The 2023 DP World Tour Championship has started with its initial event before the final round begins. The practice round and Pro-Am sessions were scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, respectively. The Pro-Am session just concluded, and pictures show who was partnered with whom.

Under the microscope is World No. 2 Rory McIlroy. The Irish golfer was paired with Ireland’s most prominent rugby player, who has an interest in golf along with rugby. The two were spotted playing at the Earth Course in Dubai, with the rugby star lending the Irish golfer a shoulder of support amidst his recent OWGR tragedy!

The two Irish sportsmen come together for a round : Rory McIlroy and who?

Rory McIlroy was leading the Race to Dubai Rankings, and subsequently, he was recently announced as the winner of the list. The four-time major champion now has a challenge to win the penultimate showdown. With top players in the field, this challenge will be harder for him than expected.

However, before the rounds started, he was paired with another favorite sportsperson from Ireland. Johnny Sexton, a famed Irish rugby player, and McIlroy played the Pro-Am session together. The 24-time PGA Tour winner was using his new TaylorMade driver he had added to the bag for the championship. While he was playing at the championship, Rory McIlroy got the latest news from the OWGR.

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The DP World Tour will start on November 16 with many highly ranked golfers in the world. Six of the top 25 are in the field, and even then, the championship has been given lower points by the Official World Golf Ranking compared to the RSM Classic. The OWGR decides the point for an event based on the individual stroke-gained rank of golfers after adding them all.

And it seems, according to the latest distribution of points, OWGR deems the strength of the field weaker than the PGA Tour FedExCup final event, the RSM Classic.

Surprisingly, this is not the first time that the OWGR has given the DP World Tour fewer points compared to the American Tour, and when it happened last time, many had lots to say about it, including the golf legend himself!

2023 DP World Tour Championship: Power Rankings, Defending Champion, Prize Money, and Major Details

The OWGR dilemma: Jon Rahm and Tiger Woods chime in

The RSM Classic had been given more points compared to the European Tour’s Championship last year as well. In 2022, 82x PGA Tour winner Tiger Woods and 2-time major champion Jon Rahm immensely criticized the decision by the OWGR.

As per Sports Illustrated, in November 2022, Rahm said that “the OWGR is laughable.” The golfer was furious, as the field was better at the championship last year as well. Meanwhile, Tiger Woods also commented while speaking to the media at the 2022 Hero World Championship and said, “It’s a flawed system.” He managed to explain that there were more top players in Dubai than in the RSM Classic, and hence that should be considered. However, it seems like the OWGR has ignored that plea.

There have been no open comments from the players this year yet. However, what do you think is the real reason for OWGR distributing more points to the RSM Classic? Let us know in the comments below.

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