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Former tour pro says it’s time to ‘get rid’ of Official World Golf Rankings

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One of the biggest battles that LIV Golf has faced is getting official world ranking points for its players.

Whether shotgun starts, 54-hole events or whatever the reason, players such as Dustin Johnson have tumbled down the OWGR list despite winning in Boston and finishing runner-up at Bedminster and Chicago, in fields containing previous major winners Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau and Cam Smith amongst others.

The former world number one is now ranked 30 and falling, despite finishing 24th at the U.S Open and tied-sixth at the 150th British Open at St. Andrews, the only ‘official’ events he has taken part in since starting his spell with the Greg Norman-led tour.

It may not be this that prompted Mike Clayton to call for the system to be scrapped, but the Aussie ex-pro and now broadcaster, wasn’t holding back with his thoughts on what he sees as a pointless and biased system of determining the ‘best’.

Over the past few months, more PGA Tour players offered the thought that ranking points should be awarded to the rebel tour, as long as they satisfy the ‘criteria’.

Both Hideki Matsuyama and Viktor Hovland have recently back the opinion of inclusivity with caveats, with the Norwegian saying, “I don’t think it’s right to give them an exemption to just get points overnight. They obviously have to follow the process, whatever the process might be.”

Of course, not giving points to such stars affects their qualification for the majors, and Clayton has a firmer opinion, telling Golf Monthly:

“Get rid of them. They matter in tennis because they determine who plays who but are completely irrelevant in golf. It wouldn’t be so hard to come up with a better criteria for selecting Major fields.”

He continued, “I’m playing Devil’s Advocate a bit but the rankings began in 1986 – I think that’s right – as a marketing exercise/venture between IMG and Sony. The money list controls the vast majority of players’ careers and lives – not the ranking. Obviously top 50 is important for Majors, but it’d be easy to come up with other criteria for picking Major fields.”

If not the official list, what does Clayton believe the qualifying aspects should be?

“Top 40 PGA Tour, top 20 DP World Tour, top five to 10 LIV, top two Japan. Winners of big tournaments – take your pick. Canadian Open, Australian, British PGA, Irish Open, Memorial, Players… winners past 10 years.

Masters can do what they want.”

There can’t be much doubt that Rory McIlroy is the deserved current world number one.

After defending his RBC Candian Open, he finished tied-fifth at the U.S Open and won the Tour Championship from six shots behind the then-number one, Scottie Scheffler.

This ‘season’, the Irishman’s form figures are T2/4/T4 before again winning back-to-back, this time at the CJ Cup at Congaree, when with every possibility, he could have been chasing two, three or four in-a-row, having had chances at all of his most recent tournaments.

Best of the lot he may be, but how far ahead of DJ et al would he be if they awarded ranking points all round?

Mike Clayton suggests not worrying about it and getting the best of all of them together.

It’s hard to argue.

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19th Hole

“Is it a Titleist?” – Jerry Seinfeld shares never-before-heard details of iconic scene

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On Thursday, legendary comedian Jerry Seinfeld joined the Rich Eisen Show and shared an awesome story from a “Seinfeld” episode titled “The Marine Biologist.”

In the episode, a golf ball goes into the blow hole of a whale. According to Seinfeld, that was never in the episode’s script.

Seinfeld recalls saying the night before the filming of the episode, “What if what puts the whale in distress is Kramer’s golf ball?”

“He’s hitting golf balls at the beach. George is at the beach with a girl, we haven’t connected them!”

“We write that speech the night before at two o’clock in the morning…The sea was angry that day my friend.”

 

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A post shared by Rich Eisen (@richeisen)


Kramer finishes the iconic scene by asking “Is it a Titleist?” Seinfeld told Eisen the show sought Titleist’s permission to mention its name, saying the ball had to be a Titleist. Fortunately for lovers of the iconic show, the company agreed.

If (somehow) you’re unfamiliar with the scene, check it out below.

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Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game ‘on a much more global basis’

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While speaking with Bloomberg, golf legend Phil Mickelson acknowledged that he is inching close towards retirement.

“I’m 53 now,” Phil said, “and my career, you know, it’s — if I’m being truthful, it’s on — it’s — it’s — I’m a — it’s towards its end.”

Mickelson added that one of his focuses now is helping other young players.

“Now, I would like to help others find the same enjoyment and fulfillment that the game has provided me. I’d like them to experience that as well.”

The six-time major champion credited LIV with reaching new markets in golf to help it grow.

“I think that’s exciting for everyone involved in the game because we are going to reach markets that we didn’t reach before. I think it’s going to inspire more golf courses, inspire more manufacturers selling clubs and equipment, but also inspiring young kids to try to play golf professionally. I just see that the game of golf is going to grow on a much more global basis because of the excitement and the presence that LIV Golf has.”

Mickelson is playing at this week’s LIV Singapore and shot a first round 72 (+1).

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Tiger explains why golf has ‘negative connotations’ for daughter Sam

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While Tiger Woods’ son, Charlie, has certainly inherited his father’s love for golf, his daughter, Sam, has not.

On Wednesday, Tiger made an appearance on The Today Show with Carson Daly and explained his daughter’s relationship with golf.

“Golf has negative connotations for her. When she was growing up, golf took daddy away from her. I had to pack, I had to leave, and I was gone for weeks. So, there were negative connotations to it.

“We developed our own relationship and our own rapport outside of golf. We do things that doesn’t involve golf. Meanwhile, my son and I, everything we do is golf related.”

The nine-minute interview touches on plenty of other subjects, such as Tiger’s relationship with his late father, Earl.

It’s arguably the most open we’ve seen the 15-time major champion in an interview and is most definitely worth watching.

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