It should come as no surprise to see Keith Pelley, Jay Monahan and Keith Waters stepping away from any discussion about whether to allocate official world golf ranking points to LIV Golf.
Pelley, the DP World Tour chief executive, his PGA Tour counterpart Monahan and DP World Tour chief operating officer Waters, who represents the International Federation of PGA Tours on the board, have all recused themselves from the OWGR board which will make the final decision on the matter.
That means it will fall to the Augusta National Club, the PGA of America, the USGA and the R&A to determine whether LIV Golf events will be rewarded with ranking points.
Given they are the bodies who run the majors it makes sense to me that they should be ones who decide which players should take part in their tournaments.
That, and the optics of three influential figures who are involved on rival tours not being involved in the process, is probably a shrewd move legally on their part too.
Arbitration panel to convene in London
Anyway, world ranking points seem small fry when there is the more immediate issue of the upcoming sport arbitration panel hearing in London in two weeks’ time.
The five-day case will be heard to determine whether the decision by DP World Tour to suspend and fine players for taking part in a ‘conflicting event’ on LIV Golf without permission was justified.
Sergio Garcia, Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace have withdrawn from the group appealing the decision but there are still 13 players involved.
My understanding is that the fundamental issue being debated is whether the DP World Tour regulations gave them the right to refuse to release members to play and justified in taking disciplinary action against those who did.
As for what the outcome of all of this is going to be, well that’s anyone’s guess at this point.
But I’m not holding my breath for a resolution anytime soon.
I know the panel will run from February 6 for five days but nobody knows how long the Honorable Philip Sycamore CBE and the King’s Counsels will take to deliberate and announce a decision.
It’s pretty clear it won’t be announced within days. If we’re lucky we’re looking at weeks but I won’t be surprised if it is months.
Rahm the machine in unstoppable form
It’s disappointing events off the golf course continue to dominate the headlines when such incredible moments have been happening on it.
Jon Rahm’s ongoing mission to be the best player in the world shows no sign of losing momentum following yet another outstanding win at the weekend.
His win at The American Express on the PGA Tour makes it four wins from his last six starts and moves him up to third in the world rankings.
It’s a shame the rankings run over a two year period as Jon has been out of this world recently.
Here’s one for the stat lovers out there. Jon is 62 under par for his last 10 rounds on the PGA Tour. That’s one better than Davis Love III was in his great run in 2001.
There’s consistency and then there is form like Jon is showing. It’s nothing short of astonishing.
Two early shot of the year contenders
If that wasn’t impressive enough on Sunday we also had two early contenders for shot of the year taking place on two different courses on the same day.
ALBATROSS FOR XANDER!@XSchauffele holes out from 225 yards to move to 18-under @TheAmexGolf 🔥 pic.twitter.com/TLGu90jdIN
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 22, 2023
Xander Schauffele’s effort was an incredible 225-yard albatross on the par-5 fifth hole at La Quinta Country Club.
Second shot, across the water, into the hole. Fabulous stuff.
Victor Perez, meanwhile, produced a magnificent effort of his own at the Abu Dhabi Championship with a terrific bunker shot into the hole for a birdie at the 17th.
The shot of his life!@v_perez2 leads by two with one to play.#ADGolfChamps | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/D9NGAuyBLv
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 22, 2023
It was a fantastic effort and one which helped him win the tournament.
They are both top-drawer shots, but very different ones. I know this though – the guys will have to go some to beat either this year.
Hutcheon can make his mark on Legends Tour
Congratulations to my old pal Greig Hutcheon on winning a European Legends Tour card on Monday.
Greig was so unlucky to miss out at the US Champions Tour qualifying school but he put that disappointment behind him as he finished tied for third in Turkey on Monday to earn his card.
It means Greig, who will be 50 in March, will make his senior tour debut and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him do well there.
He’s a great player and a guy I’ve known for all of my career.
We were team-mates in Scottish youth teams as young lads and he’s certainly got the game to challenge in events this year.
I’ll be watching his progress with interest as I’ll be old enough to compete there when I turn 50 next year.
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