11 September 2023 , 18:44
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Former Open champion Cam Smith has labelled the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) irrelevant after the Australian fell out of the world's top-10 for the first time since joining LIV Golf.
Smith was arguably LIV's biggest coup 12 months ago, joining the Saudi-backed league as the second ranked golfer in the world. Since then the Australian has slowly fallen down the rankings, a theme common among LIV Golf stars.
Despite a meteoric rise over the past year, the LIV setup are yet to acquire sanctioning from the OWGR, meaning their 54-hole, no cut tournaments continue to go ahead without world ranking points on offer. In October last year Greg Norman and co looked to combat their world ranking issue by forming a 'strategic alliance ' with the lesser known - but OWGR recognised - MENA Tour.
LIV then opted to co-sanction their events with the MENA Tour in a bid to have ranking points on offer to the 48 players competing.
The attempt was quickly rejected by OWGR bosses, once again leaving the breakaway league ranking point-less. Whilst LIV stars have come to accept their tumbling places in the world rankings, Smith felt the affects late last month after falling out of the top-10 for the first time since his Saudi switch.
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And whilst it is a tough pill to swallow for the former world No. 2, he does believe the ranking format has now lost its relevance with so many of the world's best player on the LIV circuit. "It’s a hard one to let go but I feel like it’s almost become irrelevant, especially for how I’ve played," he told news.com.au.
Cam Smith has enjoyed plenty of success in 2023 (AP)Smith has enjoyed another successful year on the golf course, winning two LIV Golf events to leave him top of the season-long rankings with two events to play. He has also impressed away from the breakaway league too, securing a tied-ninth finish at the PGA Championship, as well as coming fourth in June's US Open.
And without this solid showing at two of golf's biggest events, Smith believes he would be even further down the world ranking pecking order. “Even during the majors. I didn’t win a major this year but I had a fourth and eighth and ninth in there as well, so a pretty solid major season.
“If I didn’t play well in those four events, I think you’d find me way outside where I am at the moment. I don’t think it’s a very accurate reflection of where I’m at the moment, but that’s just the way it is.”