Legendary caddie Billy Foster believes the DP World Tour has been “absolutely destroyed” by the Official World Golf Rankings.
The experienced looper, who caddies for former US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, emphasised how tough it is for DP World Tour players to ascend the rankings when speaking to CasinoAlpha.com.
Two weeks ago, there were approximately 44 OWGR points up for grabs at the Texas Children’s Houston Open on the PGA Tour in America, whereas there were roughly 15 OWGR points available to the winner of the Hero Indian Open on the DP World Tour in the same week.
If you look at the PGA Tour and DP World Tour events that have been played parallel to each other in each week of 2024, there is a consistently large chasm between the ranking points on each continent and Foster believes the process is biased in favour of the US events.
“I don’t know how the system works but it’s all biased towards America which is rubbish,” the Yorkshireman said.
“The European Tour has been absolutely destroyed by it. It’s so difficult to build ranking points on the European Tour, all the points go to America.”
Foster, who has enjoyed a long and illustrious career carrying for the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke and Tiger Woods, also took issue with the treatment of LIV Golf players in the OWGR.
As the LIV Golf League, which was established in June 2022, doesn’t qualify for OWGR points, the players who have joined the new league haven’t been able to earn them. Therefore, players such as Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed have tumbled down the rankings.
“Out of Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Joaquin Niemann and Bryson DeChambeau, they’d all be top 15 in the world so absolutely the ranking system is a load of rubbish,” he explained.
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“People think that the European Tour should collaborate with LIV and you’d have a World Tour that would rival the PGA Tour but whether that ship’s sailed, I’m not sure.
“It could end up being a costly decision from the European Tour. I’ve been around it for 40 years, 20 years ago it was absolutely brilliant. It’s all such a shame.”
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It was very much the heyday of the formerly-named European Tour when Foster appeared on the scene. When he caddied for Ballesteros, there was also Faldo, Woosnam and Langer. When he caddied for Westwood, there was also Poulter, Garcia and McDowell.
The hopes of Europe at major championships such as this week’s Masters now rest upon the likes of Foster’s man Fitzpatrick who took home the US Open trophy from Brookline two years ago.
The Englishman will be hoping to taste more success at the Masters, as will Rory McIlroy who is looking to win at Augusta National and complete the career grand slam of all four majors.
Having played a significant role in the PGA Tour’s rivalry with LIV Golf since the Saudi-funded tour’s inception, McIlroy resigned from the tour’s Policy Board to focus more on his career on the course and avoid distractions off it.
However, as much as Foster believes the Northern Irishman is a live contender in Georgia, he showed concern for McIlroy’s involvement in the game’s politics.
“He’s still an unbelievable golfer and I don’t doubt his desire and he’ll be challenging at The Masters,” he said.
“Unfortunately, he’s been put in a s***** situation where he’s taken his eye off the ball and concentrating too much on politics instead of golf. It might be best for him to get on with his golf and leave the politics to other people.”
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