OWGR Absurdity File, Vol. 4901

Doug Ferguson shares another reason why the Official World Golf Ranking is a farce (my view, not his).

The Chevron World Challenge that Tiger Woods hosts in December no longer will be just an anchor of the silly season. Starting in 2009, it will be part of the Official World Golf Ranking.

According to an official involved in the discussions, the world ranking board has approved Woods’ request that world ranking points be awarded at the Chevron World Challenge after this year. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because it has not been announced.

And...

The ranking board approved the request with one stipulation. To receive ranking points, it must take 16 players off the world ranking with no exemptions. For a larger field, the exemptions must go to players among the top 50 in the world.

The official said Chevron plans to have an 18-man field in 2009 with two exemptions.

It's amazing how folks bellow on about the criminal nature of the Top 30 FedEx Cup finishers getting in the Masters, yet silly rich-get-rich pyramid scheme moves like this undermine the World Ranking and make exemptions based on the OWGR just as flimsy.

Due to a coincidence in timing, Ferguson paired this item with news that the R&A will be exempting the Top 30 FedEx Cup finishers, up from the Top 20.