Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee Turns Heads With Defense Of LIV Golf And Critique Of World Rankings

Brandel Chamblee isn't just the most prominent voice in the golf media space; he's consistently been the harshest critic of LIV Golf since its inception, which makes his recent stance regarding the Saudi-backed league a complete surprise.

Earlier this month, the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) system announced that LIV players would begin to be awarded ranking points beginning this season. It signaled a victory for the circuit after it spent years fighting to be recognized by golf's officially recognized ranking system, but there was an asterisk attached to the situation.

Points will only be given to Top 10 finishers (and ties) in LIV Golf’s individual stroke play events. Ten players being awarded points is better than zero, but LIV immediately took exception to the OWGR's ruling that only a few players would be given points, and it turns out Chamblee agrees with LIV.

Why Chamblee Says OWGR Should Measure, Not Govern

During a chat with Sky Sports Golf, Chamblee admitted that his stance on LIV regarding being recognized by the OWGR has changed over time before taking a few shots at the ranking system and its approach.

"I've thought long and hard about this and initially because of my disgust for LIV and the origin of the money," Chamblee explained. "I thought with their ridiculousness of their format, I thought they don't really deserve world ranking points, but the more you think about it and the more you dive into it and the more you try to understand what the world rankings is meant to do, and not what they're doing but what they're meant to do, they should not be in the game of governance they should be in a game of measurement.

"They were being a gatekeeper and not an evaluator. And yes, every single player on LIV should be ranked in the world ranking. The world rankings are meant to be evaluators."

Brandel Chamblee isn't a fan of the OWGR system, and explained the many reasons why. (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

While admitting that the OWGR system is heading in the right direction, Chamblee promoted Data Golf as the top-tier ranking, data, and predictive tool in golf. Many, including myself, very much agree.

"Data Golf does a far better job than the Official World Golf Rankings. I don't even look at the Official World Golf Ranking. I do, but if you really want to know who has the best chance to play golf the very next week, it's Data Golf, it's not the Official World Golf Rankings," he continued.

"There are many, many problems with the OWGR rankings. They artificially give points to tournaments based on their perceived prestige. Again, they shouldn't be in the business of governance or allocating prestige to events. They should use strokes gained data, which they do measure with strokes gained data the strength of a field, but they don't use strokes gained data to measure who played the best within a tournament. They just look at finishes."

As things stand at the moment, the only Top 10 player in the OWGR rankings that aligns with their Data Golf ranking is World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Beyond that, the systems differ, and in many cases, quite dramatically.

The OWGR is still the end-all, be-all when it comes to major championship qualifications, which is why LIV being recognized by the system was a win for the circuit. Tyrrell Hatton is the highest-ranked player in the OWGR at the moment, sitting at 25th, while Bryson DeChambeau ranks 33rd.