Official World Golf Ranking

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The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of male professional golfers (although there is no rule prohibiting women from being ranked). It was introduced in 1986 and is endorsed by the four major championships and six major professional tours, five of which are charter members of the International Federation of PGA Tours:

Points are also awarded for high finishes on seven other tours:

History[edit]

The initiative for the creation of the Official World Golf Ranking came from the Championship Committee of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, which found in the 1980s that its system of issuing invitations to The Open Championship on a tour by tour basis was omitting an increasing number of top players because more of them were dividing their time between tours, and from preeminent sports agent Mark McCormack, who was the first chairman of the International Advisory Committee which oversees the rankings. The system used to calculate the rankings was developed from McCormack's World Golf Rankings, which were published in his World of Professional Golf Annual from 1968 to 1985, although these were purely unofficial and not used for any wider purpose (such as inviting players to major tournaments).

The first ranking list was published prior to the 1986 Masters Tournament. The top six ranked golfers were: Bernhard Langer, Seve Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle, Tom Watson, Mark O'Meara and Greg Norman. Thus the top three were all European, but there were 31 Americans in the top 50 (compared with 17 at the end of 2010).

The method of calculation of the rankings has changed considerably over the years. Initially, the rankings were calculated over a three-year period, with the current year's points multiplied by four, the previous year's points by two and the third year's points by one. Rankings were based on the total points and points awarded were restricted to integer values. All tournaments recognised by the world's professional tours, and some leading invitational events, were graded into categories ranging from major championship (whose winners would receive 50 points) to "other tournaments" (whose winners would receive a minimum of 8). In all events, other finishers received points on a diminishing scale that began with runners-up receiving 60% of the winners' points, and the number of players in the field receiving points would be the same as the points awarded to the winner. In a major, for example, all players finishing 30th to 40th would receive 2 points, and all players finishing 50th or higher, 1 point.

Beginning in April 1989, the rankings were changed to be based on the average points per event played instead of simply total points earned, subject to a minimum divisor of 60 (20 events per year). This was in order to more accurately reflect the status of some (particularly older) players, who played in far fewer events than their younger contemporaries but demonstrated in major championships that their ranking was artificially low. Tom Watson, for example, finished in the top 15 of eight major championships between 1987 and 1989, yet had a "total points" ranking of just 40th; his ranking became a more realistic 20th when based on "average points". A new system for determining the "weight" of each tournament was also introduced, based on the strength of the tournament's field in terms of their pre-tournament world rankings. Major championships were guaranteed to remain at 50 points for the winners, and all other events could attain a maximum of 40 points for the winner if all of the world's top 100 were present. In practice most PGA Tour events awarded around 25 points to the winner, European Tour events around 18 and JPGA Tour events around 12.

In 1996, the three-year period was reduced to two years, with the current year now counting double. Points were extended to more of the field, beginning in 2000, and were no longer restricted to integer values. Beginning in September 2001, the tapering system was changed so that instead of the points for each result being doubled if they occurred in the most recent 12 months, one eighth of the initial "multiplied up" value was deducted every 13 weeks. This change effectively meant that players could now be more simply described as being awarded 100 points (not 50) for winning a major. Beginning in 2007, the system holds the points from each event at full value for 13 weeks and then reduces them in equal weekly increments over the remainder of the two-year period.

At first only the Championship Committee of the Royal and Ancient used the rankings for official purposes, but the PGA Tour recognized them in 1990, and in 1997 all five of the then principal men's golf tours did so. The rankings, which had previously been called the Sony Rankings, were renamed the Official World Golf Rankings at that time. They are run from offices in Virginia Water in Surrey, England.

Sixteen players have been Official World No. 1. Seve Ballesteros took over from Bernhard Langer shortly after Langer had been the first ranking leader in 1986 and then vied with Greg Norman for the No.1 spot for three years, when Nick Faldo took over as Norman’s main rival. Ian Woosnam and Fred Couples held the position at various times during 1991 and 1992 before Faldo took over again until 1994, when Nick Price’s career year took him to No. 1. Norman would return to the top ranking in 1995 and 1996, then after a single week at No. 1 by Tom Lehman, Tiger Woods dominated the position from 1997 to 2010 with brief interruptions from Ernie Els, David Duval, and then from September 2004 Vijay Singh, who became the twelfth World No. 1 following his win at the PGA Championship.

Singh and Woods would swap the No. 1 position several times in 2005, but Woods eventually reopened a wide lead at the top. Woods' lead over his nearest rivals in the rankings in June 2008 was large enough that he remained number one at the end of that year, despite taking six months off following knee surgery. Woods holds the longest consecutive streak as No. 1 at 281 weeks. This streak was ended in October 2010 by England's Lee Westwood who subsequently became the second English World No. 1; the third from Britain, and the fifth from Europe. On February 27, 2011, Martin Kaymer took over the number one ranking from Westwood, becoming the second German to be ranked number one after Langer.

On April 24, 2011, Westwood regained the number one position following a victory in Indonesia; but on May 29, 2011, Luke Donald took the world number one spot from Westwood by defeating him in a sudden death playoff for the BMW PGA Championship. In so doing, Donald became the first player ever to reach the official number one position despite having never finished as either a champion or a runner-up in a major championship. Rory McIlroy took the number one spot for the first time after winning the Honda Classic in March 2012. The number 1 spot alternated between Donald and McIlroy during the spring and summer of 2012 before McIlroy's excellent run of form from August (that saw him win 3 times in 5 weeks including the PGA Championship) cemented his position at the top. Woods regained the #1 spot in March 2013, after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational for the 8th time.

Calculation of the rankings[edit]

Source:[2]

Event ranking[edit]

Simply put, a golfer's (world) ranking is obtained by dividing their point total by the number of events they have played (points/events), which is their average. Players are ranked according to this metric; where a higher average yields a higher rank. The first stage in the calculation is the ranking of each event. For most events the ranking depends on the current world rankings of the participating golfers and the participation of the leading golfers from the "home tour".

A "world rating value" is calculated. Any golfer currently ranked in the world top 200 is given a rating value. The world number 1 is allocated 45, the number 2 is allocated 37, the number 3 is allocated 32, down to those ranked between 101 and 200 who are allocated a rating value of 1 each. The maximum possible world rating value is 925 but this would only happen if all the top 200 golfers were playing.

A "home tour rating value" is calculated. The leading 30 golfers from the previous year's "home tour" are given rating values. Major championships and WGC events use the current world top 30 list. The home tour number 1 is allocated 8 down to those from 16 to 30 who are allocated a rating value of 1 each. The maximum home tour rating value is 75 if all the top 30 players from the home tour are competing. The total home tour rating value is limited to 75% of the world rating value.

The world rating value and home tour rating value are added together to given a total rating value. This is then converted into an event ranking using a table. As examples, a total rating value of 10 converts to an event ranking of 10, a total rating value of 100 converts to an event ranking of 24, while a total rating value of 500 converts to an event ranking of 62.

Major championships have a fixed event ranking of 100 points. For each tour there is a minimum ranking for each event. In addition, most tours have a "flagship event" that is guaranteed a higher ranking.

Tour Minimum
points		 Flagship event Minimum
points
PGA Tour 24 The Players Championship 80
European Tour 24 BMW PGA Championship 64
Japan Golf Tour 16 Japan Open 32
PGA Tour of Australasia 16 (6) Australian Open 32
Sunshine Tour 14 (6/4) South African Open 32
Asian Tour 14 Thailand Golf Championship [3] 20
Web.com Tour 14 Web.com Tour Championship 20
Challenge Tour 12 Apulia San Domenico Grand Final 16
PGA Tour Canada 6 n/a n/a
OneAsia Tour 6 n/a n/a
PGA Tour Latinoamérica 6 n/a n/a
Korean Tour 6 n/a n/a
Asian Development Tour 6 n/a n/a

Starting in 2012, several events that previously had not received any points, will now do so: Sunshine Tour "Winter Series" – 6 points (72-hole events), 4 points (54-hole events), PGA Tour of Australasia "State Based and Regional Tournaments" – 6 points.[4]

Tournaments which are reduced to 54 holes by inclement weather or other factors retain full points, but if a tournament is reduced to 36 holes, its points allocation is reduced by 25%.

The events with the highest total rating value in 2011 are shown in the following table.

Date Event World
Rating Value		 Home tour
Rating Value		 Total
Rating Value		 Event Ranking
02013-08-14Aug 14 PGA Championship 839 75 914 100[5]
02013-07-17Jul 17 The Open Championship (British Open) 792 73 865 100[6]
02013-04-10Apr 10 Masters Tournament 762 75 837 100[7]
02013-06-19Jun 19 U.S. Open 734 72 806 100[8]
02013-08-07Aug 7 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 730 75 805 76[9]
02013-02-27Feb 27 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship 719 74 793 76[10]
02013-05-15May 15 The Players Championship 716 74 790 80[11]
02013-03-13Mar 13 WGC-Cadillac Championship 692 71 763 74[12]
02013-08-27Aug 27 The Barclays 581 68 649 70[13]
02013-09-05Sep 5 Deutsche Bank Championship 583 64 647 70[14]
02013-09-18Sep 18 BMW Championship 505 59 564 66[15]
02013-02-20Feb 20 Northern Trust Open 453 60 513 62[16]
02013-11-06Nov 6 WGC-HSBC Champions 467 42 509 62[17]
02013-06-05Jun 5 The Memorial Tournament 441 58 499 62[18]
02013-05-29May 29 BMW PGA Championship 399 71 470 64[19]

A further 16 tournaments had an event ranking from 50 to 58. Nine of these were PGA Tour events, while seven were European Tour events.

Player rankings[edit]

Having calculated the ranking of the event, the ranking points of the players for that event can be calculated. The winner's ranking points are the same as the ranking of the event, so that major winners get 100 ranking points. The second place golfer gets 60% of this amount, 40% for 3rd, 30% for 4th, 24% for 5th, down to 14% for 10th, 7% for 20th, 3.5% for 40th to 1.5% for 60th. Players tied for a position share the points for those positions so that if, for example, two players tie for second place they would each receive 50%, the average of 60% and 40%.

A player's ranking points for an event must be at least 1.2. Players who would get less than this using the above formula get no ranking points. For example if an event has a ranking of 10 only the leading 12 players (and ties) receive any ranking points since the player in 12th place gets 12% of the event ranking (i.e. 1.2). The player in 13th position gets no points. The only exceptions to this system are in the major championships where all players who make the cut get a minimum of 1.5 ranking points.

Adjusted rankings[edit]

For the first 13 weeks after an event the player receives the full ranking points earned in that event. However from then onwards they are reduced in equal weekly increments over the remainder of a two-year period. This gives priority to recent form. Each week the ranking points are reduced by a factor of 1/92 (approximately 1.09%) so that in week 14 only 98.91% of the ranking points are credited, continuing until week 104 when only 1.09% is credited. From week 105 the ranking points are completely lost.

Ranking average[edit]

The player's adjusted points for all events in the two-year period are then added together, and this total is divided by the number of events to give the average ranking. However, players are subject to both a minimum and maximum number of events over the two-year period.

If a player competes in fewer than 40 tournaments over the two-year period his adjusted points total is divided by 40 and not the actual number of events he has played in.

As from 2010, a maximum number of tournaments is also used. The maximum number was initially set to 60 from January 2010 and was reduced by 2 every six months until it reached 52 in January 2012. This means that as of the start of 2012 only the player's 52 most recent tournaments (within the two-year period) will be used to calculate his ranking average.[20]

The resulting averages for all players are put into descending order to produce the ranking table. This means that the player who has obtained most cumulative success does not necessarily come top of the rankings: it is average performance levels that are important, and some golfers play substantially more tournaments than others. New rankings are released every Monday.

Importance of the rankings[edit]

A professional golfer's ranking is of considerable significance to his career. For example, a ranking in the World Top 50 explicitly grants automatic entry to three of the four majors and three of the four current World Golf Championships; see table below. Also, ranking points are the sole criterion for selection for the International Team in the Presidents Cup and one of the qualification criteria for the European Ryder Cup team. The rankings are also used to help select the field for various other tournaments.

Tournament Automatic entries
The Masters Top 50
U.S. Open Top 60[21]
The Open Championship Top 50
PGA Championship (Top 100)see note
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship Top 64 (sole criterion)
WGC-Cadillac Championship Top 50
WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Top 50
WGC-HSBC Champions Top 25

Note: The PGA Championship does not have an official automatic entry based on the Official World Golf Ranking but has invited those in the top 100 for the last several years. It makes note of its strong field by referencing the number of top 100 ranked golfers entered in its press releases.[22][23][24]

The rankings are well known to those who follow men's professional golf and feature prominently in media coverage of the sport. When Vijay Singh temporarily ended Tiger Woods' record run as world number 1 in 2004 it was one of the most reported golf stories of the year.

Current rankings[edit]

These are the top 10 ranked golfers and their average ranking points as of June 16, 2013.[25]

Rank Change Player Country Points Top 10 since Week(s)
1 Steady Woods, TigerTiger Woods  United States 13.06 02012-03-25March 25, 2012 65
2 Steady McIlroy, RoryRory McIlroy  Northern Ireland 9.52 02011-01-23January 23, 2011 126
3 Increase2 Rose, JustinJustin Rose  England 8.19 02012-05-20May 20, 2012 57
4 Decrease1 Scott, AdamAdam Scott  Australia 7.35 02012-07-22July 22, 2012 48
5 Decrease1 Kuchar, MattMatt Kuchar  United States 6.69 02013-05-26May 26, 2013 4
6 Increase4 Mickelson, PhilPhil Mickelson  United States 6.17 02013-06-02June 2, 2013 3
7 Decrease1 Donald, LukeLuke Donald  England 6.07 02010-09-05September 5, 2010 146
8 Decrease1 Snedeker, BrandtBrandt Snedeker  United States 5.97 02012-09-23September 23, 2012 39
9 Decrease1 McDowell, GraemeGraeme McDowell  Northern Ireland 5.59 02013-04-21April 21, 2013 9
10 Decrease1 Oosthuizen, LouisLouis Oosthuizen  South Africa 5.28 02012-11-04November 4, 2012 33

Top 10 since – indicates the date at which the player entered or last re-entered the top 10.
Weeks – current number of consecutive weeks in the top 10.

Since the introduction of the latest rating method in September 2001, the highest points average as well as the largest lead in points average were set by Tiger Woods on September 16, 2007. After winning the BMW Championship and The Tour Championship in consecutive weeks, he had an average of 24.36 and a lead of 14.73 points over Phil Mickelson.[26]

Tiger Woods holds the record for most weeks in the World Top 10, with 801. He is followed by Ernie Els (788 weeks) and Phil Mickelson (723 weeks). Woods had a record run of 736 consecutive weeks in the Top 10 from April 13, 1997 to May 15, 2011. He returned to the Top 10 on March 25, 2012 and has been in the Top 10 since that date.[27][28][29]

Discussion caused by the "number one" ranking[edit]

On a few occasions the ranking system has caused discussion about whether it has produced the "right" World Number One. This usually occurs when the number one ranked player has not won a major championship during the ranking period, while a rival has won more than one—notably at the end of 1990, when Nick Faldo remained ranked just behind Greg Norman despite winning three majors in two years (and more world ranking points in total than his rival, albeit having entered more events). On that occasion, as detailed in Mark McCormack's "World of Professional Golf 1991" annual, it was also the case (but less immediately apparent) that Norman had won a total of 14 events during the ranking period to Faldo's 10, and when the two had competed in the same tournament, had finished ahead of his rival 19 times to 11, so Norman's number one position (on the new "average points" system) had some justification.

In April 1991, a quirk in the way the rankings treated results from previous years meant that Ian Woosnam, who had never won a major, took the number one spot from Faldo on the eve of the latter's attempt to win the Masters for a third year in succession; as if justifying the ranking system, Woosnam—and not Faldo—won the tournament. Twelve months later, Fred Couples similarly took over the number one ranking shortly before the 1992 Masters, then also went on to make that tournament his first major victory.

At the end of 1996 and 1997, Greg Norman had regained the top spot and remained narrowly ahead of first Tom Lehman, and then Tiger Woods and Ernie Els, in the rankings, despite his rivals enjoying major victories in those years while he won none. In 1996, Colin Montgomerie actually led the rankings in total points earned over the two-year period (but not on average points per event), and in 1997 Els was top of a similar "total points" list. To 2012, these are the last occasions on which the official year-end number one on average points has not also led on total points. In 1998, Woods himself finished the year ranked number one, after a season in which Mark O'Meara won two major titles while Woods won just once on the PGA Tour. In March 1999, David Duval briefly became world number one after winning The Players Championship, his sixth victory in a twelve-month period that came before his first major victory (which would follow two years later at the Open Championship).

In 2000, Tiger Woods had an unprecedented season of success that saw him earn 948 world ranking points in a single calendar year, so many points that even had his 1999 points (which represented the previous single-season record) been totally discounted from the calculation, Woods would still have had a points average easily high enough to lead the rankings - and Woods would still have led at the end of 2001 even had he earned no further points that year. Tiger Woods dominated the number one spot for the following five years, but when Vijay Singh won the PGA Championship in 2004 and with it took the number one ranking, that change highlighted the fact that Woods had not won a major for over two years, and also the extraordinary success Singh had recently on tour had that had allowed him to overtake the American. Woods responded by winning the very next major, the 2005 Masters, and with it regained the number one spot, which he would then retain for a further five years. Following knee surgery in the summer of 2008, Woods missed the entire second half of the year, while Pádraig Harrington won two major championships, to add to the Open Championship he won in 2007. Despite earning no further ranking points during his absence, Woods remained number one on the ranking system in December 2008.

During 2010, there was much debate as to whether Woods' continued retention of the number one ranking (which he held up until the end of October) was justified given his relatively poor form—Woods finished fourth in two major championships in 2010, but failed to finish in the top ten of any other events he entered. During the 2010 season, several of his rivals for the number one spot - including Masters champion Phil Mickelson (who had won four majors since 2004 but had yet to reach number one in the rankings), Lee Westwood (who had yet to win a major but had finished second in both the Masters and Open Championships in 2010), and then Martin Kaymer (who had won the PGA Championship among four worldwide wins)— each missed opportunities to win particular events that would have taken them above Woods, before Westwood finally became world number one on October 31.

During 2011, the possession of the number one ranking would be the subject of much discussion among European golf commentators as it passed from Westwood to Kaymer, back to Westwood and then in May to Luke Donald. Donald became the first ever golfer to climb to number one before having won or finished runner-up in a major championship in his career, although he did replace Westwood as number one by defeating him in a playoff for the BMW PGA Championship, the first time it had changed hands in so dramatic a fashion. Donald's consistency through the rest of the 2011 season—becoming the first golfer ever to win the money title on both the European and PGA Tours in the same season—would keep him in the number one position, despite not gaining his maiden major victory.

In March 2012, Donald lost the number one position to Rory McIlroy; the pair then exchanged the number one position a further four times in the following two months, so the volatility of the number one ranking again became a source of comment. At the end of 2012, McIlroy had opened up a clear lead at the top of the rankings, following his second major victory at the PGA Championship and emulating Donald in leading the money lists on both sides of the Atlantic. However, by the end of March 2013, a resurgent Tiger Woods had returned to the top of the rankings, after adding three PGA Tour wins in 2013 to his three victories from 2012 while McIlroy struggled with his form following equipment changes.

Breakdown by nationality[edit]

A breakdown of the year-end top-100 by nationality.

Country 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988
 United States 31 37 32 32 31 34 39 41 41 49 47 48 51 56 55 56 58 56 52 49 53 60 58 55 59
 Australia 9 10 9 10 10 12 11 12 11 7 9 5 5 6 9 8 7 8 8 9 11 11 12 12 9
 England 8 8 11 11 8 9 11 11 7 7 4 4 1 2 3 3 4 5 8 9 7 5 3 6 4
 Sweden 8 4 4 4 7 6 6 3 4 3 4 6 5 4 4 3 2 3 4 5 3 0 0 1 1
 South Africa 6 8 6 8 9 7 6 5 5 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 5 5 3 3 2 2 3
 Spain 6 5 4 4 5 4 4 3 2 5 2 3 4 3 2 3 1 4 3 3 3 3 4 4 2
 Japan 4 6 8 8 8 3 5 5 4 4 5 9 9 7 5 5 6 7 3 3 5 4 4 5 8
 South Korea 4 4 4 2 1 2 3 2 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Scotland 4 2 2 0 0 1 1 1 3 3 2 5 4 3 3 3 3 2 4 4 3 4 4 3 3
 Denmark 3 2 2 3 3 3 1 1 2 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Northern Ireland 2 3 3 2 4 0 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 2 2 2 2 1
 Italy 2 3 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
 Germany 2 1 1 1 1 2 0 1 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
 Ireland 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 3 1 1 2 3 1 0 0 1 1 3 2 2
 Thailand 2 0 1 2 2 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 India 2 0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Wales 1 1 2 0 0 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
 Fiji 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
 Belgium 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Austria 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Zimbabwe 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 3 3 2 3 2 3
 France 0 1 2 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Colombia 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Netherlands 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Argentina 0 0 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 3 4 4 3 2 1 1 0 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 0
 China 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Canada 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
 New Zealand 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 4 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 0 0
 Taiwan 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
 Finland 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Paraguay 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Trinidad and Tobago 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Philippines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Namibia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

A breakdown of the year-end top-100 by eligibility for the major team competitions: Ryder Cup (USA vs. Europe) and Presidents Cup (USA vs. non-European international team).

Team 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986*
United States 31 37 32 32 31 34 39 41 41 49 47 48 51 56 55 56 58 56 52 49 53 60 58 55 59 59 59
Europe 40 33 36 29 30 30 28 28 27 25 23 25 23 19 18 19 18 20 25 27 21 17 18 20 16 15 17
International 29 30 32 39 39 36 33 31 32 26 30 27 26 25 27 25 24 24 23 24 26 23 24 25 25 26 25

*Two men tied for 100th place.
Note: The Presidents Cup was founded in 1994.

Rankings archive[edit]

Year end world number 1 ranked golfers[edit]

Mark H. McCormack Award[edit]

Awarded to the player with the most weeks at number 1 during calendar year and named after Mark McCormack, originator of the ranking.

Year end world top 10 players[edit]

See History section above for notes on changes to method of calculation.

Rank 2012 2011 2010
1 Rory McIlroy 13.22 Luke Donald 10.03 Lee Westwood 9.24
2 Luke Donald 8.62 Lee Westwood 8.06 Tiger Woods 7.88
3 Tiger Woods 8.53 Rory McIlroy 7.77 Martin Kaymer 7.26
4 Justin Rose 6.42 Martin Kaymer 6.55 Phil Mickelson 6.70
5 Adam Scott 6.21 Adam Scott 5.50 Jim Furyk 6.22
6 Louis Oosthuizen 6.14 Steve Stricker 5.33 Graeme McDowell 6.18
7 Lee Westwood 6.03 Dustin Johnson 5.27 Steve Stricker 6.11
8 Bubba Watson 5.29 Jason Day 5.07 Paul Casey 5.90
9 Jason Dufner 5.29 Charl Schwartzel 5.06 Luke Donald 5.65
10 Brandt Snedeker 5.23 Webb Simpson 5.03 Rory McIlroy 5.60
Rank 2009 2008 2007
1 Tiger Woods 14.67 Tiger Woods 11.97 Tiger Woods 19.62
2 Phil Mickelson 8.26 Sergio García 8.10 Phil Mickelson 8.72
3 Steve Stricker 6.67 Phil Mickelson 7.03 Jim Furyk 6.55
4 Lee Westwood 6.60 Pádraig Harrington 6.95 Ernie Els 6.51
5 Pádraig Harrington 5.55 Vijay Singh 6.65 Steve Stricker 6.45
6 Jim Furyk 5.53 Robert Karlsson 5.09 Justin Rose 6.00
7 Paul Casey 5.36 Camilo Villegas 4.90 Adam Scott 5.81
8 Henrik Stenson 5.33 Henrik Stenson 4.77 Pádraig Harrington 5.57
9 Rory McIlroy 4.86 Ernie Els 4.77 K.J. Choi 5.15
10 Kenny Perry 4.72 Lee Westwood 4.73 Vijay Singh 5.08
Rank 2006 2005 2004
1 Tiger Woods 20.41 Tiger Woods 17.16 Vijay Singh 12.79
2 Jim Furyk 8.88 Vijay Singh 9.78 Tiger Woods 11.60
3 Phil Mickelson 7.17 Phil Mickelson 8.14 Ernie Els 10.98
4 Adam Scott 7.03 Retief Goosen 8.10 Retief Goosen 7.47
5 Ernie Els 6.05 Ernie Els 8.03 Phil Mickelson 7.00
6 Retief Goosen 5.61 Sergio García 7.23 Pádraig Harrington 5.55
7 Vijay Singh 5.58 Jim Furyk 5.80 Sergio García 5.40
8 Pádraig Harrington 5.46 Colin Montgomerie 4.78 Mike Weir 5.40
9 Luke Donald 5.25 Adam Scott 4.68 Davis Love III 5.38
10 Geoff Ogilvy 5.21 Chris DiMarco 4.58 Stewart Cink 4.65
Rank 2003 2002 2001
1 Tiger Woods 14.58 Tiger Woods 15.72 Tiger Woods 15.67
2 Vijay Singh 9.77 Phil Mickelson 7.72 Phil Mickelson 9.16
3 Ernie Els 8.41 Ernie Els 6.84 David Duval 7.98
4 Davis Love III 7.53 Sergio García 6.19 Ernie Els 6.99
5 Jim Furyk 6.81 Retief Goosen 6.16 Davis Love III 6.02
6 Mike Weir 6.54 David Toms 6.02 Sergio García 5.86
7 Retief Goosen 5.92 Pádraig Harrington 5.63 David Toms 5.83
8 Pádraig Harrington 5.28 Vijay Singh 5.53 Vijay Singh 5.60
9 David Toms 5.09 Davis Love III 4.82 Darren Clarke 5.03
10 Kenny Perry 5.08 Colin Montgomerie 4.39 Retief Goosen 4.95
Rank 2000 1999 1998
1 Tiger Woods 29.40 Tiger Woods 19.98 Tiger Woods 12.30
2 Ernie Els 11.65 David Duval 13.15 Mark O'Meara 10.43
3 David Duval 11.20 Colin Montgomerie 10.36 David Duval 9.67
4 Phil Mickelson 11.07 Davis Love III 9.48 Davis Love III 9.43
5 Lee Westwood 9.46 Ernie Els 8.64 Ernie Els 9.18
6 Colin Montgomerie 8.34 Lee Westwood 7.85 Nick Price 8.98
7 Davis Love III 7.88 Vijay Singh 7.82 Colin Montgomerie 8.91
8 Hal Sutton 7.71 Nick Price 7.20 Lee Westwood 8.65
9 Vijay Singh 7.17 Phil Mickelson 6.58 Vijay Singh 8.51
10 Tom Lehman 7.10 Mark O'Meara 6.52 Phil Mickelson 7.76
Rank 1997 1996 1995 [1]
1 Greg Norman 11.49 Greg Norman 10.78 Greg Norman 21.93
2 Tiger Woods 10.76 Tom Lehman 9.74 Nick Price 16.34
3 Nick Price 9.93 Colin Montgomerie 9.10 Bernhard Langer 15.64
4 Ernie Els 9.89 Ernie Els 8.60 Ernie Els 14.66
5 Davis Love III 9.09 Fred Couples 8.16 Colin Montgomerie 14.00
6 Phil Mickelson 8.73 Nick Faldo 7.98 Nick Faldo 13.94
7 Colin Montgomerie 8.58 Phil Mickelson 7.77 Corey Pavin 13.47
8 Masashi Ozaki 8.05 Masashi Ozaki 7.58 Fred Couples 11.02
9 Tom Lehman 8.02 Davis Love III 7.53 Masashi Ozaki 10.82
10 Mark O'Meara 7.98 Mark O'Meara 7.12 Steve Elkington 10.43
Rank 1994 [2] 1993 [3] 1992 [4]
1 Nick Price 21.30 Nick Faldo 20.65 Nick Faldo 23.54
2 Greg Norman 20.68 Greg Norman 18.79 Fred Couples 16.27
3 Nick Faldo 16.78 Bernhard Langer 17.19 Ian Woosnam 13.14
4 Bernhard Langer 15.66 Nick Price 15.89 José María Olazábal 12.87
5 José María Olazábal 15.18 Fred Couples 14.93 Greg Norman 12.63
6 Fred Couples 13.74 Paul Azinger 14.59 Bernhard Langer 12.44
7 Ernie Els 13.57 Ian Woosnam 11.41 John Cook 11.68
8 Colin Montgomerie 12.38 Tom Kite 10.07 Nick Price 11.51
9 Masashi Ozaki 11.39 Davis Love III 9.61 Paul Azinger 10.83
10 Corey Pavin 10.87 Corey Pavin 9.59 Davis Love III 10.75
Rank 1991 [5] 1990 [6] 1989 [7]
1 Ian Woosnam 17.11 Greg Norman 18.95 Greg Norman 17.76
2 Nick Faldo 15.34 Nick Faldo 18.54 Nick Faldo 16.25
3 José María Olazábal 15.32 José María Olazábal 17.22 Seve Ballesteros 15.03
4 Seve Ballesteros 13.70 Ian Woosnam 15.47 Curtis Strange 13.79
5 Greg Norman 13.11 Payne Stewart 12.75 Payne Stewart 12.82
6 Fred Couples 12.78 Paul Azinger 11.63 Tom Kite 12.41
7 Bernhard Langer 12.59 Seve Ballesteros 10.15 José María Olazábal 12.00
8 Payne Stewart 11.83 Tom Kite 10.10 Mark Calcavecchia 11.81
9 Paul Azinger 10.88 Mark McNulty 10.06 Ian Woosnam 11.56
10 Rodger Davis 8.90 Mark Calcavecchia 9.96 Paul Azinger 10.95
Rank 1988 [8] 1987 [9] 1986 [10]
1 Seve Ballesteros 1458 Greg Norman 1231 Greg Norman 1507
2 Greg Norman 1365 Seve Ballesteros 1169 Bernhard Langer 1181
3 Sandy Lyle 1297 Bernhard Langer 1112 Seve Ballesteros 1175
4 Nick Faldo 1103 Sandy Lyle 879 Tsuneyuki Nakajima 899
5 Curtis Strange 1092 Curtis Strange 873 Andy Bean 694
6 Ben Crenshaw 898 Ian Woosnam 830 Bob Tway 687
7 Ian Woosnam 854 Payne Stewart 717 Hal Sutton 674
8 David Frost 843 Lanny Wadkins 697 Curtis Strange 653
9 Paul Azinger 825 Mark McNulty 673 Payne Stewart 652
10 Mark Calcavecchia 819 Ben Crenshaw 668 Mark O'Meara 639

Single-season total ranking points leaders

Although not recognized by any official award, these golfers have won the most World Ranking Points during the years for which the rankings have been calculated (points totals prior to 1996 are scaled to the current standard, i.e. major wins are worth 100 points):

Year Player Points
1984 Tom Watson 376
1985 Bernhard Langer 368
1986 Greg Norman 582
1987 Seve Ballesteros
Ian Woosnam		 326
1988 Seve Ballesteros 482
1989 Greg Norman 422
1990 José María Olazábal 466
1991 Seve Ballesteros 392
1992 Nick Faldo 596
1993 Greg Norman 492
1994 Ernie Els 554
1995 Greg Norman 430
1996 Tom Lehman 370
1997 Ernie Els 394
1998 Mark O'Meara 408
1999 Tiger Woods 750
2000 Tiger Woods 948.22
2001 Tiger Woods 568.11
2002 Tiger Woods 684.00
2003 Vijay Singh 550.87
2004 Vijay Singh 707.57
2005 Tiger Woods 772.44
2006 Tiger Woods 746.28
2007 Tiger Woods 689.60
2008 Tiger Woods 426.24
2009 Tiger Woods 604.54
2010 Lee Westwood 374.21
2011 Luke Donald 533.49
2012 Rory McIlroy 596.99

World Money List[edit]

Since 1996, the International Federation of PGA Tours has sanctioned a World Money List [11] which is the total official money earned by a player on all member tours. It is computed in United States dollars. The yearly leaders are listed below.

Year Player Events Earnings ($)
2012 Rory McIlroy 24 10,961,511
2011 Luke Donald 27 9,371,748
2010 Luke Donald 28 5,867,601
2009 Tiger Woods 19 10,948,054
2008 Sergio García 26 6,979,959
2007 Tiger Woods 17 11,002,706
2006 Tiger Woods 19 11,141,827
2005 Tiger Woods 23 11,515,939
2004 Vijay Singh 32 11,104,892
2003 Vijay Singh 28 7,639,461
2002 Tiger Woods 21 7,392,188
2001 Tiger Woods 21 6,213,229
2000 Tiger Woods 22 9,501,387
1999 Tiger Woods 23 6,981,836
1998 David Duval 24 2,680,489
1997 Tiger Woods 22 2,082,381
1996 Masashi Ozaki 21 1,944,034

See also[edit]

Notes and references[edit]

  1. ^ "Ranking Points Incentive For Asian Development Tour Hopefuls". January 29, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2013. 
  2. ^ Structure of Ranking Points and Rating Values from January 1 2012
  3. ^ Thailand Golf Championship 2011
  4. ^ "Official World Golf Ranking Board Announces Adjustments To Ranking System". July 25, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2012. 
  5. ^ Official World Golf Ranking Week 33/2011 August 14, 2011
  6. ^ Official World Golf Ranking Week 29/2011 July 17, 2011
  7. ^ Official World Golf Ranking Week 15/2011 April 10, 2011
  8. ^ Official World Golf Ranking Week 25/2011 June 19, 2011
  9. ^ Official World Golf Ranking Week 32/2011 August 7, 2011
  10. ^ Official World Golf Ranking Week 9/2011 February 27, 2011
  11. ^ Official World Golf Ranking Week 20/2011 May 15, 2011
  12. ^ Official World Golf Ranking Week 11/2011 March 13, 2011
  13. ^ Official World Golf Ranking Week 35/2011 August 28, 2011
  14. ^ Official World Golf Ranking Week 36/2011 September 4, 2011
  15. ^ Official World Golf Ranking Week 38/2011 September 18, 2011
  16. ^ Official World Golf Ranking Week 8/2011 February 20, 2011
  17. ^ Official World Golf Ranking Week 45/2011 November 6, 2011
  18. ^ Official World Golf Ranking Week 23/2011 June 5, 2011
  19. ^ Official World Golf Ranking Week 22/2011 May 29, 2011
  20. ^ Official World Ranking Board Approves Introduction of Maximum Divisor July 15, 2009
  21. ^ "U.S. Open to expand world-ranking use". ESPN. Associated Press. February 5, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2011. 
  22. ^ "PGA Championship field to include 93 of top 100 players". PGA of America. August 2, 2005. Retrieved August 2, 2012. 
  23. ^ "For Woods and Mickelson, Medinah means everything". PGA of America. Associated Press. August 13, 2006. Retrieved August 2, 2012. 
  24. ^ "Kiawah's got talent". PGA of America. August 2, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2012. 
  25. ^ Official World Golf Ranking in the World
  26. ^ OWGR, Week 37, September 16, 2007
  27. ^ Official World Golf Ranking - Top Tens, Golf Today February 4, 2007.
  28. ^ 69 Players Who Have Reached the Top-10 in World Ranking, Official World Golf Ranking official site, December 31, 2007.
  29. ^ "Players who have reached the Top Ten in the Official World Golf Ranking since 1986" (PDF). European Tour Official Guide 09 (38th ed.). PGA European Tour. 2009. p. 558. Retrieved January 16, 2009. 
  30. ^ "Tiger Woods Wins Seventh Consecutive Mark H. McCormack Award". March 16, 2005. Retrieved March 24, 2012. 

External links[edit]
Principal tours
Other tours carrying ranking points
Third tier tours
Other tours
Senior tours
Sport world rankings
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