He British Open champion and LIV Golf (Arab Super League) player, Aussie Cameron Smithsaid this Thursday in the framework of Saudi International of the Asian Tour that the world ranking system is becoming “obsolete” as a result of events in the Saudi-backed series not being awarded points.
The 29-year-old won his first major at St Andrews in July and was also awarded Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, The Players and PGA of Australia to rise to world number two, before becoming the highest-ranked player to cross the lucrative circuit run by his compatriot and ‘sporting father’ of most Australian golfers, Greg Norman.
Smith is now number four in the OGWR, but other top players who have moved to LIV Golf have fallen in the rankings. Former world number one Dustin Johnsonn, the 2022 LIV and 2020 Masters singles champion, dropped to 46th place, while the 2020 US Open winner, Bryson DeChambeaubarely made the top 100. The American fell to 96th place.
LIV Golf submitted an application to the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) board in July, but no decision has yet been announced regarding the counting of Super League tournaments.
“It really hurt,” Smith said. “I feel like I’m very close to No. 1, and that’s really something I want to highlight. I think when you go into a tournament, you know who you have to beat, whether there’s a world ranking or not . So Generally , there are seven or eight players on the field that you know are going to cause a lot of trouble. The longer it goes on, I think those ratings are going to get older. Do we need them? That’s great, but you know who what you have to beat when you go out on the golf course,” added Smith.
Critics say LIV Golf, funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is a blatant “sports facelift” by a country trying to improve its reputation tarnished by a history of human rights abuses.
Smith leads a group of famous LIV golfers at the Saudi International, the opening tournament of the Asian Tour season, which also includes notables such as DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia.
Source: La Verdad
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