Spanish golfer Jon Rahm did not mince his words while talking about the new world ranking system, branding it as “laughable” after it left this week’s season-ending finale on the DP World Tour with half as many points as the regular PGA Tour event being played simultaneously in the United States.

The current world number five Rahm is one of several leading names here in Dubai for the DP World Tour Championship, which holds prize money of $10 million. The 50-strong field, limited to the leading performers on the Race to Dubai this year, is headed by number one Rory McIlroy and boasts eight players from the world’s top 30.

In stark contrast, the PGA Tour’s RSM Classic in Georgia has only four golfers from the top 30, with number 12 Tony Finau its highest-ranked competitor. The 156 players geared up at Sea Island include some big names like world No 915 Chris Stroud and veteran Davis Love III, who is ranked 2,856.

“I’m going to be as blunt as I can, I think the OWGR right now is laughable,” Rahm said before the Middle East tournament which starts on Thursday. “I understand what they are trying to do with the depth of field but having the best players in the world automatically makes the tournament better.”

The Spaniard added that there are multiple aspects of it that are beneficial but it ends up devaluing players who aren’t doing well in the bigger fields. 

“I don’t care what their system says. I think they have made a mistake. I think some aspects of it might be beneficial but I think they have devalued the value of the better players. The 30 best players of the year should not be punished because it’s a smaller field. Depth of field doesn’t mean a better tournament,” he added. 

After the recent change, ranking points are determined by a tournament’s total strength of field rating. The Jumeirah Golf Estates has a field rating of 121 points with around 22 of it going to the winner as it only has 50 players competing on the Earth course.