PGA Tour superstar Tiger Woods caused quite a stir among the LIV Golf world when he climbed 430 spots in the Official World Golf Ranking for an 18th-place finish at the Hero World Challenge on Sunday, even though he hosted the event, there was no cut, and there were only 20 competitors.
Entering the event, Tiger Woods was ranked just 1,328th OWGR – the lowest ranking of his entire career. But after the third-to-last finish in the unofficial PGA Tour event, Wood vaulted all the way up to 898th in the OWGR. This is especially maddening to LIV Golf fans and players because LIV Golf events do not count for OWGR points.
Earlier this year, LIV Golf had its application to earn OWGR points denied in large part because the league’s events include just 48 players and have no cut, but the Hero World Challenge had just 20 competitors and also included no cut, yet Woods was able to collect a significant number of OWGR points.
Obviously, this led to a lot of reactions on social media as fans gave their thoughts on the situation.
#OWGR is rigged. https://t.co/xCMcJ3HzDc
— JunkiesSoCal (@JunkiesSo) December 4, 2023
And finished 20 shots behind the leader …😂 https://t.co/dXlIWKw85d
— Countryfirst (@Americaonward88) December 4, 2023
Are you kidding? https://t.co/WqOZjdbONf
— Commom'sen (@SenCommom) December 4, 2023
You suggesting he couldn’t beat any of those guys who are rated 899 and below? https://t.co/sUUhJUm4mG
— Phil Gould (@PhilGould15) December 5, 2023
This is a very misleading claim.
No one on LIV's side is calling for OWGR points for ALL golfers in the field at each LIV tournament — they're calling for OWGR points awarded to the top 50% of finishers.
Would be very similar to a cut in practice.
— LIV Golf Nation (@LIVGolfNation) December 4, 2023
OWGR hypocrisy at its finest. I thought no cut events with limited fields couldn't be awarded OWGR points because……..
Oh wait that's only if it's a LIV event, OWGR is such a joke.
— Golf Professor (@KevinBl64896899) December 4, 2023
OWGR points are important for players to qualify for golf’s four major tournaments. But currently, LIV Golf events do not count toward OWGR points.
[ESPN]
