Jon Rahm's World Ranking Misery Set To Continue At American Express

Critics of the current format for the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) will think their point has been proven correct judging by the weird and wonderful permutations around who could become the new World No.1 golfer this weekend.

Rory McIlroy still sits in top spot but he’s not playing this week while Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Patrick Cantlay, who sit in second, fourth and fifth respectively are all playing in The American Express on the PGA Tour.

As world No.2, Scheffler obviously has the best chance of moving back above McIlroy, but in a quirk of how the ranking is compiled, Cantlay can also move up from fifth to first, but the best fourth-placed Rahm could achieve is a move up one spot to third.

Due to the way the OWGR operates on a two-year rolling results average then players can lose as well as win points, and has many have been pointing out recently there are certain perceived flaws in the system.

This weekend does not help – as Rahm could win The American Express and yet move up just one spot, while Cantlay can go from fifth to first with a win, as long as Scheffler finishes lower than eighth.

Scheffler is in pole position though, as he needs to finish just eighth on his own or higher to climb back to the top of the rankings, while he could also finish ninth or in no more than a three-way tie for eighth and go top as long as Cantlay doesn’t win.

These metrics are set out by OWGR ranking expert Nosferatu on Twitter, and look to show a bit of a flaw in the process as it seems harsh that Rahm could win from fourth and only move up one while Cantlay could shoot right to the top.

The OWGR have come in for plenty of criticism of late, with the furore surrounding whether LIV Golf should gain ranking points opening up a can of worms about just how indicative they are of who is the best golfer on the planet.

Rahm himself labelled the OWGR as "laughable" last year after new changes were made to the strength of field calculations, but he's far from the only critic.

Ian Poulter also claimed the OWGR was becoming "more and more obsolete" while Greg Norman has also obviously voiced his opinion of the situation while he tries to get points for LIV Golf.

If Rahm does happen to win this weekend and move just one spot up then we'll hear even more criticism of the OWGR - with a tough future seemingly lying in wait for them.