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Earlier this week OWGR, the body which operates the world golf rankings, announced changes which are due to come into effect in the coming days.
Alterations have been made in order to “remove bias” from the system, with changes around how the strength of each event’s field is calculated.
However, tour stars have reacted with shock at the first field ratings to be calculated under the new system.
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While the winner of the FedEx St Jude Championship on the PGA Tour will get 68.5 points, the player winning the DP World Tour’s ISPS Handa World Invitational will get just eight.
LIV Golf’s Laurie Canter was among those to highlight the huge difference between the two numbers.
Check out some of the reactions…
PGA Tour v DP World Tour points allocation for the week under new world ranking system coming into play. https://t.co/O2UFZ2vZLF pic.twitter.com/u6zOyryiBp
— Laurie Canter (@LaurieCanter) August 9, 2022
The new OWGR. Good luck to DPWT players trying to get into the top-50 if they support their home tour. https://t.co/priDxHa3YK
— Tony Johnstone (@TonyJohnstone56) August 9, 2022
Its an absolute piss take and the DPWORLD Board Members who backed this load of shit know it as well….. Its just one piss take after another Tony…. Just line us up and feed us shit like mushrooms….. Ridiculous stuff, well done guys?????⛳?♂️???
— Scott Hend (@hendygolf) August 9, 2022
Literally makes all the tours around the world feeder tours Ovies. How they could vote for this and get it passed I have no idea.
— Lee Westwood (@WestwoodLee) August 9, 2022
????♂️
— Ross Fisher (@RossFisher) August 9, 2022
Nice ????
— Romain Langasque (@Lancaisse) August 9, 2022
Unless you win a few Rolex events there is no chance. At least 10 guys will get PGA tour cards every year to try and make a few points over there. Going to be interesting to see what effect this will have over the next 12months.Smaller tours like ST and Aus going to get no points
— Oliver Bekker (@olliebekkergolf) August 9, 2022
Time to #playbetter ? https://t.co/1qCNDGQTux
— RICHARD MANSELL (@richardmansel14) August 9, 2022
How many on Liv? https://t.co/GOOq6yPXaS
— Richie Ramsay (@RamsayGolf) August 9, 2022
This is the worst week to pretend to show comparisons though?
I won this year on the LET and got 5 world ranking points for it. The winner of the Womens Scottish Open 2 weeks ago got 62 points. I don’t think either system is right as it is but strength of field is a real thing. https://t.co/QT4WZ7Nrk9— Meghan MacLaren (@meg_maclaren) August 9, 2022
The gulf is exacerbated this week because the FedEx St Jude Championship is part of the FedEx Cup playoffs, attracting a particularly strong field.
But many pros are clearly concerned about the alterations.
OWGR set out the changes in a document published at the weekend.
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“OWGR’s field rating calculation has been modernised so that fields will be evaluated based on the skill level of every player in the field, rather than just those in the field among the current top 200 of the ranking,” the body said.
“With this enhancement, minimum point levels, flagship tournaments and home ratings are no longer needed, removing the bias that can result from their use.
“Additionally, all players making the cut will receive ranking points according to the points breakdown. The other primary components of the OWGR system will remain the same.”
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