{"id":241978,"date":"2022-08-23T13:29:02","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T13:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/the-father-of-the-owgr\/"},"modified":"2023-02-10T13:41:11","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T13:41:11","slug":"the-father-of-the-owgr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/the-father-of-the-owgr\/","title":{"rendered":"The father of the Official World Golf Ranking"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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As the LIV Golf saga rumbles on, it increasingly seems the biggest potential impediment to it flourishing (if that is the correct word) any further might be the fact that until at least the beginning of 2024 its tournaments will likely be unable to carry points on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), the chief means by which, inter alia, players qualify for the tournaments they most want to compete in, notably the four major championships. Last week, Greg Norman, chief executive of LIV Golf, said his tournaments should be eligible to award points \u201cby any fair, objective and impartial review\u201d and if something was not done about it soon \u201cthe rankings will become even more inaccurate, with many of the LIV Golf players having lower rankings than they are entitled to\u201d. Peter Dawson, chairman of the OWGR, sounds considerably in less of a hurry, saying a consultation and scrutiny process has only just got underway.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

How did this system ever come into being? The answer is Mark McCormack. McCormack, who died in 2003 at the age of 72, was the founder of the International Management Group (IMG). His first three clients were Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus (the original \u2018Big 3\u2019). His business expanded into many other areas; he effectively invented the concept of sports marketing. But going back to his roots, beginning with reference to the 1966 season, he published a comprehensive results-based annual, The World of Professional Golf. Therein he created what would become the Official World Golf Ranking.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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