Is Tiger Woods’ Massive Jump After His Competitive Comeback a Slap for In-Form Min Woo Lee?

The long hiatus of Tiger Woods was not at all a favorable one for the golfer. The break had led him to experience a major setback in terms of his OWGR ranking as it dipped to the lowest ever in his nearly three-decade-long professional career. However, the recently ended Hero World Challenge proved to be nothing short of a push for the Hall of Famer on the standings.

But the same couldn’t be said for other events such as the ISPS Handa Australian Open, especially for the players who participated in the same including the likes of Min Woo Lee. And, as we take a closer look into the two tournaments, one can’t help but wonder if Woods jumping the ranks was a smack in the head for the Australian pro!

Tiger Woods and his insane OWGR jump

The 15X major champ could only place at T18 at the Hero World Challenge after scoring an even-par 288 over the four rounds at the Bahamas. However, his finish at the event helped him increase his standings on the Official World Golf Rankings owing to the massive amount of points being awarded to the same by the ranking body.

In the days before the competition, Mr. T was in the 1328th position. However, thanks to the OWGR, he was able to jump to the 898th place despite being at the lower rungs of the leaderboard. Nevertheless, this was possible due to the body awarding 2.40799 points to the Hall of Famer for his T18 finish.

However, in the case of the Australian, Lee was able to grab the third position at the 2023 ISPS Handa Australian Open Championship after registering a score of 12-under 273. But even so, he was only able to jump three places from 38 to the 35th position on the world rankings despite being placed at T3 in the event that ended not too long ago. Moreover, the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship winner was only awarded 5.91814 points for his finish, a few points away from what the 47-year-old legend received for the PGA Tour unofficial tournament.

Even though the 25-year-old finished much higher than the 47-year-old in a different tournament, he was not able to experience the same advantages that the latter encountered. Consequentially, it truly makes one curious as to the difference in treatment between the PGA Tour and the other circuits.

OWGR and its huge support towards the PGA Tour

The Hero World Challenge received huge backing from the OWGR despite the fact that only 20 players took part in it. Moreover, the winner of the PGA Tour’s unofficial tournament was given a total of 30.09993 points as opposed to the 14.79536 awarded to the champion of the PGA Tour of Australasia event even though the latter emerged victorious amidst a field of 156 golfers.

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However, this has not been a one-time occurrence. At the RSM Classic, which was the final event of the PGA Tour’s Fall Season, its victor was granted 38.74470 points. Meanwhile, the season finale of the European circuit was given 27.71108 as the winning points on the world rankings despite the same boasting names of top athletes including the likes of Rory McIlroy, John Rahm, and Viktor Hovland.

Well, it does come off as a bit unfair for many including Lee who saw himself being given fewer points than an athlete who was placed lower than him in a different tournament. However, with the number of top professionals gracing the course coupled with the comeback of the legend, the event does boast a vital status despite its tag as an unofficial one.

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