Speaking to Nick Dougherty, European Tour CEO, Keith Pelley, covered an array of topics, with the Canadian clarifying the decision to change the Official World Golf Ranking System.
Many players have slammed the new system, including the likes of Jon Rahm, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, with a strength of field system being replaced with a system that “incorporates modern statistical techniques, which allows players and eligible tournaments to be more accurately evaluated relative to each other.”
However, the system has come under fire, specifically, for this week’s DP World Tour Championship. In Dubai, multiple players inside the World’s top 25 feature, but the winner will only get around 21.8 points, last year it was around 46. Across the pond at the RSM Classic, no players in the World’s top 25 are playing, but the winner will get 37 points, some 15 points more.
Jon Rahm was awarded DP World Tour Honorary Life Membership by Pelley on Wednesday
(Image credit: Getty Images)
At the beginning of the week, 2019 Race to Dubai winner, Rahm, called the OWGR “laughable”. This came while sat beside DP World Tour chief and one of eight OWGR committee members, Pelley.
Now, speaking at the season-ending tournament at the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, Pelley has explained that: “I think there was a long study with four independent research universities that did the study on the OWGR and they came to the conclusion, all four of them did, that the rankings didn’t reflect the actual performance of the players worldwide.”
He added that “as a result, we implemented a new system but, like with any new system, in regardless of what aspect of business you’re in, you evaluate, you modify, you tweak and, at the next board meeting, we’ll have those conversations.”
As has been the case throughout 2022, there have been disagreements on an array of topics. Whether it is the rise of LIV Golf, or the OWGR situation, Pelley welcomes the players’ input, with the 58-year-old stating: “Obviously, two of our top players – Rory (McIlroy) and Jon (Rahm) – had a difference of opinions on the OWGR Rankings this week and that’s what makes our game so wonderful, for the last 50 years, that we have freedom of speech from our top players.
“I talked to both Rory and Jon and, although they have different opinions, we’ll bring both those opinions to the board of the OWGR In our next meeting.”
Brian Harman is the lowest world ranked player at the RSM Classic at 26th. At the DP World Tour…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golf Monthly RSS Feed…