Viktor Hovland believes that the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) will only become more devalued as LIV Golf events continue to go without ranking points.
Earlier in the week, the Saudi-backed league formerly withdrew their bid to achieve OWGR accreditation following an initial rejection from the governing bodies last October.
The OWGR – which features the four Majors on its board – cited concerns over the league’s lack of cuts, team format and closed-shop invitational model. The lack of ranking points, however, has seen many key players tank down the rankings, jeopardising their future eligibility for the Majors.
Two-time Major champion Dustin Johnson now sits 266th in the world, while Bryson DeChambeau only narrowly remains within the world’s top 200.
Many players, including reigning Masters champion and LIV’s highest-profile off-season recruit Jon Rahm, have criticised the governing bodies, with his Ryder Cup teammate Hovland the latest to take aim at the ranking system.
“Rankings are rankings, they’re not objective truth,” the Norwegian said, speaking ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“They’re created to try to rank people the best they can. Obviously, now when you have a huge chunk of really, really good players who are not getting any ranking points, it definitely devalues that ranking.
“So, at the end of the day, I don’t show up out here to try to improve my World Ranking, I show up because I want to win this tournament and that’s it.”
The defending FedEx Cup champion has struggled for form in 2024
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Hovland ended last season on a high, capturing the FedEx Cup and playing a key role in Europe’s victory in the Ryder Cup. However, the 26-year-old has failed to hit the same heights this season thus far, notching up just one top-20 in his three events of the season.
When asked about the state of his game, he replied: “It’s just the mechanics of the swing. Just haven’t been able to hit the shots that I want to. Obviously, you want to have good results, but when you’re seeing a shot and your swing is not producing those shots, it becomes very tough to compete, especially at this level.
“The results are not the best, but they reflect what you’re doing when things aren’t great. So it’s, not confident with my game, and then you’re just trying to make the most out of it. You’re playing defensive golf instead of aggressive or confident. That’s basically what I just got to get back to.
“If I can stand on the range or on a golf…
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