Lately, LIV Golf players have been experiencing frequent issues with not being able to earn Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points.
Most fans and pro golfers agree that OWGR is in bad shape.
Jon Rahm is currently ranked fifth. The only other players ranked in LIV are Brooks Koepka and Cam Smith Top 80Koepka finished 36th and Smith 55th.
Anyone familiar with professional golf understands that Koepka, Smith, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Joaquin Niemann, and probably others are far better than their rankings suggest.
However, OWGR’s decision to refuse to award points to LIV has drastically reduced the number of players. As a result, many potentially eligible players will not be able to qualify for major tournaments.
Taylor Gooch is one of them. Even though Gooch admitted he wasn’t even trying to qualify for the U.S. Open, he has been vocal about his distaste for the status quo.
On Sunday, the X-account “Flushing It” posted the hypocrisy of LIV earning OWGR points at the Volvo China Open in the dark.
“The pressing problems facing LIV have never been more evident than today. The Volvo China Open is being played for $2.25 million in prize money, and several players have qualified for the PGA Championship at Valhalla. LIV Golf Singapore played for more than 10 times that amount and featured some of the best players of this generation, but not a single player qualified for the PGA Championship. There wasn’t,” Flushing It wrote.
Phil Mickelson, one of LIV Golf’s most passionate and vocal supporters, responded:
“What happens if no LIV players play? Will they be lonely? What about next year, or the year after? At some point, they’re going to have to care and answer to sponsors and TV. FAAFO ” Mickelson replied.
FAAFO, of course, stands for “F*** around and find out.”
Rumors have surfaced that some LIV players are considering jumping ship if the OWGR issue persists.
After all, most golfers’ goal is to win a major. If you can’t play there, you can’t win.
OWGR doesn’t seem to be doing anything about this issue. There are also no reports of any movement toward an agreement between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the beneficiary of LIV.
So Mickelson might get his wish. We all find out.
Kendall Capps is the senior editor of SB Nation’s Playing Through.For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough On all major social media platforms.
