Open champion Cameron Smith claims golf's world rankings are becoming "obsolete" due to there being no points awarded for LIV Golf tournaments.
The Australian spoke out ahead of this week's Saudi International, an Asian Tour event that was getting under way on Thursday, saying it hurt him that his prospects of getting to number one had been dealt a blow.
Smith is among a host of major winners and star names who have defected from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour to the controversial LIV Golf tour, a lucrative Saudi-backed series that critics claim was launched in an effort to 'sportswash' the Middle East country's reputation.
For 29-year-old Smith, who won the Chicago leg of the LIV series last September, the limitations of where he can collect ranking points is a setback. He has been as high as number two but is now fourth on the rankings list, which is led by Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy has been as vociferous an opponent of LIV Golf as any player and is not playing this week in Saudi Arabia, where a host of top names, many of them from LIV Golf, are in the field and ranking points are available.
Smith said of the rankings situation: "I've tried to take it not that badly. When you rock up to a tournament, you know who you have to beat, whether there's a world ranking or not. There's generally seven or eight guys that are in that field that you know are going to put up a pretty good fight.
"For sure it hurts. I feel as though I was really close to getting to number one, and that was definitely something I wanted to tick off, but the longer that this stuff goes on, I think the more obsolete those rankings become.
"That's just the long and short of it, I think. Do we need them? It would be nice, but like I said, you know who you've got to beat when you get on the golf course."
LIV Golf is hoping it will be able to award ranking points in future.
Smith said he had enjoyed parading the Open Championship's Claret Jug while at home during the off-season.
"I took it back down to Australia, took it to my home club," he said. "They actually had a trophy night, kind of the day that I got back down there, so I took it to the trophy night.
"It was a little bit hectic. It's a pretty cool trophy. I'd describe it as like seeing a ghost, I think, for the most part, the look that it brings to their face and the feeling that it gives them is pretty special.
"I've taken it everywhere with me. Just about had every liquid you can put in there I've tried to put in it. But it's been awesome. It's been fun over Christmas; the family drinking out of it was something I'll never forget."
William Knibbs wins Constant Spring Golf Classic by five strokes in trying conditions
William Knibbs battled the weather and a tough field to emerge champion of the two-day Constant Spring Golf Classic that concluded on Sunday at the Constant Spring Golf Club in Kingston.
Knibbs had a two-day score of 152 to end up five shots ahead of Zandre Roye after both had scored 78s on Saturday’s opening day.
"It felt great to win today (Sunday). I was tied for the lead coming into today. (I) didn't get off to a hot start, doubled the first hole. (The) first swing went out of bounds so after the first hole today (Sunday) I gave myself a three-shot deficit to overcome, which at times extended to a four-shot deficit between me and Zandre (Roye) but I was able to hold it down towards the end. I played really well on the back-nine. That helped me to narrow the gap," Knibbs said afterwards.
Dr. Mark Newnhan with scores of 83 and 79 (162) was the third spot edging last year's winner Sean Morris who scored 164 after posting 89 and 75 over the two rounds.
Jodi Munn-Barrow was the only woman in the field and gave a good account of herself with scores of 77 and 76 for a combined total of 153.
The top performers in the various categories were:
Men & Men Senior 7-12 - Bruce Levy 159 (77, 82), Bruce Lopez 173 (88, 85) and Christopher Carvalho 174 (88, 86).
The Men and Men Senior 13-24 category went to Mitchell Watson - 185 with scores of 86 and 99.
Mike Gleichman 159 won the Men Super Senior 0-12 section over Metry Seaga 164. Ronald Ross 166 copped third place.
Linval Freeman 194, George Wright 197 and Paul Chai Chong 199 were the top three in the Men Super Senior 13 -24.
The Masters category went to Vivian Monteith who posted 183 over the two rounds.
The only junior in the field was Jerone Thomas who competed in the Boys Under 18 category. He posted 184 for his two rounds.
Lee breaks through with victory after four-way playoff at LIV Golf Tucson
New Zealand's Danny Lee won a dramatic four-way playoff at the LIV Golf Tucson as Sergio Garcia's Fireballs GC took out the team event by four strokes on Sunday.
The 32-year-old South Korea-born Lee, who turned professional in 2009 but only won once on the PGA Tour, held his nerve in the playoff to edge out Carlos Ortiz, Louis Oosthuizen and Brendan Steele.
Lee, in his second LIV Golf event, claimed victory in style in the third playoff hole with a putt from off the green on the 18th hole.
"The individual victory means a lot," Lee said. "I haven't won since 2015. I just felt like winning is just not my thing but today just changed that. It’s good to see I’m capable of playing some good golf."
Lee had spurned the chance to clinch victory a hole earlier when he missed a six-foot birdie putt after a brilliant approach.
The New Zealander was part of Kevin Na's Iron Heads GC, who finished third in the team rankings at 19 under, with Garcia's Fireballs winning at 25 under. Dustin Johnson's 4Aces were second at 21 under.
"I wasn’t even looking at the individual score all day," Lee added. "I was only asking about 'how is our team doing?'. That's the reason why Kevin [Na] called and that’s the reason I’m over here."
Oosthuizen had looked the favourite on the players' leaderboard down the bank nine but dropped shots, only to produce an incredible birdie on the final hole to force his way into the playoff.
Steele stayed in the hunt with a fine par save on the 16th after his approach slid off the green and into the rough. Ortiz surged into contention with a final day six-under round.
Marc Leishman came into the final round leading by two strokes, but posted a six-over 77 to tumble down the leaderboard into a tie for 13th.
Taylor Moore swoops to take the Valspar Championship as Spieth, Schenk falter late
Taylor Moore is now a winner on the PGA Tour after shooting a terrific four-under 67 on Sunday to finish atop the Valspar Championship leaderboard.
Moore, 29, is in his second full season on the tour. After four top-10s last time around, and three consecutive top-15 finishes at the recent Farmers Insurance Open, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Phoenix Open, he now has his first victory.
However, he needed some help from the final pairing, as co-leaders Jordan Spieth and Adam Schenk both failed to hold on down the stretch.
Moore's 67 was tied for the second-best score of the day, carding birdies on the 12th, 15th and 16th to pull into a tie for the lead on 10 under when he finished his round.
As he stayed warm on the practice range, Spieth found the water and bogeyed the 16th to fall one behind, but he gave himself a birdie putt on the last hole to potentially force a playoff.
Meanwhile, Schenk was tied for the lead on 18, but a poor drive landed right at the base of a tree, meaning the righty had to scramble it back into the fairway left-handed.
Spieth had the first putt to try and join Moore at 10 under but raced it past, subsequently missing the comebacker to drop down to a tie for third.
Schenk went up next for par to earn a spot in a two-man playoff, but his putt cannoned into the lip of the hole and stayed out.
England's Tommy Fleetwood finished tied with Spieth in third at eight under, and there was a two-stroke gap back to Wyndham Clark alone in fifth at six under.
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