'I Know Their Agenda' - Bryson DeChambeau Claims World Ranking System 'Trying To Make LIV Golf Irrelevant'

Bryson DeChambeau believes the Official Golf World Ranking organization is trying to ensure the LIV Golf League becomes "irrelevant" by failing to award those players the points they need to feature in Major championships.

DeChambeau has long been a vocal critic of the OWGR and its continued decision to not recognize LIV as an eligible Tour in its system, labelling the body as "pretty much almost obsolete" in the past.

After hovering in and around the top-10 before joining LIV in 2022, DeChambeau is now ranked 152nd in the world and is likely to continue slipping further and further down without much opportunity to rectify that outside of the Majors.

The 30-year-old had previously mentioned that an exemption category could be created to give the top players on LIV an alternative avenue into the four main events of the year, but so far nothing has come to fruition.

Speaking on The Rick Shiels Golf Show, DeChambeau said he is not surprised by the number of barriers being put up by those in charge of world ranking points but claimed everyone involved with LIV "sees exactly what they're trying to do."

DeChambeau said, when asked about LIV's declined application for world ranking points: "I think it’s par for the course in regards to the way that people and organizations view LIV.

"I know their agenda. We know their whole playbook, we see exactly what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to hold us out long enough to where we’re irrelevant. 'Oh we’ll give you points now, we’re gonna play nice in the sandbox'. But then we’re all irrelevant, we don’t have enough points to even fill a field."

The 2020 US Open champion argued that the biggest events of the year are missing out on hosting even stronger fields with a handful of players - such as Joaquin Niemann - unable to compete in every Major.

Days before DeChambeau's interview was released, Niemann secured his place at the 152nd Open Championship via victory at the Australian Open - part of the Open Qualifying Series - but the Chilean is still currently ineligible for The Masters, the US Open, and the PGA Championship.

Insisting he was "not bitter" and didn't care about where he placed in the OWGR, DeChambeau stated it was "not right" that other players were not afforded the opportunity to tee it up at the most prestigious events when they are more than good enough to do so.

DeChambeau said: "This last half of the season, yes, I feel like I’ve played way better golf. And that’s because the last three Majors I made the cut and played somewhat decent in them, 4th at the PGA, British Open I didn’t do very well, the US Open I did ok. That’s what’s really holding me at [152].

"If I didn’t have those this year, I’d be 500-and-something, probably. And you know what, it’s OK, I don’t hold myself to that level. I’m not bitter, I don’t care. What I do care about is the people that aren’t being ranked right that don’t have a chance to be in the Majors.

"I’m in the Majors, I’m lucky enough that 2020 was an amazing year for me and the US Open really set me up for a lot of success but I feel bad for the guys like Joaquin Niemann that deserve a spot, he is good enough to play in every Major championship. He’s a top 50 player in the world, doesn’t have that opportunity. Talor Gooch, he won three times this year.

"If you can’t see past that, I’m sorry, I don’t know how to rationalize with that individual. It’s not [right], because there’s plenty of guys who play well during the PGA Tour season and don’t play well in Majors, and they’re up there in the top 50."

Listen to the full episode with Bryson DeChambeau on The Rick Shiels Golf Show.