“It's pretty ridiculous”: Cam Smith responds to LIV Golf not getting OWGR accreditation

Count Cam Smith among those unhappy with the recent OWGR ruling against LIV Golf. The rebel tour had been trying to get the world ranking system to recognize their events and grant points based on performance, but they were denied.

An unhappy Smith said via Golf Magic:

"We've got some guys out here who are playing some of the best golf in the world and they're outside the top 100, 200 in the world. It's pretty ridiculous."

Smith is one of those golfers. The Australian was ranked as high as number three in the entire world before he defected. He has previously expressed a desire for points to be added. He was potentially in line to become the world's top-ranked golfer, but he can't get points now.

He said several months ago:

"For sure, it hurts. I was really close to getting to number one, and that was definitely something I wanted to tick off."

He continued:

"When you rock up at a tournament, you know who you have to beat, whether there is a world ranking or not. There are generally seven or eight guys that are in that field that you know are going to put up a pretty good fight."

Cam Smith was also upset that he called the OWGR system obsolete. For now, that obsolete ranking is the only thing in existence. He conceded that it would be nice to have points, but it's not something he sees as totally necessary to his experience of the PGA Tour.

---

LIV Golfers like Cam Smith upset with OWGR

Apart from Cam Smith, other LIV golfers are unhappy as well. A majority of LIV players would be ranked fairly well. Brooks Koepka is in the top 20 right now, and he'd be much higher if those LIV points were considered. He can only slip further down until a major, which gives him a chance to move back up.

Cam Smith and Brooks Koepka on the course

The same is true for Patrick Reed (62), Joaquin Niemann (64), Mito Pereira (79), and Abraham Ancer (92), who are the only others in the top 100. They could be higher, too.

Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau are outside that range, but they would potentially be within it if the points counted. Even the OWGR president Peter Dawson conceded that the points system was unfortunately missing those two. However, he also added that it might diminish the ranking if the rigor was reduced to include them.

LIV Golf just doesn't qualify for the points system. One of the main drawbacks to their quest is the fact that there's hardly a barrier to entry to LIV Golf. The PGA Tour has barriers and not everyone can play on it. As a result, they get points.

That, and the format, along with the shorter length of the tournaments are why it's very difficult for OWGR to award points to LIV. They'd have to change a lot, but there is potential for the future to see LIV get some points if they can acquiesce.