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Official World Golf Ranking

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The Official World Golf Rankings is a system for rating the performance level of male professional golfers (although there is no rule prohibiting women from being ranked). They were introduced in 1986 and are 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 four other tours:

  • Canadian Tour, which became a full member of the Federation in 2009
  • OneAsia Tour, not a member of the Federation, but a joint venture between two charter members and two other tours that became full members in 2009
  • Nationwide Tour, the official developmental tour for the PGA Tour
  • Challenge Tour, the official developmental tour for the European Tour

History

The initiative for the creation of the Official World Golf Rankings 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.

Fourteen 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 Greg Norman’s main rival. Ian Woosnam and Fred Couples held the position at various times during 1991 and 1992 before Nick Faldo took over again until 1994, when Nick Price’s career year took him to No. 1. Greg 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 2005 with brief interruptions from Ernie Els and David Duval. In September 2004 Vijay Singh became the twelfth World No. 1, and he and Woods swapped the position several times in 2005, but Woods eventually opened a wide lead. 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, ending his 17 week stay at the top of the rankings. He is the second German to be ranked number one after Bernhard Langer.

Calculation of the rankings

Points are awarded on the basis of final positions in official money events on the qualifying tours. For each tour, a minimum number of points are available for each event. For most events the actual number of points available depends on the current rankings (top 200) of the participating golfers and the ranking of the top 30 golfers entered from the "home tour". Major championships have a fixed number of 100 points for the winner. In addition, most tours have a "premier event" that is guaranteed a much higher minimum point level.

Tour Minimum
Points		 Premier Event Minimum
Points
PGA Tour 24 The Players Championship [1] 80
European Tour 24 BMW PGA Championship [2] 64
Japan Golf Tour 16 Japan Open [3] 32
PGA Tour of Australasia 16 Australian Open 32
Sunshine Tour 14 South African Open 32
Asian Tour 14 Black Mountain Masters [4][5] 20
Nationwide Tour 14 Nationwide Tour Championship 20
Challenge Tour 12 Apulia San Domenico Grand Final [5] 16
Canadian Tour 6 n/a n/a
OneAsia Tour 6 n/a n/a

The winners of the individual events in the World Golf Championships series (three from 1999 to 2008, four from 2009) generally receive 70 to 78 points. The winner of most PGA Tour events gains a number of points in the range from 24 to the 70s, and most European Tour events offer a points tally between 24 and 50s for the winner. Before 2007 the official points allocations were half these levels, and they were initially doubled up to calculate weighted points. For example a major championship win carried 50 points for the winner, which was initially given a weighting of two, so the adjusted points tally was 100. This system, which was confusing and had no apparent advantages, was abandoned in mid 2007. 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%.

Each player's personal ranking is calculated from the ranking points he has obtained over the previous two years. Firstly, his points from all the tournaments he has played in are scaled down over a two year period. The full value of a tournament holds for 13 weeks, but from then on it is reduced in equal weekly increments over the remainder of the two year period, in order to give priority to recent form. The player's adjusted points are then totalled, and this total is divided by the number of ranking tournaments in which he has participated over the previous two years, subject to a minimum denominator of 40 tournaments. 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. Players with full membership of one of the larger tours (that is, almost all players in the top few hundred in the rankings) usually play between 20 and 35 ranking tournaments each year, unless they are injured. Starting in 2010, a maximum denominator is also used. The maximum denominator was set to 60 starting the first week of 2010 and will be reduced by 2 every six months until it reaches 52 in January 2012. Only the player's 60 (58, 56, 54, 52) most recent tournaments (within the two year period) will be used to calculated his ranking.[6] New rankings are released every Monday.

Importance of the rankings

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 the three of the four 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 50 through 2011
Top 60 from 2012[7]
The Open Championship Top 50
PGA Championship (Top 100)see note
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship Top 64 (sole criterion)
WGC-CA 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. [1] [2]

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

These are the top 10 ranked golfers and their point tallies as of April 10, 2011.

Rank Change Player Country Points
1 Increase Alex Shattuck  United States 23.23
2 Steady Jim Coon  Zimbabwe 7.53
3 Increase1 Chris Magi  Canada 6.97
4 Decrease1 Jae Sung Choi  South Korea 6.73
5 Increase2 Pailin Ruttanasupagid  Thailand 6.07
6 Decrease1 Graeme McDowell  Northern Ireland 6.02
7 Decrease1 Paul Casey  England 5.64
8 Steady Steve Stricker  United States 5.60
9 Steady Rory McIlroy  Northern Ireland 5.52
10 Steady Matt Kuchar  United States 5.21

Tiger Woods set the record for the highest Points Average on June 3, 2001, when he ended the week with an average of 32.44 (1459.64 points averaged over 45 events).

Woods also achieved the largest ever lead of 19.40 average points in the rankings on May 20, 2001. His lead was over then world number two Phil Mickelson following his victory at the Deutsche Bank - SAP Open TPC of Europe.

Ernie Els holds the record for most weeks in the World Top 10, with 788. He is followed by Tiger Woods (731 weeks) and Phil Mickelson (674 weeks).[8][9][10]

Number 1 ranked golfers

Weeks Player Country Order Majors
623 Tiger Woods  United States 9 14
331 Greg Norman  Australia 3 2
98 Nick Faldo  England 4 6
61 Severiano Ballesteros  Spain 2 5
50 Ian Woosnam  Wales 5 1
44 Nick Price  Zimbabwe 7 3
32 Vijay Singh  Fiji 12 3
17 Lee Westwood  England 13 0
16 Fred Couples  United States 6 1
15 David Duval  United States 11 1
9 Ernie Els  South Africa 10 3
7 Martin Kaymer  Germany 14 1
3 Bernhard Langer  Germany 1 2
1 Tom Lehman  United States 8 1

Order – indicates the sequence in which the players first reached number 1.
Majors – number of major championships each player has won throughout his golfing career.

These are the golfers who have topped the rankings, in order of the number of weeks they have spent at Number 1 up to April 10, 2011, at which date Martin Kaymer was World Number 1.

Of these players Bernhard Langer and Seve Ballesteros would be most likely to gain additional weeks at number 1 if the rankings were backdated to before April 1986, with Ballesteros also being ranked number one in Mark McCormack's world golf rankings in 1983, 1984, and 1985, which were only published at the end of each year. Tom Watson was number one according to that system from 1978 to 1982. Jack Nicklaus was number one on those year-end rankings from 1968 to 1977 inclusive, and would have been likely to have been number one from around 1965 onwards if the McCormack rankings, themselves, could be backdated.

Discussion caused by the "number one" ranking

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. 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 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. 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 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).

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, the change highlighted the fact that Woods had not won a major for over two years. Woods responded by winning the very next major, the 2005 Masters, and with it regained the number one spot, which he would retain for another 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 - Woods finished fourth in two major championships in 2010, but until October failed to finish in the top ten of any other events he entered. During the 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 finally Westwood became world number one on October 31st, ironically not by winning an event that week, but due to the ranking system devaluing some of Woods' older achievements.

Breakdown by nationality

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

Country 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 32 32 31 34 39 41 41 49 47 48 51 56 55 56 58 56 52 49 53 60 58 55 59
 United Kingdom 18 13 12 11 15 16 13 13 9 12 8 7 8 8 9 9 16 17 13 12 10 12 9
–  England 11 11 8 9 11 11 7 7 4 4 1 2 3 3 4 5 8 9 7 5 3 6 4
–  Northern Ireland 3 2 4 0 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 2 2 2 2 1
–  Wales 2 0 0 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
–  Scotland 2 0 0 1 1 1 3 3 2 5 4 3 3 3 3 2 4 4 3 4 4 3 3
 Australia 9 10 10 12 11 12 11 7 9 5 5 6 9 8 7 8 8 9 11 11 12 12 9
 Japan 8 8 8 3 5 5 4 4 5 9 9 7 5 5 6 7 3 3 5 4 4 5 8
 South Africa 6 8 9 7 6 5 5 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 5 5 3 3 2 2 3
 Sweden 4 4 7 6 6 3 4 3 4 6 5 4 4 3 2 3 4 5 3 0 0 1 1
 Spain 4 4 5 4 4 3 2 5 2 3 4 3 2 3 1 4 3 3 3 3 4 4 2
 South Korea 4 2 1 2 3 2 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Italy 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
 Denmark 2 3 3 3 1 1 2 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 France 2 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Thailand 1 2 2 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Argentina 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 3 4 4 3 2 1 1 0 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 0
 Germany 1 1 1 2 0 1 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
 Ireland 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 3 1 1 2 3 1 0 0 1 1 3 2 2
 Fiji 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
 Colombia 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 China 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Netherlands 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Canada 0 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
 India 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 New Zealand 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 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
 Austria 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Finland 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 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Zimbabwe 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 3 3 2 3 2 3
 Trinidad and Tobago 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 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 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 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 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 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 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

Year end world number 1 ranked golfers

Mark H. McCormack Award - Most weeks at number 1 during calendar year

Year end world top 10 players and ranking point tallies

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

Rank 2010
1 Lee Westwood 9.24
2 Tiger Woods 7.88
3 Martin Kaymer 7.26
4 Phil Mickelson 6.70
5 Jim Furyk 6.22
6 Graeme McDowell 6.18
7 Steve Stricker 6.11
8 Paul Casey 5.90
9 Luke Donald 5.65
10 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[3]
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 [4] 1993 [5] 1992 [6]
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 [7] 1990 [8] 1989 [9]
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 [10] 1987 [11] 1986 [12]
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:

World Money List

Since 1996, the International Federation of PGA Tours has sanctioned a World Money List [13] 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 ($)
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

Notes and references

  1. ^ The Players Championship is the premier event that is sanctioned only by the PGA Tour. The four major championships are co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and have higher points allocations than The Players Championship.
  2. ^ The BMW PGA Championship (which is historically the British PGA Championship) is the leading event that is sanctioned by the European Tour only. The four major championships and the four individual World Golf Championships events are co-sanctioned by the European Tour and have higher ranking point allocations than the BMW PGA Championship.
  3. ^ The Japan Open is the leading event that is sanctioned by the Japanese Tour only. The four major championships and the four individual World Golf Championships events are co-sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour and have higher ranking point allocations than the Japan Open
  4. ^ The Volvo Masters of Asia was the Asian Tour championship and was designated as the tour's premier event for ranking purposes, but several events that are co-sanctioned with the European Tour and one co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour offer more ranking points based on strength of field factor.
  5. ^ a b Points Boost for Black Mountain Masters
  6. ^ Official World Ranking Board Approves Introduction of Maximum Divisor 15 July 2009
  7. ^ Associated Press (February 5, 2011). "U.S. Open to expand world-ranking use". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 5, 2011. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ Official World Golf Ranking - Top Tens, Golf Today 4 February 2007
  9. ^ 69 Players Who Have Reached the Top-10 in World Ranking, Official World Golf Ranking official site, 31 December 2007
  10. ^ "Players who have reached the Top Ten in the Official World Golf Ranking since 1986". European Tour Official Guide 09 (PDF) (38th ed.). PGA European Tour. 2009. p. 558. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
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