Jon Rahm has blasted the new golf rankings, declaring he is the “best player in the world” yet can’t move up from No.5 thanks to vagaries of the system.
The Spaniard has a strong argument, remarkably overcoming Collin Morikawa’s seven-shot lead in the last round at the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii off the back of a 10-under 63 last weekend – which was his third win in five starts.
The former US Open champion has also won the Spanish Open and DP World Tour Championship, while finishing second and fourth in his other two events since the FedEx Series.
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Yet he remains fifth in the rankings behind Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Smith, Scottie Scheffler and world No.1 Rory McIlroy.
Rahm was at least expecting to overcome Cantlay after yet another victory but remains stuck behind the American.
“Since the playoffs … I’ve won three times and I don’t even get close to him. So, I’m trying to understand what’s going on,” Rahm said.
“Had they not changed the world ranking points (system) I would have been pretty damn close (to world No.1) right now. But in my mind, I feel like since August I’ve been the best player in the world.
“Earlier in the year clearly Scottie was that player, then Rory was that player, and I feel like right now it’s been me. Anybody, any given year can get a hot three, four months and get to that spot.”
The rankings system was changed last August and in effect hurt events with a limited field, such as the 38-player Tournament of Champions, which included 17 of the world’s top 20.
In the new system ‘strength of field’ is based on the number of ranked players in the tournament, rather than the actual field quality. For example Cameron Smith’s win in Hawaii in 2022 earned him 62 points, while Rahm earned 37.
Under the old system Rahm would currently be world No.2 behind McIlroy with Scheffler third.
Confusingly Rahm has dropped from world No.2 since last May despite recording 10 top-10 finishes over his ensuing 15 tournaments.
“It’s very difficult to stay up there and it requires a lot of golf. But we’re all working hard. I know everybody’s putting in a lot of effort to try to stay there as long as possible,” Rahm said.
“But to answer that, yes, I want to be back up there because it’s something you want to do, obviously. But you need to play good and win tournaments, nobody’s going to give it to you.”