Ryan Lavner slammed LIV Golf for their points scoring format, which he thinks “does not make sense”.
The individual championship on the LIV Golf tour will be crowned this weekend in Indianapolis. Joaquin Niemann and Jon Rahm will battle it out at The Club at Chatham Hills, with Niemann topping the standings going into the final round.
LIV Golf has faced controversy since its founding as a rival league to the PGA Tour. And the tour is once again facing criticism for its scoring format, which has allowed Rahm to still be in the title fight.
Ryan Lavner says LIV Golf scoring ‘does not make sense’
Niemann has won five of the 12 LIV Golf events this season, more than anyone in the tour’s short history. Meanwhile, Rahm is winless on LIV this year. Yet Rahm can still win the title over Niemann in the final event of the year.
In the seven events Niemann hasn’t won, he has finished outside of the top ten each time. That’s with far smaller field sizes than the PGA Tour. Meanwhile Rahm has three second-place finishes and has missed out on the top 10 only once this season.
Ryan Lavner, speaking on The Golf Channel Podcast with Rex and Lav, said that LIV has a flawed system if a player can win five times and not have the title secured against someone who has not won.
He said, “How has Joaquin Niemann won five times this season on LIV, that’s the most of any player in a LIV season, how has he not already locked up the individual race over Jon Rahm, who is winless this season? To me that does not make any sense.”
“There’s a short field and you have guys with five wins. Like a Scottie Scheffler-esque season on LIV and he’s not already locked up the individual title against the guy who hasn’t won? That doesn’t make any sense to me.
“They must have way too many points available for a second through an eighth-placed finish. Again, keep in mind these are very short fields. If you have a short field, a 56-man field, you got to be giving some love to the guy who wins the golf tournament, no?”
PGA Tour sweeps the Major season against LIV Golf
Now that the PGA Tour players are split with the LIV Golf players, the major championships are the only measuring stick we have to compare the two groups. And it’s been a winning season for the PGA Tour at this year’s major championships.
Scottie Scheffler won The Open Championship and the PGA Championship to move one win away from the Career Grand Slam, Rory McIlroy won the Masters, and JJ Spaun won the U.S. Open in a clean sweep for the PGA Tour players.
Meanwhile the top two players in LIV Golf this season have struggled in the big events. Two-time major winner Rahm had top 10 finishes at the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open, where he was in contention on Sunday, but finished T14 and T34 at the Masters and The Open respectively.
Meanwhile, Niemann missed the cut at the U.S. Open and The Open Championship and finished T29 at the Masters. He did record a top 10 at the PGA Championship, coming in T8.
As momentum shifts towards the PGA Tour, the LIV golfers will want to pull their weight at the Ryder Cup to prove they are still among the best players in golf.