Jump to content

Official World Golf Ranking

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Tewapack (talk | contribs) at 23:12, 30 November 2016 (→Event ranking). 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 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 other 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. 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.

Calculation of the rankings

Source:[5]

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; a higher average yields a higher rank.

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 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 8, 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) Alfred Dunhill Championship^ 32
Asian Tour 14 Resorts World Manila Masters* 20
Web.com Tour 14 Web.com 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
OneAsia Tour 6 n/a n/a
PGA Tour Latinoamérica 6 n/a n/a
Asian Development Tour 6 n/a n/a
PGA Tour China 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

^ Previously the South African Open * Previously the Thailand Golf Championship[6]

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.[7]

Starting in July 2015, the four third-tier European tours receive points: 6 points for 72-hole events and 4 points for 54-hole events.[3] In April 2016, the Korean Tour's minimum was increased from 6 to 9 points and the MENA Golf Tour was added.[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" in 2015 are shown in the following table.[8]

Date Event World
rating value		 Home tour
rating value		 Total
rating value		 Event
ranking		 Field
size		 Winner Rank
Aug 16 PGA Championship 828 74 902 100 156 Jason Day 5
May 10 The Players Championship 775 75 850 80 144 Rickie Fowler 13
Jun 21 U.S. Open 773 75 848 100 156 Jordan Spieth 2
Jul 20 The Open Championship 771 66 837 100 156 Zach Johnson 25
Apr 12 Masters Tournament 730 75 805 100 97 Jordan Spieth 4
Mar 8 WGC-Cadillac Championship 728 75 803 76 74 Dustin Johnson 16
May 3 WGC-Cadillac Match Play 719 74 793 76 64 Rory McIlroy 1
Aug 9 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 679 66 745 74 77 Shane Lowry 48
Sep 7 Deutsche Bank Championship 638 67 705 72 98 Rickie Fowler 9
Aug 30 The Barclays 623 64 687 72 120 Jason Day 3
Sep 20 BMW Championship 613 68 681 72 70 Jason Day 3
Nov 8 WGC-HSBC Champions 531 50 581 66 78 Russell Knox 85
Mar 22 Arnold Palmer Invitational 442 41 483 60 120 Matt Every 96
Jun 7 Memorial Tournament 428 46 474 60 120 David Lingmerth 212
Mar 1 The Honda Classic 426 40 466 60 144 Pádraig Harrington 297
Sep 27 The Tour Championship 425 34 459 58 29 Jordan Spieth 3
Feb 1 Waste Management Phoenix Open 357 37 394 54 132 Brooks Koepka 33
Feb 22 Northern Trust Open 360 33 393 54 144 James Hahn 297
Apr 5 Shell Houston Open 357 23 380 54 144 J. B. Holmes 20
Nov 22 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai 318 56 374 52 60 Rory McIlroy 3

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

Based on the Total Rating, The Players Championship would have had an event ranking of 78.

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. 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.

In 2010, a maximum number of tournaments was also introduced. 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.[9]

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 sole 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[10]
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.[11][12][13]

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 with be guaranteed at least one player and the host nation will be guaranteed one player.[14]

Current rankings

These are the top 10 ranked golfers and their average ranking points as of November 27, 2016.[15]

Rank Change Player Country Points Top 10 since Weeks
1 Steady Jason Day  Australia 11.54 February 23, 2014 145
2 Steady Rory McIlroy  Northern Ireland 10.55 May 11, 2014 134
3 Steady Dustin Johnson  United States 10.09 February 22, 2015 91
4 Steady Henrik Stenson  Sweden 8.67 August 11, 2013 173
5 Steady Jordan Spieth  United States 8.66 December 7, 2014 104
7 Steady Hideki Matsuyama  Japan 6.91 October 23, 2016 6
6 Steady Adam Scott  Australia 6.75 February 28, 2016 40
8 Steady Patrick Reed  United States 5.64 August 28, 2016 14
9 Steady Alexander Norén  Sweden 5.58 November 13, 2016 3
10 Steady Bubba Watson  United States 5.36 April 13, 2014 138

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 major revision of the 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.[16]

Tiger Woods holds the record for most weeks in the World Top 10, with 860. He is followed by Ernie Els (788 weeks) and Phil Mickelson (774 weeks). Woods had a record run of 736 consecutive weeks in the top-10 from April 13, 1997 to May 15, 2011 and then had a further run of 124 consecutive weeks in the top-10 from March 25, 2012 to August 3, 2014.[17][18][19]

Timeline of the "number one" ranking

Main article: List of World Number One male golfers

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. To 2014, these are the last occasions on which the official year-end No. 1 on average points has not also led on total points. 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. Following his second-place finish at the 2015 PGA Championship (that followed earlier wins at the Masters and the U.S. Open), Jordan Spieth became the 18th world No. 1 on August 16, 2015, describing it as "as good a consolation prize as I've ever had". 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.

Breakdown by nationality

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

Country 2015 2014 2013 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 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 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
 Australia 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 Africa 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
 Japan 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 4 3 5 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 1 1
 Thailand 3 1 2 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 0 0
 Spain 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
 Scotland 2 4 2 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 4 3
 France 2 3 2 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 0 0
 Denmark 2 2 2 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 0 0
 Northern Ireland 2 2 2 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 1 1
 South Korea 2 1 2 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 0 0
 Germany 1 2 2 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 1 1
 Italy 1 1 2 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 0 0
 Ireland 1 1 1 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 0 1
 Wales 1 1 1 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 1 1
 Austria 1 1 1 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 0 0
 Netherlands 1 1 1 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 0 0
 Argentina 1 1 1 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 0 0
 India 1 1 0 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 0 0
 Belgium 1 0 1 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 0 0
 New Zealand 1 0 0 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 0 1
 Portugal 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Zimbabwe 0 1 1 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 3 3
 Canada 0 1 1 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 0 0
 Finland 0 1 1 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 0 0
 Paraguay 0 1 0 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 0 0
 Fiji 0 0 0 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 0 0
 Colombia 0 0 0 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 0 0
 China 0 0 0 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 0 0
 Taiwan 0 0 0 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 2 1
 Trinidad and Tobago 0 0 0 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 0 0
 Philippines 0 0 0 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 0 0
 Namibia 0 0 0 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 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 2015 2014 2013 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 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 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 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.

Rankings archive

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

Summary

Event Total World
1-10		 World
11-50		 World
51-100		 World
101-200		 World
201+
Masters Tournament 31 18 11 2 – –
U.S. Open 31 14 13 4 – –
Open Championship 31 15 10 2 3 1
PGA Championship 31 12 11 4 4 –
All majors 124 59 45 12 7 1

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.

Year end world top 10 players

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

Rank 2015 2014 2013
1 Jordan Spieth 11.51 Rory McIlroy 11.04 Tiger Woods 11.69
2 Jason Day 10.94 Henrik Stenson 8.13 Adam Scott 9.60
3 Rory McIlroy 10.75 Adam Scott 7.71 Henrik Stenson 9.16
4 Bubba Watson 7.95 Bubba Watson 7.27 Justin Rose 7.16
5 Henrik Stenson 7.34 Sergio García 6.70 Phil Mickelson 7.06
6 Rickie Fowler 7.13 Justin Rose 6.69 Rory McIlroy 6.50
7 Justin Rose 7.02 Jim Furyk 6.62 Matt Kuchar 6.15
8 Dustin Johnson 6.13 Jason Day 5.81 Steve Stricker 5.72
9 Jim Furyk 5.62 Jordan Spieth 5.75 Zach Johnson 5.45
10 Patrick Reed 4.66 Rickie Fowler 5.47 Sergio García 5.31
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
2013 Tiger Woods 488.25
2014 Rory McIlroy 567.77
2015 Jordan Spieth 598.49

World Money List

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

Players who have reached number two in the ranking but never number one

As of July 3, 2016, eleven players have reached world No. 2 in the official rankings, but have never risen to world No. 1. These are (in chronological order of when they first reached world No. 2): Sandy Lyle (1988), José María Olazábal (1991), Colin Montgomerie (1996), Mark O'Meara (1998), Phil Mickelson (2001), Jim Furyk (2006), Sergio García (2008), Steve Stricker (2010), Henrik Stenson (2014), Bubba Watson (2015) and Dustin Johnson (2016).

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Ranking Points Incentive For Asian Development Tour Hopefuls". January 29, 2013.
  2. ^ "OWGR – Press Release". November 20, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e "OWGR Board Announce Inclusion of New Tours". OWGR. July 15, 2015.
  4. ^ a b "OWGR Board Announcement". OWGR. April 15, 2016.
  5. ^ Structure of Ranking Points and Rating Values from January 1 2012
  6. ^ Thailand Golf Championship 2011
  7. ^ "Official World Golf Ranking Board Announces Adjustments To Ranking System". July 25, 2011.
  8. ^ "Events – 2015". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  9. ^ Official World Ranking Board Approves Introduction of Maximum Divisor July 15, 2009
  10. ^ "U.S. Open to expand world-ranking use". ESPN. Associated Press. February 5, 2011.
  11. ^ "PGA Championship field to include 93 of top 100 players". PGA of America. August 2, 2005.
  12. ^ "For Woods and Mickelson, Medinah means everything". PGA of America. Associated Press. August 13, 2006.
  13. ^ "Kiawah's got talent". PGA of America. August 2, 2012.
  14. ^ "Olympic Games - Qualification System - IGF". International Golf Federation. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  15. ^ Official World Golf Ranking in the World
  16. ^ OWGR, Week 37, September 16, 2007
  17. ^ "Official World Golf Ranking - Top Tens". Golf Today. February 4, 2007.
  18. ^ "69 Players Who Have Reached the Top-10 in World Ranking" (PDF). Official World Golf Ranking. December 31, 2007.
  19. ^ "Players who have reached the Top Ten in the Official World Golf Ranking since 1986". European Tour Official Guide 09 (38th ed.). PGA European Tour. 2009. p. 558.
  20. ^ "Tiger Woods Wins Seventh Consecutive Mark H. McCormack Award". March 16, 2005.
  • Official website (includes archive of weekly ranking lists of Top-200 from 1987 on)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Official_World_Golf_Ranking&oldid=752380534"