How To Win More World Ranking Points For Inconsequential Events Than Losing In A Masters Playoff...And Other OWGR Horror Stories
/You may have heard Jim Nantz mention the Official World Golf Ranking in less than flattering fashion during Saturday's Zurich Classic telecast and I'm guessing the normally diplomatic CBS anchor must have read last week's must see Golf World story by Mike Stachura.
In a nutshell, two Ivy League professors are preparing to show the world how the ranking is fundamentally and illogically biased. The incredibly influential ranking, which determins major championship fields and the 2016 Olympic Games field, is even worse than we thought. But based on some eye-opening quotes from PGA Tour VP Ty Votaw, Camp Ponte Vedra is all ears.
Just two of the hilarious-if-they-weren't-true findings.
* Francesco Molinari won the 2010 WGC-HSBC Champions event and earned 68 points for his victory. The tournament is an otherwise inconsequential, though high-prize-money event held well after the conclusion of the major championships at an undistinguished course in China. The problem: Molinari's point total was worth more than losing the playoff for this year's Masters.
* K.T. Kim is a rising Korean player with an admirable local record in Asian events but a pair of missed cuts and a T-59 in his last three major championships. He earned 32 points when he won the Japan Open in 2010, more than what he would have earned for finishing fourth in the PGA Championship. But he didn't finish fourth, he finished T-59.
And the PGA Tour's position...
The PGA Tour's Ty Votaw, executive vice president of communications and international affairs, says the PGA Tour is looking at the Broadie/Rendleman study. "We feel the insights Dr. Broadie and Dr. Rendleman presented are very interesting and worth further study, and based on the results of the peer review of the professors' work, we will share that paper with the OWGR Technical Committee for analysis," he wrote in an email to Golf World.