'It's A Bit Of A Joke' - Rahm Slams OWGR Again Following Superb Run Of Results

Jon Rahm's tirade on the Official World Golf Ranking system continued on Sunday, as the Spaniard labelled it "a bit of a joke" after he failed to change position after securing his third win of the season at the DP World Tour Championship.

Earlier this week at Jumeirah Golf Estates, Rahm publicly announced that he disagreed with Rory McIlroy’s stance on the new OR system. Both men had rather conflicting views, with McIlroy labelling it as the “fairest system” on offer right now, whilst Rahm claimed it was “laughable”.

Now, Rahm has added yet more fuel to the fire after his two-shot victory on Sunday, again questioning his positioning after finishing tied-second at the BMW Championship, first in the Spanish Open, tied-fourth at the CJ Cup and first in the DP World Tour Championship. So great was Rahm's disbelief, he was actually unsure if he could add anything else to his response earlier in the week when asked by a reporter.

“What you said. I don't know if I can add to that to be honest," explained Rahm. “Yeah, I mean, I beat amazing players today. I don't know if I can add any more to what I said. Maybe I was too far back, I don't know. I've gone second, first, fourth, second – first, sorry, and I have not changed my World Ranking. I don't know if that explains what I meant the other day, but it should.

“I feel like it gets to a point where your play should start to be rewarded -- especially when I play – I understand why they did the changes they made where it would be a perfect system and every single field is 150 – I'll say one more time, we don't get the same points for our win here, it's a bit of a joke.”

The former World No.1 has spent 43 weeks on top of the rankings, with his most recent run coming to end in March after Scottie Scheffler's rich vein of form at the beginning of 2022. 

There is also nothing else Rahm can do to affect the rankings as McIlroy has secured top-spot for the remainder of the year, regardless of the result at the Hero World Challenge at the beginning of next month.

Many high-profile players and individuals have had their say regarding the new OWGR system, with DP World Tour CEO, Keith Pelley, recently explaining the decision of the change that now "incorporates modern statistical techniques, which allows players and eligible tournaments to be more accurately evaluated relative to each other."

Speaking prior to the final round in Dubai, the Canadian stated: "We implemented a new system but, like with any new system, regardless of what aspect of business you're in, you evaluate, you modify, you tweak and, at the next board meeting, we'll have those conversations."