The decision to restart the Official World Golf Ranking ahead of the PGA Tour’s return to competition action at next week’s Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas has been branded as ‘unfair’ by many European Tour players, most of whom will be unable to earn any ranking points until the beginning of August at the earliest.
With the PGA Tour starting back on June 11, and the European Tour not due to return to action until the Betfred British Masters at the end of July, several players took to social media to express there dismay at players competing in the US effectively being given a head start of up to six tournaments.
Spain’s Mike Lorenzo Vera wrote on Twitter, “What an unfair decision! Well done @OWGRltd! Thanks alot”, while Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, who is currently 26th in the world ranking, added: “Either all Tours are playing for points or none!”
Matt Fitzpatrick (pictured above), who will be earning points next week as he will be competing on the PGA Tour, called the decision to restart the rankings ‘very unfair’, and said he couldn’t understand the reasoning behind it. He is currently 25th in the OWGR.
European Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley is also understood to have been against the decision to restart the ranking, although he has ensured that points for the European team’s Ryder Cup World Points List will not resume until play recommences on the European Tour.
However, the organisers of the Official World Golf Ranking insist there is a formula in place to ensure it is not unfair. A statement issued by the the OWGR said: “The averaging formula used in the calculation of the ranking will help to mitigate any resulting impact, be it positive or negative to a player’s ranking. The safeguards in the OWGR system, alongside the continued recognition of the frozen ranking, will help players globally, and the Board will continue to monitor developments in these difficult times.”
The OWGR was suspended in mid-March, when men’s professional golf was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All qualifying criteria for the season’s three remaining Majors, WGC events and other ranking tournaments, will be based on the rankings from that time.