To be fair, there was nowhere to go but up. The 39-year-old hadn’t earned world-ranking points since a T-42 finish at the 2012 Honda Classic when he was still playing on the PGA Tour.
As golf in the Olympics continues to navigate its way towards relevancy, its latest challenge may be the one that puts it most in line with golf’s major championships.
There isn’t a leader among golf’s most important organising bodies who has been more bluntly critical of LIV Golf than PGA of America chief executive Seth Waugh.
With LIV abandoning its designs for OWGR inclusion and the PGA Tour appearing no closer to an agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia that would reunite all of the game’s top players, it appears that the OWGR system will continue to come under scrutiny. Even among tour players who benefit from the current situation.
Between this and Talor Gooch’s recent comments about the Masters deserving an asterisk, you could start a winery with all the sour grapes being squeezed by LIV golfers as the majors approach.
Some on LIV Golf accepted what can only be estimated as generational wealth. Their omission from the OWGR is not a punishment, but the price of that payday.
Phil Mickelson was back at it on Thursday while in Saudi Arabia, prepping for the latest LIV Golf event in Jeddah. And by back at it, we mean throwing shade at the Official World Golf Ranking for announcing that it will not include events on his tour at least in the short term.
Bryson DeChambeau has urged the organisers of golf’s four major championships to make moneylist moves and create a category for his peers on LIV Golf, in the aftermath of the board of the Official World Golf Rankings denying points to the league.
When news broke that LIV Golf had once again been denied Official World Golf Ranking points and that was enough to bring Pepperell – a steadfast LIV sceptic – out of retirement with this self-deprecating knee-slapper.
LIV Golf’s application to receive Official World Golf Ranking points has been denied, according to reports from the Associated Press and Global Golf Post.
If there’s any consolation, Scheffler’s finish at Oak Hill did allow him to jump Jon Rahm and return to the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking. Although that was news to Scheffler.