Tiger Woods jumped up 430 places in the Official World Golf Rankings after his PGA Tour return at the Hero World Challenge.
Tiger Woods experienced a significant surge in the Official World Golf Rankings following his completion of a full 72 holes of competitive golf after a seven-month hiatus.
The 47-year-old golfer secured the 18th position in a field of 20 players at his own PGA Tour event in the Bahamas over the weekend.
Previously, Woods had reached an all-time career-low ranking of 1,328th. However, his remarkable performance in Albany propelled him up the rankings by an impressive 430 spots.
It is worth noting that all participants in the Hero World Challenge received invitations from the 15-time major champion himself.
Scottie Scheffler emerged as the victor, securing his first victory since the 2023 Players tournament.
Following Woods’ win, a fresh debate arose regarding the validity of the OWGR. Critics argued that the event was considered an exhibition event in golf’s ‘silly season’, questioning the fairness of the world ranking points awarded. For instance, Joaquin Niemann, who triumphed at the Australian Open, received only 14.8 points, while Dean Burmester, another player from LIV Golf, earned just 12.5 points for winning the DP World Tour’s co-sanctioned South Africa Open.
Furthermore, it was highlighted that Will Zalatoris, who, like Tiger, made his competitive return after a back injury at the 47th Masters, earned more points than Alex Fitzpatrick, despite Fitzpatrick finishing T-8 at the Australian Open while Zalatoris finished last in Woods’ event.
Fitzpatrick had to make a cut and shots rounds of 68-66-66-74 for 1.8 ranking points.
A rusty Zalatoris posted rounds of 81-68-79-71 for 2.1 ranking points.
“Just an example of the absurdity of the system,” one LIV fan wrote on X.
Another fan questioned: “If you want to move on from the OWGR why do you keep demanding points?”
LIV Golf were officially denied their bid for OWGR accreditation on 10 October.
The governing body turned down the rival league’s application over concerns about the circuit’s format.
OWGR chairman Peter Dawson said the 54-hole, no-cut events for 48 players was an issue, along with limited access for players to join the venture.
“Simply put, the board committee does not believe it is equitable to thousands of players who strive every day to get starts in OWGR eligible tournaments to have a tour operate in this mostly closed fashion,” Dawson wrote in his letter to LIV’s Greg Norman and their chief operating officer Gary Davidson.
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