19th Hole

Former tour pro says it’s time to ‘get rid’ of Official World Golf Rankings

Published

4 years ago

Oct 27, 2022

Jason Daniels

One of the biggest battles that LIV Golf has faced is getting official world ranking points for its players.

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Whether shotgun starts, 54-hole events or whatever the reason, players such as Dustin Johnson have tumbled down the OWGR list despite winning in Boston and finishing runner-up at Bedminster and Chicago, in fields containing previous major winners Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau and Cam Smith amongst others.

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The former world number one is now ranked 30 and falling, despite finishing 24th at the U.S Open and tied-sixth at the 150th British Open at St. Andrews, the only ‘official’ events he has taken part in since starting his spell with the Greg Norman-led tour.

It may not be this that prompted Mike Clayton to call for the system to be scrapped, but the Aussie ex-pro and now broadcaster, wasn’t holding back with his thoughts on what he sees as a pointless and biased system of determining the ‘best’.

Over the past few months, more PGA Tour players offered the thought that ranking points should be awarded to the rebel tour, as long as they satisfy the ‘criteria’.

Both Hideki Matsuyama and Viktor Hovland have recently back the opinion of inclusivity with caveats, with the Norwegian saying, “I don’t think it’s right to give them an exemption to just get points overnight. They obviously have to follow the process, whatever the process might be.”

Of course, not giving points to such stars affects their qualification for the majors, and Clayton has a firmer opinion, telling Golf Monthly:

“Get rid of them. They matter in tennis because they determine who plays who but are completely irrelevant in golf. It wouldn’t be so hard to come up with a better criteria for selecting Major fields.”

He continued, “I’m playing Devil’s Advocate a bit but the rankings began in 1986 – I think that’s right – as a marketing exercise/venture between IMG and Sony. The money list controls the vast majority of players’ careers and lives – not the ranking. Obviously top 50 is important for Majors, but it’d be easy to come up with other criteria for picking Major fields.”

If not the official list, what does Clayton believe the qualifying aspects should be?

“Top 40 PGA Tour, top 20 DP World Tour, top five to 10 LIV, top two Japan. Winners of big tournaments – take your pick. Canadian Open, Australian, British PGA, Irish Open, Memorial, Players… winners past 10 years.

Masters can do what they want.”

There can’t be much doubt that Rory McIlroy is the deserved current world number one.

After defending his RBC Candian Open, he finished tied-fifth at the U.S Open and won the Tour Championship from six shots behind the then-number one, Scottie Scheffler.

This ‘season’, the Irishman’s form figures are T2/4/T4 before again winning back-to-back, this time at the CJ Cup at Congaree, when with every possibility, he could have been chasing two, three or four in-a-row, having had chances at all of his most recent tournaments.

Best of the lot he may be, but how far ahead of DJ et al would he be if they awarded ranking points all round?

Mike Clayton suggests not worrying about it and getting the best of all of them together.

It’s hard to argue.

How much each player won at the 2026 Masters

Published

1 month ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Rory McIlroy made it two wins in as many years at Augusta National, seeing off the challengers on a dramatic Sunday to slip on the green jacket once again. The victory earned Rory a whopping payday of $4.5 million, with Scottie Scheffler his closest challenger earning $2.43 million for his sole runner-up finish.

With a total prize purse of $22.5 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Masters tournament.

For players that did not make the cut, they still earned $25k for their efforts at the year’s opening major.

1: Rory McIlroy, $4.5 million
2: Scottie Scheffler, $2.43 million
T3: Tyrrell Hatton, $1.08 million
T3: Russell Henley, $1.08 million
T3: Justin Rose, $1.08 million
T3: Cameron Young, $1.08 million
T7: Collin Morikawa, $725,625
T7: Sam Burns, $725,625
T9: Xander Schauffele, $630,00
T9: Max Homa, $630,00
11: Jake Knapp, $562,500
T12: Jordan Spieth, $427,500
T12: Brooks Koepka, $427,500
T12: Hideki Matsuyama, $427,500
T12: Patrick Reed, $427,500
T12: Patrick Cantlay, $427,500
T12: Jason Day, $427,500
T18: Viktor Hovland, $315,000
T18: Maverick McNealy, $315,000
T18: Matt Fitzpatrick, $315,000
T21: Keegan Bradley, $252,000
T21: Ludvig Aberg, $252,000
T21: Wyndham Clark, $252,000
T24: Matt McCarty, $182,083
T24: Adam Scott, $182,083
T24: Sam Stevens, $182,083
T24: Chris Gotterup, $182,083
T24: Michael Brennan, $182,083
T24: Brian Campbell, $182,083
T30: Alex Noren, $146,250
T30: Harris English, $146,250
T30: Shane Lowry, $146,250
T33: Gary Woodland, $121,500
T33: Dustin Johnson, $121,500
T33: Brian Harman, $121,500
T33: Tommy Fleetwood, $121,500
T33: Ben Griffin, $121,500
T38: Jon Rahm, $105,750
T38: Ryan Gerard, $101,250
T38: Haotong Li, $96,750
T41: Justin Thomas, $92,250
T41: Sepp Straka, $87,750
T41: Jacob Bridgeman, $83,250
T41: Kristoffer Reitan, $78,750
T41: Nick Taylor, $74,250
46: Sungjae Im, $69,750
47: Si Woo Kim, $65,250
48: Aaron Rai, $61,650
T49: Corey Conners, $57,600
T49: Marco Penge, $57,600
51: Kurt Kitayama, $55,250
52: Sergio Garcia, $54,000
53: Rasmus Hojgaard, $52,650
54: Charl Schwartzel, $51,300

19th Hole

CBS’s Sunday Masters coverage slammed by golf fans

Published

1 month ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

While Sunday was a dramatic day at the Masters, many golf fans were left feeling frustrated by the CBS final round coverage.

There were plenty of moments that golf fans took to social media to air their frustrations on Sunday over, including a lack of shots being shown throughout the day, being behind the live action, confusion over the approach shots of the final group on 18, and providing an angle for the winning putt where the cup couldn’t be seen.

Here’s a look at some of the criticisms that were directed at the CBS coverage throughout the day on X:

This has been a brutal broadcast for CBS. When the folks from Augusta sit down with them this year, you can bet they’ll talk about this 15 seconds where we have no idea where Rory’s ball went, and Dottie moans. #TheMasters pic.twitter.com/ak3mkpIN7V

— Ryan (@PossiblyRy) April 12, 2026

It’s rare criticism coming in for CBS, who are usually heavily praised for their Masters coverage each year.

19th Hole

The surprise club Tommy Fleetwood says is key to his Masters chances

Published

1 month ago

Apr 7, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Tommy Fleetwood goes in search for the first major victory of his career again this week, with the Englishman proving to be a popular pick at Augusta National.

Fleetwood’s best showing at Augusta came back in 2024 where he finished T3, and while speaking at his pre-tournament press conference, the 35-year-old emphasized the importance of his 9-wood in his pursuit of the green jacket.

Speaking on Tuesday to media, Fleetwood said:

“It’s a great 9-wood golf course. I think it’s always been — I can’t remember when I first put like a 9-wood in or a high lofted club, but it’s a perfect like 9-wood golf course. I’ve had that in the bag for a few years.”

The Englishman continued, revealing that his strategy for the week won’t just be to hit driver off the tee as much as possible:

“Yeah, it’s funny really because I know Augusta is probably associated with being fairly forgiving off the tee in a way, so you think you can whale around driver a little bit. But I don’t necessarily think that’s always the play for me. I think there’s holes that set up really well where I can draw it with the mini driver if I’m feeling less comfortable with the driver and things like that.”

That strategy he believes will make his TaylorMade Qi10 9-wood extra critical this week in Georgia:

“The biggest thing is the 9-wood for me. If I can put myself in position on the par-5s or the 4th long par-3, like it — for me, I can’t really hit that high 4-iron, so 9-wood helps me a lot.”