The gap in world rankings between LIV and PGA Tour golfers has Will Zalatoris concerned

Will Zalatoris is a tried-and-true Texan, but there’s a piece of the longtime Dallas resident that has him feeling right at home in Florida during the current PGA Tour stretch.

Zalatoris, who won the U.S. Junior Amateur title back in 2014 for Trinity Christian Academy in the DFW suburb of Addison, went to Wake Forest on the Arnold Palmer Scholarship and he has a special place in his heart for last week’s PGA Tour event, the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.

“Even though I never got to meet (Arnold Palmer), the guy’s meant a lot to me personally and my career and led me to Wake Forest,” Zalatoris said. “And even though it’s been a lot of — the guy’s meant a lot to my career — I met my wife at Wake Forest. So it’s just kind of a fun week to come here and spend some time with Amy (Saunders) and the family.”

In three previous starts at the API, Zalatoris’ best finish was a T-10 in 2021, his debut at the event. But he finished fourth last week, behind Scottie Scheffler, and appears in good shape heading into this week's Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach.

Zalatoris on the rankings: 'it is what it is'

As far as finding his form, Zalatoris said he thinks his body is ahead of schedule and he’s slowly seeing his speed come back. The 27-year-old made his return to the golf world in December at the Hero World Challenge after missing most of last year following back surgery. At the Genesis Invitational, he finished T-2, and he has slowly been trending in the right direction in all four starts this year.

But something interesting Zalatoris said in Orlando came regarding the Official World Golf Ranking. Zalatoris was asked about the competition on the PGA Tour this season since the average ranking of winners (not including Nick Dunlap) is 73.

“Yeah, the competition is obviously very stiff, there’s no question about it,” said Zalatoris, who famously played through some of the pandemic with buddy Tony Romo at Bent Tree or Maridoe Golf Club in the Metroplex. “We’ve had quite a few first-time winners on Tour this year. You’ve got some tenured guys that are contending week in, week out. The official World Golf Ranking is what it is right now.”

And quickly, a follow-up was asked after Zalatoris’ answer regarding the OWGR. How viable is the ranking system, which made further headlines after LIV Golf withdrew its application for points?

“You know, it kind of is what it is,” Zalatoris said. “You see what Joaquin (Niemann)’s done this year, and he’s 73rd in the world. I’m not a guy who is on the policy board or involved with those rankings, but the guy’s played some really good golf. I think, you know, having to get a special exemption from Augusta, you know, it’s just, there’s some really good players, and there’s some guys that have gone around the world and played really good golf and I think that’s something that, once we get to the majors, it will be really fun to have us all back together.

“But, I know that that’s kind of the utopian goal for all of us right now is to have the best players in the world play week in, week out.”

The gap between the two tours

In the discourse between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, plenty of conversation has revolved around world ranking points. Only four LIV players are ranked in the top 50, with three of those having won majors in the past two years. Niemann, who has won two of the first three LIV events of the year, is in two of the four majors (Masters and PGA Championship) in 2024 thanks to special exemptions and a third (Open Championship) thanks to a win on the DP World Tour.

Many LIV players have been plummeting in the ranking since they joined the league, putting their major championship futures in jeopardy. Of the 56 players who have competed so far in 2024 some have seen their OWGR fall well off since they joined LIV Golf, including many with Texas connections.

For example, SMU’s Bryson DeChambeau was 31 in the OWGR before he played his first LIV event but has since fallen 158 spots to No. 189. Patrick Reed, who lives in the Houston metro, has slipped from No. 39 when he took up with the Saudi-backed league to his current ranking of 109.

And as for Austin resident Sergio Garcia, the move has proven particularly penalizing. The 2017 Masters champ came to LIV Golf ranked 57th in the world, but has since skidded 605 spots to No. 662.

Zalatoris is simply hoping the best players will soon play together every week again, even if he believes most of them still play for the PGA Tour.

“We’ll see what happens going forward,” Zalatoris said. “I don’t have the fix for it. I know some guys have voiced their opinions on it. I like staying out of that stuff. Right now, it’s in an interesting position, I’ll leave it at that.”

Tim Schmitt is the managing editor for Golfweek, golf coordinator for the USA Today Network and lives in Round Rock. Cameron Jourdan contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Golfer Will Zalatoris is concerned about rankings of PGA, LIV players