Tiger Woods may not have featured on the PGA Tour for some time, but following his return at the season-ending Hero World Challenge, he made a huge jump in the world rankings.
LIV Golf was disappointed by their exclusion from the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), but Tiger Woods managed to capitalize on the system by the end of the 2023 season.
Woods only participated in three events during the season, finishing just two of them, following his withdrawal from the Masters the previous year due to an ankle injury. This injury forced him to take a break from the sport for more than seven months, until he made his comeback at the Hero World Challenge in November.
After his extended absence from the PGA Tour, Woods found himself at a career-low in the world rankings, entering the Bahamas tournament at the end of the year ranked outside the top 1,200 golfers globally.
Despite his lackluster performance, Woods managed to climb an impressive 430 spots in the world rankings after finishing 18th at the Hero tournament. This significant jump came at a crucial time for the OWGR, especially with the ongoing debate about recognizing LIV Golf in the ranking system.
The breakaway league’s inability to offer ranking points has caused top players like Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau to slide down the rankings. Woods’ rise in the rankings was a much-needed boost after LIV’s recent application to be included in the OWGR was turned down.
LIV executives were left fuming by the decision and responded strongly, criticizing the credibility of the rankings. “OWGR’s main goal is to rank the top players worldwide. However, the recent announcement indicates that it is failing to achieve that goal,” a statement released in October stated.
“Professional golf currently lacks a reliable and global scoring and ranking system. This lack of transparency and trust does not benefit fans or players if the top player performances are not properly acknowledged.” Just recently, LIV CEO Greg Norman reignited his dispute with OWGR.
Norman took to social media to point out that LIV only had five players in the top-50 in the world, with three of them being recent additions like Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, and Adrian Meronk. Once again criticizing the ranking system, Norman described the continued snub of LIV as ‘ridiculous’ during his online rant.
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