his first tournament victory since the Houston Open on the American circuit in 2020. Ortiz, who was placed just outside the world's top 100 before defecting to LIV, secured 1.8 points to jump 11 places from 275th to 264th in the rankings.
Ortiz is part of a monopoly of Latin American talent acquired by Norman at LIV, who also boast fellow Mexican Abraham Ancer, Chile's Joaquin Niemann and Colombia's Sebastian Munoz. The next LIV event will start in Tuscon, Arizona next Friday.
Meanwhile, Kurt Kitayama emerged from a star-studded field to claim his first PGA Tour title at the prestigious Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill on Sunday. The unfancied American bounced back from a triple bogey in his final round to see off a chasing pack that included esteemed major champions Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth.
And prevalently, Kitayama's win at the designated PGA Tour event earned him over 67 ranking points. The monumental victory saw him leap from 46th to 19th in the rankings, while Ortiz's 1.8 points on the obscure Mexican circuit earned him the same amount of points as a finish just inside the top 40 at Bay Hill.
