Did Playing In The BMW PGA Help LIV Players’ World Ranking?

Did Playing In The BMW PGA Help LIV Players’ World Ranking?

Many LIV players made no secret of the fact that they teed it up at last week’s DP World Tour’s BMW PGA Championship in search of Official World Golf Ranking Points. Getting those points will be key to earning exemptions into next year’s majors. For example, players inside the OWGR Top 50 have in the past earned invites to the Masters and the Open Championship. The US Open offers exemptions to players in the top 60.

The PGA Championship doesn’t use OWGR points; instead, PGA TOUR official money is the criteria.

Patrick Reed is a perfect example of the quandary some of the players find themselves in. Reed’s 2018 Masters victory theoretically offers him a lifetime ticket to Augusta, but his five-year exemptions to the PGA, US Open and Open Championship have expired.

Reed’s appearance at the BMW PGA did nothing for his ranking. He went into the tournament at 50 and stayed there.

Below is a chart with the LIV players that teed it up at the BMW PGA, their finish at that tournament, their Official World Golf Rankings before and after the tournament, their gain or loss, and their standing at the end of 2021. You can see for yourself how each LIV Players’ World Ranking was affected.

Player	BMW Finish	Before The BMW	After The BMW	Gain/Loss	End of 2021
Talor Gooch	4	46	35	+11	32
Patrick Reed	T5	50	50	0	25
Adrian Otaegui	T13	165	150	+15	198
Lee Westwood	T13	100	96	+4	37
Abraham Ancer	T18	24	24	0	17
Sam Horsfield	T18	95	88	+7	115
Richard Bland	T23	77	76	+1	74
Justin Harding	T23	132	134	-2	119
Bernd Wiesberger	T23	109	111	-2	58
Ian Poulter	T32	118	121	-3	54
Pablo Larrazabal	T32	69	68	-1	362
Oliver Bekker	T42	106	103	+3	159
Graeme McDowell	T50	406	406	0	326
Shaun Norris	T72	93	97	+4	73
Laurie Canter	MC	142	144	+2	86
Branden Grace	MC	150	155	-5	68
Wade Ormsby	MC	361	369	-8	245
Sergio Garcia	Quit	74	77	-3	45