Official World Golf Ranking

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 69.14.230.248 (talk) at 22:30, 14 August 2020. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986.

The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling" two-year period. New rankings are produced each week. During 2018, nearly 400 tournaments on 20 tours were covered by the ranking system. All players competing in these tournaments are included in the rankings. In 2019, 23 tours factored into the world rankings.

As well as being of general interest, the rankings have an additional importance, in that they are used as one of the qualifying criteria for entry into a number of leading tournaments.

Tours included in the rankings

The ranking system 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 other tours:

Starting in 2012, some events received points that had not previously received any. These were the Sunshine Tour "Winter Series" and the PGA Tour of Australasia "State Based and Regional Tournaments".[8]

Previous tours:

History

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 (three in 1986), 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 and the minimum number of events reduced from 60 to 40. 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.

In 2010, a maximum number of tournaments was introduced as well as the minimum of 40. 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 since 2012 only the player's 52 most recent tournaments (within the two-year period) are used to calculate his ranking average.[11]

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.

Calculation of the rankings

Source:[12]

Simply put, a golfer's World Ranking is obtained by dividing their points total by the number of events they have played, which gives their average. Players are then ranked according to their average, highest first.

Event ranking

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 No. 1 is allocated 45, the No. 2 is allocated 37, the No. 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. Most tours use earnings lists for their top 30, but the PGA Tour currently uses the FedEx points list calculated after the playoffs. Major championships and WGC events use the current world top 30 list. The home tour No. 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 give a "Strength of Field" value. This is then converted into an event ranking using a table. As examples, a strength of field value of 10 converts to an event ranking of 8, a strength of field value of 100 converts to an event ranking of 24, while a strength of field value of 500 converts to an event ranking of 62.[12]

Major championships have a fixed event ranking of 100 points. For each tour, there is a minimum ranking for each event. In addition, some 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 Indonesian Masters* 20
Korn Ferry Tour 14 Korn Ferry Tour Championship 20
Challenge Tour 12 Challenge Tour Grand Final 17
Korean Tour 9 n/a n/a
PGA Tour Canada 6 n/a n/a
PGA Tour Latinoamérica 6 n/a n/a
Asian Development Tour 6 n/a n/a
PGA Tour China 4/6 n/a n/a
China Tour 4/6 n/a n/a
Alps Tour 4/6 n/a n/a
Nordic Golf League 4/6 n/a n/a
PGA EuroPro Tour 4/6 n/a n/a
ProGolf Tour 4/6 n/a n/a
MENA Golf Tour 3/5 n/a n/a
Big Easy Tour 3/5 n/a n/a
All Thailand Golf Tour 5 n/a n/a
Professional Golf Tour of India 5 n/a n/a
Japan Challenge Tour 4 n/a n/a

* Previously the Thailand Golf Championship[13]

72-hole tournaments which are reduced to 54 holes retain full points, but if a tournament is reduced to 36 holes, its points allocation is reduced by 25%. 54-hole tournaments reduced to 36 holes retain full points.

The events with the highest "Strength of Field" in 2019 are shown in the following table.[14]

Date Event World
rating value
Home tour
rating value
Strength
of Field
Event
ranking
Field
size
Winner Rank
May 19 PGA Championship 830 71 901 100 156 Brooks Koepka 3
Jul 21 The Open Championship 823 75 898 100 156 Shane Lowry 33
Mar 17 The Players Championship 807 75 882 80 144 Rory McIlroy 4
Jun 16 U.S. Open 763 75 838 100 156 Gary Woodland 25
Apr 14 Masters Tournament 721 75 796 100 87 Tiger Woods 6
Aug 11 The Northern Trust 720 74 794 76 121 Patrick Reed 24
Mar 31 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play 710 71 781 76 64 Kevin Kisner 25
Feb 24 WGC-Mexico Championship 657 63 720 72 72 Dustin Johnson 2
Aug 18 BMW Championship 644 65 709 72 69 Justin Thomas 10
Jul 28 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational 624 64 688 72 63 Brooks Koepka 1
Jun 2 The Memorial Tournament 541 55 596 68 120 Patrick Cantlay 15
Mar 10 Arnold Palmer Invitational 502 43 545 64 123 Francesco Molinari 7
Feb 17 Genesis Open 491 51 542 64 144 J. B. Holmes 42
Oct 27 Zozo Championship 470 56 526 64 78 Tiger Woods 8
Aug 25 Tour Championship 444 48 492 60 30 Rory McIlroy 3
Nov 3 WGC-HSBC Champions 452 32 484 60 78 Rory McIlroy 2
Jan 27 Farmers Insurance Open 433 46 479 60 156 Justin Rose 1
Apr 21 RBC Heritage 430 30 460 58 132 Pan Cheng-tsung 55
Jun 23 Travelers Championship 402 34 436 58 156 Chez Reavie 48
Feb 3 Waste Management Phoenix Open 392 35 427 56 132 Rickie Fowler 8
Sep 22 BMW PGA Championship 350 66 416 64 132 Danny Willett 60
Jan 6 Sentry Tournament of Champions 361 45 406 56 33 Xander Schauffele 6
Oct 6 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open 365 33 398 54 144 Kevin Na 40
May 26 Charles Schwab Challenge 347 30 377 54 120 Kevin Na 52
Oct 20 CJ Cup 341 27 368 52 78 Justin Thomas 6
Nov 24 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai 319 48 367 52 60 Jon Rahm 4
May 5 Wells Fargo Championship 307 31 338 50 156 Max Homa 417
Jan 13 Sony Open in Hawaii 311 27 338 50 144 Matt Kuchar 22
Sep 29 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship 274 49 323 50 168 Victor Perez 183
Mar 24 Valspar Championship 302 20 322 50 144 Paul Casey 11

Rank refers to the player's world ranking before the event.

Player rankings

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. Where there is a tie for the final scoring place, those players are guaranteed to receive at least 1.2 points. Using the above example, if there were two or more players tied for 12th place, each would receive 1.2 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

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

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. There is also a maximum of 52 tournaments, which means that only the player's 52 most recent tournaments (within the two-year period) are used.

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

A professional golfer's ranking is of considerable significance to his career. Currently a ranking in the World Top 50 grants automatic entry to all the majors and World Golf Championships; see table below. In addition, rankings are the main criterion for selection for the International Team in the Presidents Cup, while ranking points are 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
Masters Tournament Top 50
U.S. Open Top 60[15]
The Open Championship Top 50
PGA Championship (Top 100)see note
WGC-Dell Match Play Top 64 (sole criterion)
WGC-Cadillac Championship Top 50
WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Top 50
WGC-HSBC Champions Top 50
The Players Championship Top 50
Summer Olympics (2016) Top 60see note

Note: The PGA Championship does not have an official automatic entry based on the Official World Golf Ranking. However, the PGA of America invites additional players, and traditionally 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.[16][17][18]

At the 2016 Summer Olympics, the top-15 world-ranked players will be eligible, with a limit of four players from a given country. Beyond the top-15, players will be eligible based on the world rankings, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top-15. Within the 60 players participating, each of the five continents of the Olympic Movement will be guaranteed at least one player and the host nation will be guaranteed one player.[19]

Timeline of the "number one" ranking

The first official ranking list was published prior to the Masters in April 1986, with Bernhard Langer the first world No. 1 ranked player, ahead of Seve Ballesteros, who had topped the unofficial McCormack's World Golf Rankings at the end of the previous year. Ballesteros briefly held the No. 1 spot after Langer, before Greg Norman's worldwide success over the rest of that season made him the first year-end No. 1. Ballesteros took the No. 1 position back from Norman in 1987, and the pair exchanged the No. 1 position several times over the next two years. During 1990, Nick Faldo remained ranked just behind Norman despite winning three majors in two years (and more world ranking points in total than his rival, albeit having entered more events). 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 No. 1 position (on the new "average points" system) had some justification. Faldo did inherit the No. 1 ranking for the first time early in 1991.

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 No. 1 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 No. 1 ranking shortly before the 1992 Masters, then also went on to make that tournament his first major victory. Faldo's Open victory in 1992 lifted him back to the No. 1 position, and he held that spot until replaced by Nick Price, who in 1994 became the first African ranked No. 1 after his back-to-back major victories that summer.

By 1996, Greg Norman had regained the top spot and ended 1996 and 1997 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. Lehman, Els and Woods would all briefly become No. 1 during 1997, Lehman for a week – to date, the only player to hold the No. 1 ranking for just one week. In 1996, Colin Montgomerie also led the rankings in total points earned over the two-year period (but never on average points per event); in 1997 Els was top of a similar "total points" list. Those were the last occasions on which a player led on "total" points but not average points until 2016, when Dustin Johnson similarly had more points in total than the world number one Jason Day. Woods then finished 1998 narrowly ahead of Mark O'Meara even though the latter won two major titles that year while Woods won just once on the PGA Tour. In March 1999, David Duval became world No. 1 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 No. 1 spot for the following five years, but when Vijay Singh won the PGA Championship in 2004 and with it took the No. 1 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 No. 1 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 No. 1 on the ranking system in December 2008.

During 2010, there was much debate as to whether Woods' continued retention of the No. 1 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 No. 1 spot - including Masters champion Phil Mickelson (who had won four majors since 2004 but had yet to reach No. 1 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 No. 1 on October 31.

During 2011, the possession of the No. 1 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, who took No. 1 spot by defeating Westwood in a playoff for the BMW PGA Championship. Donald, in becoming the fifteenth world No. 1, also became the first ever to reach No. 1 before having won or finished runner-up in a major championship in his career. Donald's position at the top of the rankings was justified by his 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.

In March 2012, Donald lost the No. 1 position to Rory McIlroy; the pair then exchanged the No. 1 position a further four times in the following two months, so the volatility of the No. 1 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. Woods then suffered a back injury that sidelined him for the early part of 2014, and in his absence, Adam Scott, winner of the 2013 Masters, became the 17th world No. 1 on May 18, despite not winning an event in 2014 to that date; he would win the following week to secure his No. 1 position and avoid following Tom Lehman as a one-week No. 1. He held the No. 1 position until August 3, when McIlroy regained the top spot by following his Open Championship victory with another at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

On August 16, 2015, following Jordan Spieth's second-place finish at the 2015 PGA Championship (that followed earlier wins at the Masters and the U.S. Open), Spieth became the 18th world No. 1. Over the following three weeks, the No. 1 spot passed back and forth between McIlroy and Spieth, due to the way each player's average points (which were almost identical) fluctuated (as their point weightings and events played divisors changed), until, on September 20, both were overtaken by Jason Day, the 2015 PGA Championship winner, who became the 19th world No. 1 with victory in the BMW Championship, his fifth of the season. A week later, Spieth regained the No. 1 spot from Day after winning the Tour Championship (and with it, the FedEx Cup), and concluded 2015 as world No. 1, but Day's continued good form took him back to number one after winning the WGC Matchplay in March 2016.

On February 19, 2017, Dustin Johnson became the 20th player to reach number one in the rankings following his victory at the Genesis Open. He would remain number one for over a year before being overtaken in May 2018 by Justin Thomas, who had won the PGA championship and four other events in 2017. Johnson regained top spot but was overtaken again in September 2018 by Justin Rose, who had finished second at the Open and again in two FedEx Cup playoff events. Rose became the 22nd player to reach number one, and the fourth Englishman. Johnson regained the number one position from Rose but was replaced by a new number one for a third time in 2018 on October 21, when Brooks Koepka added victory in the CJ Cup to his two 2018 major titles. Koepka remained number one on the ranking at the end of 2018, even though Rose had amassed a higher total of ranking points (from more events entered). Dustin Johnson regained the number one position early in 2019 with victory at the WGC-Mexico Championship, but Koepka returned to number one when he retained his PGA Championship title in May 2019. Koepka remained number one at the end of 2019, although FedEx Cup winner Rory McIlroy had (like Rose the year before) amassed more ranking points in total than him.

On February 9, 2020, McIlroy regained the number one position as his higher 2019 points total became reflected in the weighted average. Following the resumption of golf on the PGA Tour after suspension due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Jon Rahm became the 24th player to top the world rankings, and the second Spaniard, on July 19 after his victory at the Memorial Tournament, his fourth worldwide win in twelve months. Rahm became the second player after Luke Donald to become world number one before having won or been runner-up in a major championship.

Rankings archive

Year-end world number 1 ranked golfers

Mark H. McCormack Award

Awarded to the player with the most weeks at No. 1 during calendar year and named after Mark McCormack, originator of the ranking.

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
1983 Seve Ballesteros 422
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
2013 Tiger Woods 488.25
2014 Rory McIlroy 567.77
2015 Jordan Spieth 630.50
2016 Dustin Johnson 454.20
2017 Jordan Spieth 450.43
2018 Bryson DeChambeau 392.43
2019 Rory McIlroy 496.25

Breakdown by nationality

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

Country 20
19
20
18
20
17
20
16
20
15
20
14
20
13
20
12
20
11
20
10
20
09
20
08
20
07
20
06
20
05
20
04
20
03
20
02
20
01
20
00
19
99
19
98
19
97
19
96
19
95
19
94
19
93
19
92
19
91
19
90
19
89
19
88
19
87*
19
86*
 United States 39 45 48 42 40 38 40 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
 England 12 13 10 12 13 8 9 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 3 4
 South Africa 5 6 4 5 5 7 7 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 4 3
 Australia 5 5 5 4 7 8 6 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 8 7
 South Korea 5 3 4 5 2 1 2 4 4 4 2 1 2 3 2 3 1 1
 Spain 4 4 3 2 2 4 3 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 4 5
 Japan 3 4 6 6 5 6 5 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 10 10
 Sweden 3 3 2 4 4 3 5 8 4 4 4 7 6 6 3 4 3 4 6 5 4 4 3 2 3 4 5 3 1 1 1 1
 France 3 1 2 1 2 3 2 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 1
 Denmark 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 3 1 1 2 1 3 1 1 1 1 1
 Italy 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
 Canada 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1
 Austria 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
 New Zealand 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 4 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1
 Ireland 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 3 1 1 2 3 1 1 1 3 2 2 1
 Thailand 1 1 1 2 3 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 1
 Northern Ireland 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 4 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1
 Scotland 1 1 1 1 2 4 2 4 2 2 1 1 1 3 3 2 5 4 3 3 3 3 2 4 4 3 4 4 3 3 4 3
 Belgium 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
 China 1 1 1 1 1 1
 Taiwan 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1
 Mexico 1 1
 Chile 1
 Norway 1
 Slovakia 1
 Netherlands 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
 Argentina 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 3 4 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1
 Germany 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
 India 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 2
 Venezuela 1 1
 Wales 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
 Portugal 1
 Zimbabwe 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 3 3 2 3 2 3 3 3
 Finland 1 1 1
 Paraguay 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
 Colombia 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
 Trinidad and Tobago 1
 Philippines 1 1 1 1
 Namibia 1

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).

Region 20
19
20
18
20
17
20
16
20
15
20
14
20
13
20
12
20
11
20
10
20
09
20
08
20
07
20
06
20
05
20
04
20
03
20
02
20
01
20
00
19
99
19
98
19
97
19
96
19
95
19
94
19
93
19
92
19
91
19
90
19
89
19
88
19
87*
19
86*
United States 39 45 48 42 40 38 40 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 35 29 27 31 35 34 35 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 26 26 25 27 25 28 25 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 27 25

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

World Ranking of major championship winners

The table shows the World Rankings of the winners of each major championship in the week before their victory.

Year Masters Tournament U.S. Open The Open Championship PGA Championship
1986 United States Jack Nicklaus 33 United States Raymond Floyd c.20 Australia Greg Norman 3 United States Bob Tway c.25
1987 United States Larry Mize 36 United States Scott Simpson 27 England Nick Faldo 46 United States Larry Nelson 84
1988 Scotland Sandy Lyle 3 United States Curtis Strange 5 Spain Seve Ballesteros 4 United States Jeff Sluman 71
1989 England Nick Faldo 5 United States Curtis Strange 4 United States Mark Calcavecchia 11 United States Payne Stewart 13
1990 England Nick Faldo 2 United States Hale Irwin 90 England Nick Faldo 2 Australia Wayne Grady 55
1991 Wales Ian Woosnam 1 United States Payne Stewart 8 Australia Ian Baker-Finch 25 United States John Daly 168
1992 United States Fred Couples 1 United States Tom Kite 22 England Nick Faldo 2 Zimbabwe Nick Price 15
1993 Germany Bernhard Langer 5 United States Lee Janzen 34 Australia Greg Norman 4 United States Paul Azinger 6
1994 Spain José María Olazábal 10 South Africa Ernie Els 11 Zimbabwe Nick Price 3 Zimbabwe Nick Price 2
1995 United States Ben Crenshaw 33 United States Corey Pavin 9 United States John Daly 109 Australia Steve Elkington 17
1996 England Nick Faldo 9 United States Steve Jones 99 United States Tom Lehman 13 United States Mark Brooks 44
1997 United States Tiger Woods 13 South Africa Ernie Els 8 United States Justin Leonard 19 United States Davis Love III 17
1998 United States Mark O'Meara 14 United States Lee Janzen 42 United States Mark O'Meara 12 Fiji Vijay Singh 18
1999 Spain José María Olazábal 34 United States Payne Stewart 13 Scotland Paul Lawrie 159 United States Tiger Woods 2
2000 Fiji Vijay Singh 8 United States Tiger Woods 1 United States Tiger Woods 1 United States Tiger Woods 1
2001 United States Tiger Woods 1 South Africa Retief Goosen 44 United States David Duval 7 United States David Toms 19
2002 United States Tiger Woods 1 United States Tiger Woods 1 South Africa Ernie Els 3 United States Rich Beem 73
2003 Canada Mike Weir 10 United States Jim Furyk 10 United States Ben Curtis 396 United States Shaun Micheel 169
2004 United States Phil Mickelson 8 South Africa Retief Goosen 9 United States Todd Hamilton 56 Fiji Vijay Singh 3
2005 United States Tiger Woods 2 New Zealand Michael Campbell 80 United States Tiger Woods 1 United States Phil Mickelson 4
2006 United States Phil Mickelson 4 Australia Geoff Ogilvy 17 United States Tiger Woods 1 United States Tiger Woods 1
2007 United States Zach Johnson 56 Argentina Ángel Cabrera 41 Republic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington 10 United States Tiger Woods 1
2008 South Africa Trevor Immelman 29 United States Tiger Woods 1 Republic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington 14 Republic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington 3
2009 Argentina Ángel Cabrera 69 United States Lucas Glover 71 United States Stewart Cink 33 South Korea Yang Yong-eun 110
2010 United States Phil Mickelson 3 Northern Ireland Graeme McDowell 37 South Africa Louis Oosthuizen 54 Germany Martin Kaymer 13
2011 South Africa Charl Schwartzel 29 Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy 8 Northern Ireland Darren Clarke 111 United States Keegan Bradley 108
2012 United States Bubba Watson 16 United States Webb Simpson 14 South Africa Ernie Els 40 Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy 3
2013 Australia Adam Scott 7 England Justin Rose 5 United States Phil Mickelson 5 United States Jason Dufner 21
2014 United States Bubba Watson 12 Germany Martin Kaymer 28 Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy 8 Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy 1
2015 United States Jordan Spieth 4 United States Jordan Spieth 2 United States Zach Johnson 25 Australia Jason Day 5
2016 England Danny Willett 12 United States Dustin Johnson 6 Sweden Henrik Stenson 6 United States Jimmy Walker 48
2017 Spain Sergio García 11 United States Brooks Koepka 22 United States Jordan Spieth 3 United States Justin Thomas 14
2018 United States Patrick Reed 24 United States Brooks Koepka 9 Italy Francesco Molinari 15 United States Brooks Koepka 4
Year Masters Tournament PGA Championship U.S. Open The Open Championship
2019 United States Tiger Woods 12 United States Brooks Koepka 3 United States Gary Woodland 25 Republic of Ireland Shane Lowry 33
2020 United States Collin Morikawa 12 Tournament not held N/A

Note: 2020 events were played in a different order due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Summary

Event Total World
1-10
World
11-50
World
51-100
World
101-200
World
201+
Masters Tournament 34 18 14 2
PGA Championship 35 14 13 4 4
U.S. Open 34 15 15 4
Open Championship 34 16 12 2 3 1
All majors 137 63 54 12 7 1

World Money List

From 1996 to 2012, the International Federation of PGA Tours sanctioned a World Money List [1] which was the total official money earned by a player on all member tours. It was 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

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Ranking Points Incentive For Asian Development Tour Hopefuls". January 29, 2013.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "OWGR – Press Release". November 20, 2013. Archived from the original on November 20, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d "OWGR Board Announce Inclusion of New Tours". OWGR. July 15, 2015.
  4. ^ "OWGR Board Announcement". OWGR. April 15, 2016.
  5. ^ "OWGR Board Announcement". OWGR. August 7, 2017.
  6. ^ "Board Announcement". OWGR. December 22, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c "OWGR Board Announcement". OWGR. July 20, 2018.
  8. ^ "Official World Golf Ranking Board Announces Adjustments To Ranking System". July 25, 2011. Archived from the original on September 25, 2013.
  9. ^ "How the ranking evolved". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  10. ^ "Board Announcement". OWGR. May 2, 2018.
  11. ^ Official World Ranking Board Approves Introduction of Maximum Divisor July 15, 2009
  12. ^ a b "Structure of Ranking Points and Rating Values from September 1 2014" (PDF). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  13. ^ Thailand Golf Championship 2011 Archived 2011-12-22 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ "Events – 2019". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  15. ^ "U.S. Open to expand world-ranking use". ESPN. Associated Press. February 5, 2011.
  16. ^ "PGA Championship field to include 93 of top 100 players". PGA of America. August 2, 2005.
  17. ^ "For Woods and Mickelson, Medinah means everything". PGA of America. Associated Press. August 13, 2006.
  18. ^ "Kiawah's got talent". PGA of America. August 2, 2012.
  19. ^ "Olympic Games - Qualification System". International Golf Federation. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  20. ^ "Tiger Woods Wins Seventh Consecutive Mark H. McCormack Award". March 16, 2005. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.

External links