British Open champion and LIV golfer Cameron Smith said the world ranking system was becoming “obsolete” as events in the Saudi-backed series were not awarded points.
The 29-year-old won his first major at St Andrews in July and also claimed world number two at the Players Championship before becoming a top-ranked player on the lucrative circuit.
The Australian is now ranked fourth but the other top players who have turned to LIV have slipped down the rankings.
Former world number one Dustin Johnson, the 2022 LIV individual champion, has dropped to 46th while 2020 US Open winner Bryson DeChambeau barely cracked the top 100, with the American slipping to 96th.
LIV Golf submitted an application to the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) board last July but no decision has been announced.
“Definitely, it hurts,” Smith said Wednesday. “I feel like I was really close to getting to No. 1, and it was definitely something I wanted to tick off.
“I think when you win a tournament, you know who you have to beat, whether it’s world ranking or not. There’s usually seven to eight guys in the field who You know they’re going to put up a good fight.
“However, the longer these things go on, the more obsolete I think these ratings will become. Do we need them? It would be nice, but you know when you go on the golf course you Who has to beat.”
Critics say LIV Golf, which is bankrolled by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, is a blatant “washing of the sport” by a nation seeking to improve its reputation tarnished by a history of human rights abuses. is equivalent to
Smith will headline a packed field of LIV golfers at the Asian Tour’s season-opening Saudi International, which begins on Thursday, with Johnson, DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson set to compete.
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