DP World Tour pro blasts OWGR board over ‘nonsense’ decision

DP World Tour pro Romain Langasque thinks the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) decision to award his circuit’s season-ending finale with fewer points than a PGA Tour Fall event makes “no sense.”

World No.129 Langasque is frustrated that the PGA Tour’s RSM Classic being played simultaneously in Georgia has been awarded up to 40% more ranking points than this week’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

The Frenchman is part of the 50-strong field made up of the leading performers on the Race to Dubai standings, including three of the world’s top four in Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland.

Meanwhile, Open champion Brian Harman and Cameron Young are the only players inside the world’s top 20 competing in the 156-player field at the RSM Classic on Sea Island, which is the final event in the PGA Tour season.

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But with ranking points now determined by a tournament’s “field rating”, the tournament at Jumeirah Golf Estates has a rating of 153.77 with the champion set to gain 27.71 points, while the PGA Tour event has a field rating is 225.26, with winner earning 38.74 points.

“Yes but at the RSM there is a full field … so harder to win …  bla-bla-bla,” Langasque wrote on X reacting to the news, with three clown emojis. “#nosence.”

Langasque’s DP World Tour compatriot Mike Lorenzo-Vera, who is not in either field this week, seemingly agreed, simply replying “OWGR,” followed by three clown emojis.

Field rating calculations dictate that the skill required to win a tournament is directly impacted by the size of field, so that is heavily reflected in the points available for each event.

Yes but at the RSM there is a full field … so harder to win … 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️
bla-bla-bla 🤡🤡🤡 #nosence https://t.co/ApyLhIx6dE

— Romain Langasque (@Lancaisse) November 14, 2023

And that means that beating 155 players to win the PGA Tour event this week is rewarded with 11 more points than winning the showpiece finale on the DP World Tour.

The new OWGR system, which was implemented in August last year, was backed as a “much fairer system” by this year’s Race to Dubai winner McIlroy.

But his Ryder Cup teammate Rahm took umbrage with the formula before winning last year’s DP World Tour Championship in 2022, describing the system as “laughable.”

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“I understand what they are trying to do with the depth of field but having the best players in the world automatically makes the tournament better,” the Masters champion said before last year’s event. 

“I don’t care what their system says. I think they have made a mistake. I think some aspects of it might be beneficial but I think they have devalued the value of the better players. 

“The 30 best players of the year should not be punished because it’s a smaller field. Depth of field doesn’t mean a better tournament.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.