Jon Rahm began the week sounding off about the Official World Golf Rankings. He ended it by collecting all the points available at the DP World Tour Championship and taking his third title of the season and third DP World Tour Championship in the last six editions of the event.

Rahm was adamant early in the week about how beating a handful of the best players in the world at the DP World Tour Championship was more difficult than beating a whole host of average players at the RSM Classic. Rahm received 22 points for beating Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Viktor Hovland, while whoever wins the RSM later in the day on the PGA Tour side will receive 38 points.

Rahm went against his own logic and made beating the top players — there were seven others in the field who rank in the top 30 in the OWGR — look rather easy. After a 70-66-65 start, Rahm shot 67 on Sunday while playing alongside U.S. Open champion Fitzpatrick. Combined, those two have now won five of the last seven DP World Tour Championships.

After going out in 33, Rahm came home in 34 for the trophy. At 20 under, he beat Hatton and Alex Noren by two and McIlroy by four.

“Because of COVID I never got a chance to defend my 2019 title, and even though I decided not to come last year, I came with the mentality that, well, nobody beat me in the last two years, so they are going to have to beat me again,” Rahm said.

Rahm has won this tournament now in three of the last four times he’s teed it up. He is 72 under and has defeated 212 of 217 competitors in those four starts. As referenced, he did not play it in 2020 as the defending champion nor did he make it over last year for the 2021 edition.

Rahm’s point about how OWGR points at the top of small-field events (there were only 50 golfers playing this week in Dubai) is legitimate. And while this is not the space to get into a deep dissection of the Official World Golf Rankings, I don’t believe there should be as much disparity between points allotted to the winner of an event where you have to beat seven other top 30 players and points allotted to the winner of an event where (no matter how many golfers were in the field) Brian Harman was the favorite.

Regardless, Rahm is not short on OWGR points. After taking the Mexico Open, Spanish Open and this event, he remains firmly in the top five in the world going into 2023 and has plenty of hype around him going into next year given how he finished this one. In each of the last six years, Rahm has won either two or three OWGR events. He is also the first player to win this particular event three times, and that touches off a run of seven events in 2022 in which his worst finish was T15 and the other six were in the top eight.

Rahm has primarily been buoyed by his putter during that stretch, a club that let him down earlier in 2022. This week in Dubai was no different as he finished second in the field in strokes gained putting en route to the victory.

“Honestly I cannot believe I shot 12 under with how badly I hit it off the tee on the weekend,” Rahm said. “I was just able to manage really well. I think a lot of those times when I pitched out, my wedge game saved me. On the greens on the weekend, I don’t know what my stats were. But inside 10 feet I was really, really, really solid, and that’s always going to carry forward. Any time I was on the fairway, my iron game felt great.

“I stayed aggressive and picked my battles, and again, I think I shot as low as I could have shot on the weekend to get this one.”

Despite the victory, Rahm fell short in the season-long DP World Tour points race where McIlroy, who came into this week ranked No. 1 on that list, went on to win. For McIlroy, it’s his fourth season-long title on the European side to match three FedEx Cups on the PGA Tour. However, this year marks the first time McIlroy has won both season-long races in the same year.

“It’s been seven years since I’ve last done it [on the DP World Tour],” McIlroy said. “Obviously this is my fourth one but it’s been a while. I’ve won three FedEx Cups since the last time I won, which was the Race to Dubai back then.

“It means a lot. … I was a model of consistency the whole way through the year. A lot of top finishes. I think my worst finish of the European Tour events I played this year was 12th at the start of the year in Abu Dhabi. A really consistent season putting in good performances. Would have been nice to get one win in there at the end of the year here. But Jon obviously played an incredible tournament and fully deserved it.

“[I’m] really proud of my year, and excited for 2023.”

“I’m as complete a golfer as I feel like I’ve ever been, and hopefully I can continue on that path,” he added.

Since 2011, there have been 22 total season-long points titles available on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour, and McIlroy has remarkably won seven of them. He finished the year with 13 top-eight finishes in his last 16 starts worldwide.

Fleetwood and Fitzpatrick rounded out the top five in Dubai as the DP World Tour season came to a close.

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Did you know that the grip is the most important part of the golf swing? 

Think about it. The only thing that connects your hands to the golf club is your grip!

How do different grip pressure points affect your golf swing? Find out the main pressure points on the grip and how these pressure points can help your swing.

How Grip Pressure Affects Your Golf Swing

How you hold the golf club affects your swing in a variety of ways. When it comes to grip pressure, gripping the club too tight or too loose can negatively affect your swing. We’ll examine the consequences of each below.

Results of a Grip That’s Too Tight

A whole host of problems are caused by gripping the golf club too tight. Here are a few of the most common ones.

Your Swing Tempo Becomes Jerky

The first telltale sign that you’re holding the golf club too tight is a swing tempo that is too fast and jerky. Instead of a smooth, controlled swing, a grip pressure that is too tight will lead to a rushed, restrictive swing. 

Reduced Clubhead Speed

This one is counterintuitive. So many golfers assume that gripping the golf club harder will lead to more clubhead speed and more distance. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Using too much grip pressure causes unnecessary tension in the hands, wrists, and forearms. All that tension makes you swing slower because everything is so knotted up. 

Again, it seems counterintuitive but several studies that involve grip pressure, clubhead speed, and ball speed prove that too much grip pressure decreases distance.

Constant Slices or Pushes

Gripping the golf club too tight can also cause you to slice and push the ball quite a bit. This is because when you grip the club too tight, the hands cannot close the clubface in time. This means that your clubface will usually be open at impact, which is the main cause of a slice.

If you’re constantly missing your targets and losing your ball out to the right (for a right-handed golfer), you may need to lighten your grip pressure. 

Results of a Grip That’s Too Loose

While lots of golfers struggle with a grip that is too tight, there aren’t many out there that hold the club too loose. 

For those rare folks that do hold the club too loosely, the main negative consequence is not having enough control of the clubface. These folks will also struggle with the direction of their shots and end up hitting lots of hooks and slices. 

On rare occasions, the club may even fly out of their hands.

Where Pressure Should Be Applied in Your Golf Grip

Okay, now that we know there are dangers of holding the golf club too tight and too loose, once we find that “sweet spot” of grip pressure, where do we apply it? 

Top Hand (Left Hand for Right-Handed Golfer)

Finding the proper grip pressure point on the top hand can be difficult for golfers because it is usually their non-dominant hand. 

Ideally, you want the grip pressure on this hand to be in the heel pad of your palm near the pinkie and ring fingers. 

Again, getting used to the feel of this may take quite a while.

Bottom Hand (Right Hand for Right-Handed Golfer)

Now let’s talk about the correct pressure points in the bottom hand. In this case, we are often dealing with the golfer’s dominant hand. You want the majority of the grip pressure in this hand to be on your index finger (ie pointer finger).

Surprisingly, you shouldn’t feel much grip pressure on your right thumb at all. When gripped correctly, the index finger will be able to easily guide the golf club. Now you’re ready to hit a great shot!

How Tight Your Golf Grip Should Be

On a scale of 1 to 10, you should aim to have a grip pressure of around 4 or 5. The ideal golf grip is not too tight but not too light. Here are a few analogies to remind you of this.

When thinking of grip pressure, remind yourself of Goldilocks and the porridge. She didn’t want the porridge to be too hot or too cold. You don’t want grip pressure that is too tight or too loose.

The great Sam Snead (winner of 82 PGA Tour tournaments) had a famous theory on grip pressure. Snead said to imagine that you’re holding a baby bird. You want to hold the bird tight enough so that it can’t fly away but not so tight that you harm it.

Another popular grip pressure analogy is the tube of toothpaste. You want to hold the tube of toothpaste with both hands but imagine that the cap is off. You don’t want to grip the tube too hard and splatter toothpaste all over your bathroom mirror.

What Happens When Your Golf Grip is Too Strong

There’s a saying in golf that goes something like this: To hit it long, grip it strong! 

That saying isn’t referring to grip pressure, it’s referring to the position of your hands on the golf club. Here’s a quick exercise to determine what type of golf grip you have:

1. Hold the golf club like you’re about to hit a full shot
2. Count how many knuckles you can see on your left hand
3. If you see 1 knuckle, you have a weak grip
4. If you see 2 knuckles, you have a neutral grip
5. If you see 3 knuckles, you have a strong grip

What are some unwanted side effects of a grip that is too strong? 

Most of the time, a grip that is too strong can cause the golfer to hit lots of hooks and pulls because the clubface is shut at impact. This can lead to lots of frustration, not to mention lots of lost golf balls.

Other nasty consequences of having a grip that’s too strong include lower ball flight and inaccurate chipping around the greens. Both are hazardous to shooting low scores on the course. 

If any of these problems are plaguing you, consider weakening your grip a bit.

Mike Noblin

Mike has been involved with sports for over 30 years. He’s been an avid golfer for more than 10 years and is obsessed with watching the Golf Channel and taking notes on a daily basis. He also holds a degree in Sports Psychology.

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Despite an attempt to find a backdoor into its players earning points on the Official World Golf Rankings by aligning itself with the little-known MENA Tour, LIV Golf continues to be denied such access for the moment. In a statement released Thursday, the OWGR said it will review the developments before making a decision, though that review will not reach its conclusion before the next two LIV events are completed.

The MENA Tour (Middle East and North Africa Tour) is a fledgling league with $75,000 purses that hasn’t hosted many events since the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. It is not notable on the list of relevant tours globally, but its members can earn OWGR points. LIV Golf, which presents 54-hole tournaments with no cuts and has thus been denied access to OWGR points, this week formed a “strategic alliance” with the MENA Tour.

The concept arrived upon by LIV Golf is for the MENA Tour to present LIV tournaments as “limited field events” under its banner, thus opening OWGR points to LIV golfers, many of whom are among the biggest stars in the game that chose to leave the PGA Tour for the guaranteed riches offered by the Saudi Arabia-backed league.

OWGR points allow golfers to stay relevant in the world rankings and qualify for major championships.

The OWGR responded to the request as such:

OWGR notes that the first two tournaments in [the MENA Tour’s newly submitted schedule] appeared to be the same as the LIV Golf Invitational Series tournaments in Bangkok and Jeddah. The communication from the MENA Tour included a starting field data file for the Bangkok tournament, confirming that to be the case.

A review of the changes to the MENA Tour is now underway by the OWGR.

Notice of these changes given by the MENA Tour is insufficient to allow OWGR to conduct the customary necessary review ahead of the LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok (7-9 October) and LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah (14-16 October).

Only after the review is complete will a decision be made on awarding points to the MENA Tour’s new “Limited Field Tournaments”, defined by the MENA Tour in its Regulations as “any MENA Tour-approved tournament, which comprises of a player field of less than 80 players”.

In some ways, this was a smart attempt by LIV to skirt the rules outlined by the OWGR. The top MENA Tour players get access to the Asian Tour, and the top Asian Tour players will receive spots in future LIV events, according to Sports Illustrated. The OWGR broadly requires OWGR-affiliated leagues to have mobility, and moving from the MENA Tour to the Asian Tour and then into LIV Golf would provide a mobility within tours that seemingly didn’t exist when LIV started. It’s a convoluted path, but it exists.

“I think from a player standpoint, it feels great to have everyone at LIV fighting so hard for the players and their best interests,” Phil Mickelson told SI. “I think for the World Golf Rankings, this is a great way to keep its credibility, while not bringing politics into the decision-making process. I think it’s good for all parties.”

This is certainly not a “no” from the OWGR, but it is not what LIV wanted to hear. Still, LIV is trying a variety of creative ways to obtain OWGR points. As time passes and more of the picture comes into view, it seems more possible than ever that they could obtain them. Whether that’s through the MENA Tour or the Asian Tour or by simply changing their format and their structure to better fit the OWGR stipulations, the pathway remains to be seen. However, given the caliber of players on the LIV roster, it would be surprising at this point if it did not eventually work itself out one way or another.

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The divergent worlds of LIV Golf and golf’s two most dominant tours, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, look on course for another major fallout after LIV Golf announced the formation of a new ‘strategic alliance’ with the little-known Middle East & North Africa Tour that could potentially see LIV Golf events being accorded Official World Golf Ranking points.

With LIV Golf events currently not qualifying for OWGR points due to their unique set up and format – 54 holes with no cut and qualification by invitation only – by aligning with the Mena Tour, players on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series could conceivably be allowed to earn OWGR points, which are used in the qualification process for the four majors and other high-profile events, including the Ryder Cup.

The Mena Tour was launched in 2011 and traditionally stages around 15 events each season, with total prize funds of around $75,000 per event. The tour, whose events are also 54 holes, has been recognised by the OWGR since 2016, although due to the weak fields does not attract anywhere near the points on offer on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour or even the Challenge Tour. The Mena Tour was suspended during the pandemic, and has so far only staged four events this year.

The alliance with the LIV Golf Invitational series will see the MENA Tour run as normal, with LIV Golf events interspersed within the Mena Tour’s schedule – almost as a tour within a tour. The alliance could come into effect as early as this Friday (October 7), the first day of the LIV Golf’s next event in Thailand, but it would require the board of the OWGR to ratify the new alliance before any points might be awarded.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Mena Tour said: “The Mena Tour today announced a strategic alliance which will result in LIV Golf Invitational events becoming part of and sanctioned by the Mena Tour, a Dubai-based golf tour which has been recognized by the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) since 2016.

“The alliance will boost the Mena Tour’s development programs and immediately qualify LIV Golf for OWGR points, starting with the LIV Golf Thailand event at Stonehill this week.

“The final field for LIV Golf Thailand, the opening event of the 2022-23 Mena Tour season, will be submitted to OWGR by the Mena Tour ahead of play commencing on Friday when the final field rating and winners’ points are expected to be confirmed. As a result of the alliance, all LIV Golf players have joined the Mena Tour.”

Atul Khosla, the president of LIV Golf, said: “We are taking this mutually beneficial action to support the game at the developmental level and because of the importance and fairness of LIV golfers qualifying for OWGR points. We’re pleased to create pathways that give more opportunities for young players, while also giving fans rankings that include all the world’s best golfers.”

Neither the PGA Tour nor the DP World Tour has so far commented on this latest development, but as both bodies have board members on the OWGR it is likely that they will have a major role to play in whether LIV Golf’s latest move is successful or not.

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Fifty members of LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed tour which launched in June, have jointly issued a signed statement requesting that LIV Golf tournaments earn points towards the Official World Golf Ranking.

As things currently stand, LIV Golf tournaments do not qualify for ranking points, meaning that players who have only taken part in LIV Golf events since its launch are slipping down the world rankings, leaving some in danger of missing out on qualifying for the Majors and the Olympics.

The OWGR, which was first established in 1986, ranks players based on their position in individual tournaments over a rolling two-year period, taking into account the strength of the field. New rankings are calculated each week. In 2022, the results from 23 global tours factored into the world rankings, but have not included those from the LIV Golf Invitational Series, which has so far held five events – one in the UK and four in the USA, with three more due to take place this year, and 14 tournaments planned for next season.

The governing board of the OWGR is headed by chairman Peter Dawson, the former chief executive of the R&A, and has its headquarters at the European Tour Group’s offices at Wentworth Club in Surrey. There are seven other directors, including representatives from the PGA of America, the International Federation of PGA Tours, the USGA, the PGA Tour, Augusta National, the R&A and the DP World Tour.

In a letter addressed to Mr Dawson, the 50 signatories, including world no.2 Cameron Smith and two-time Major winner Dustin Johnson, who has slipped down from 13th to 22nd in the world ranking since moving to LIV Golf, have demanded that the results of LIV Golf events be included in OWGR’s ranking calculations on a retrospective basis.

The letter insists that to leave LIV Golf results out of the OWGR would be the equivalent to ‘leaving Belgium, Argentina and England out of the FIFA rankings’.

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