Former Open champion Cameron Smith says golf's world rankings are "almost obsolete" because of their "ridiculous" refusal to award ranking points for events on the breakaway LIV tour.
Australian Smith, who won the 150th Open at St Andrews last year, is one of several LIV players to criticise this week's decision by the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) to continue to ignore tournaments on the lucrative Saudi Arabia-funded circuit.
Among others who have spoken out against the decision are double major champion Dustin Johnson, former Masters winner Patrick Reed and 2020 US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.
"I think it [OWGR] is almost obsolete now," Smith, 30, said before LIV's final regular-season event, which starts in Jeddah on Friday.
"We've got some guys out here who are playing some of the best golf in the world and they're outside the top 100, 200 in the world. It's pretty ridiculous."
Former world number one Johnson, who won the 2016 US Open and 2020 Masters, claimed the rankings are no longer fit for purpose.
"I feel like you can't really use the world ranking system any more," the 39-year-old said.
"Hard to use the world ranking system if you're excluding 48 guys that are good players. The rankings are skewed."
Majors such as The Open, US Open and Masters use the world rankings to help determine their fields. LIV players without exemptions courtesy of previous major successes will find it increasingly difficult to become eligible for the game's biggest tournaments.
OWGR chairman Peter Dawson sent a letter to LIV chief executive Greg Norman and chief operating officer Gary Davidson last Tuesday informing them that LIV's application for ranking status had been refused.
The ranking body's main concern was over limited access for golfers to join the 48-player circuit.
"The board committee does not believe it is equitable to thousands of players who strive every day to get starts in OWGR eligible tournaments to have a tour operate in this mostly closed fashion," Dawson wrote.
There are also concerns that LIV's team format can influence performances in the individual competitions that run in parallel during their 54 hole tournaments.
Dawson said the decision was "technical" rather than "political".
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