Tiger Woods made mockery of LIV Golf issue which left Greg Norman furious

It all stems from LIV Golf being disappointed by a drop in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), but Tiger Woods was able to make the most of the system at the end of the 2023 campaign.

Woods’ season saw him play in just three tournaments, finishing just two, after being forced to withdraw from last year’s Masters due to ankle problems. That injury sidelined him for more than seven months, before he was finally able to return to action at the Hero World Challenge last November.

His long stint away from the PGA Tour dropped him to a career low in the world rankings, when he arrived in the Bahamas late last year, outside the world’s top 1,200 golfers. .’

And when he returned, it wasn’t surprising that his game still had some rust, as he went on to finish 18th out of 20 at Hero, competing against some of the most prolific players. best degree on the planet. Despite his poor performance, Woods still managed to make a huge jump up the world rankings.

Due to the limited range of ranking points offered at PGA Tour events, Woods’ 18th-place finish moved him up a remarkable 430 places on the list, entering the top 900. His jump came in pivotal moment for OWGR, with LIV Golf still awaiting recognition by the rating system.

Although their fields contain some of the best players on the planet, the breakaway league is unable to provide world ranking points to its opponents, which leaves the likes of Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau behind. downgrade. Woods’ remarkable rise comes just over a month after LIV’s latest OWGR application was denied.

LIV bosses were left infuriated by the decision, and hit back with a scathing statement slamming the legitimacy of the rankings. “OWGR’s sole objective is to rank the best players across the globe. Today’s communication makes clear that it can no longer deliver on that objective,” a statement read last October.

“Professional golf is now without a true or global scoring and ranking system. There is no benefit for fans or players from the lack of trust or clarity as long as the best player performances are not recognised.” Just this week, LIV CEO Greg Norman reignited his feud with OWGR.

Taking to social media, Norman highlighted the fact that LIV had just five players inside the top-50 in the world, with three being recent signings in Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Adrian Meronk. Once again slamming the ranking list, Norman labelled the ongoing LIV snub ‘laughable’ during his outburst.