Miami (AFP) – World number four Viktor Hovland said on Wednesday that the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) is devalued without points for top players competing in the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League.
The 26-year-old Norwegian, last year’s PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoff champion, spoke on the eve of the opening round of the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando.
Hovland was asked about LIV’s decision to drop its push for OWGR points for its 54-hole events, one that has prompted several top players from both tours to suggest changes are needed in ranking criteria due to the number of top players who have jumped to LIV.
“Rankings are rankings. They’re not objective truth,” Hovland said. “They’re created to try to rank people the best they can. Now when you have a huge chunk of really good players that are not getting any ranking points, it definitely devalues that ranking.”
While rankings are used to determine invitations and exemptions into major tournaments, Hovland notes he’s not teeing off every week chasing a certain number. “At the end of the day, I don’t show up out here to try to improve my world ranking,” Hovland said. “I show up because I want to win this tournament and that’s it.”
Hovland has seen two of his 2023 Ryder Cup teammates — Jon Rahm of Spain, the reigning Masters champion, and England’s Tyrrell Hatton — jump to LIV Golf since last year’s victory over the United States in Rome.
“I certainly miss a lot of those guys that we had some great memories from Whistling Straits and in Rome,” Hovland said. “But wish them the best and hopefully I’ll get to see them soon.”
Concern about the rankings comes as talks continue regarding a merger between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund — the financial backers of LIV. A framework agreement was announced last June but final details of a deal have not been agreed upon more than two months after the original deadline to come to terms.
© 2024 AFP
