Official World Golf Ranking

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:[6]

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.

TourMinimum
points
Flagship eventMinimum
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 Indonesian 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[7]

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.[8]

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]

Starting in 2018, the Sunshine Tour Big Easy Tour will factor into the World Rankings, making it the 20th professional tour included in the OWGR.[5]

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 "Total Rating" in 2016 are shown in the following table.[9]

DateEventWorld
rating value
Home tour
rating value
Total
rating value
Event
ranking
Field
size
WinnerRank
Jul 31 PGA Championship 848 75 923 100 156 Jimmy Walker 15
Jul 17 The Open Championship 809 74 883 100 156 Henrik Stenson 5
Jun 19 U.S. Open 764 75 839 100 156 Dustin Johnson 3
May 15 The Players Championship 765 74 839 80 144 Jason Day 1
Apr 10 Masters Tournament 724 74 798 100 89 Danny Willett 9
Mar 27 WGC-Dell Match Play 708 71 779 76 64 Jason Day 1
Mar 6 WGC-Cadillac Championship 695 72 767 76 66 Adam Scott 6
Aug 28 The Barclays 665 73 738 74 120 Patrick Reed 9
Sep 5 Deutsche Bank Championship 660 71 731 74 97 Rory McIlroy 3
Sep 11 BMW Championship 602 61 663 70 69 Dustin Johnson 2
Oct 30 WGC-HSBC Champions 585 53 638 70 78 Hideki Matsuyama 6
Jul 3 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 571 59 630 68 61 Dustin Johnson 2
Jun 5 Memorial Tournament 531 53 584 66 120 William McGirt 44
Feb 21 Northern Trust Open 444 44 488 60 144 Bubba Watson 4
Mar 20 Arnold Palmer Invitational 418 34 452 58 120 Jason Day 2
Sep 25 The Tour Championship 404 42 446 58 30 Rory McIlroy 3
Feb 28 The Honda Classic 420 26 446 58 144 Adam Scott 9
May 8 Wells Fargo Championship 396 40 436 58 156 James Hahn 55
Feb 1 Farmers Insurance Open 353 42 395 54 156 Brandt Snedeker 12
Feb 14 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am 346 39 385 54 156 Vaughn Taylor 100
Apr 3 Shell Houston Open 346 38 384 54 144 Jim Herman 68
Feb 7 Waste Management Phoenix Open 350 33 383 54 132 Hideki Matsuyama 12
Jan 24 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship 317 58 375 52 126 Rickie Fowler 4

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. 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.

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.[10]

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.

TournamentAutomatic entries
Masters TournamentTop 50
U.S. OpenTop 60[11]
The Open ChampionshipTop 50
PGA Championship(Top 100)see note
WGC-Dell Match PlayTop 64 (sole criterion)
WGC-Cadillac ChampionshipTop 50
WGC-Bridgestone InvitationalTop 50
WGC-HSBC ChampionsTop 50
The Players ChampionshipTop 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.[12][13][14]

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.[15]

Current rankings

These are the top 10 ranked golfers and their average ranking points as of August 6, 2017.[16]

RankChangePlayerCountryPointsTop 10 sinceWeeks
1 Steady Johnson, DustinDustin Johnson  United States 11.23 February 22, 2015 126
2 Steady Spieth, JordanJordan Spieth  United States 9.05 December 7, 2014 139
3 Steady Matsuyama, HidekiHideki Matsuyama  Japan 8.99 October 23, 2016 41
4 Steady McIlroy, RoryRory McIlroy  Northern Ireland 7.50 May 11, 2014 169
5 Steady García, SergioSergio García  Spain 6.87 April 9, 2017 18
6 Steady Rahm, JonJon Rahm  Spain 6.50 July 9, 2017 5
7 Steady Day, JasonJason Day  Australia 6.30 February 23, 2014 180
8 Steady Stenson, HenrikHenrik Stenson  Sweden 6.20 August 11, 2013 208
9 Steady Norén, AlexanderAlexander Norén  Sweden 6.19 May 28, 2017 11
10 Increase1 Fowler, RickieRickie Fowler  United States 5.78 August 6, 2017 1

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.[17]

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.[18][19][20]

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. 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.

On February 19, 2017, Dustin Johnson became the 20th player to reach number one in the rankings following his victory at the Genesis Open.

Breakdown by nationality

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

Country2016201520142013201220112010200920082007200620052004200320022001200019991998199719961995199419931992199119901989198819871986
 United States42403840313732323134394141494748515655565856524953605855595959
 England1213898811118911117744123345897536434
 Japan656546888355445997556733544581010
 South Africa5577686897655543333332553322343
 South Korea5212444212323110000000000000000
 Australia478691091010121112117955698788911111212987
 Sweden4435844476634346544323453001111
 Thailand2312201222101000000000000000000
 Spain2243654454432523432314333344245
 Denmark2222322333112131111100000000000
 Northern Ireland2222233240122111111111332222111
 Argentina2111001122112344321101112111000
 Scotland1242422001113325433332443443343
 France1232012101022010110000000000000
 Germany1122211112012221121122111111111
 Italy1112233210000000001111110000000
 Ireland1111211111222122311231001132201
 Wales1111112001221222211111111111111
 Austria1111100001000000000000000000000
 Netherlands1111011000000000000000000000000
 India1110200112200000000000000000000
 Belgium1101110000000000000000000000000
 New Zealand1100000111121341112233211110001
 Venezuela1000000000000000000000000000000
 Portugal0100000000000000000000000000000
 Zimbabwe0011100000001112111112333232333
 Canada0011000222221111221110000001100
 Finland0011000001000000000000000000000
 Paraguay0010000000011000111110000000000
 Fiji0000111111111111111111111111000
 Colombia0000011111000000001100000000000
 China0000001101000000000000000000000
 Taiwan0000000110000001000000010001121
 Trinidad and Tobago0000000000001000000000000000000
 Philippines0000000000000000011110000000000
 Namibia0000000000000000001000000000000

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).

Team201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987*1986*
United States42403840313732323134394141494748515655565856524953605855595959
Europe31353435403336293030282827252325231918191820252721171820161517
International27252825293032393936333132263027262527252424232426232425252725

*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
2017 Spain Sergio García 11 United States Brooks Koepka 22 United States Jordan Spieth 3

Summary

Event Total World
1-10
World
11-50
World
51-100
World
101-200
World
201+
Masters Tournament 32 18 12 2
U.S. Open 32 14 14 4
Open Championship 32 16 10 2 3 1
PGA Championship 31 12 11 4 4
All majors 127 60 47 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 2016
1 Jason Day 10.91
2 Rory McIlroy 9.83
3 Dustin Johnson 9.53
4 Henrik Stenson 8.69
5 Jordan Spieth 8.04
6 Hideki Matsuyama 7.49
7 Adam Scott 6.55
8 Patrick Reed 5.40
9 Alexander Norén 5.35
10 Bubba Watson 5.19
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
1Tiger Woods20.41Tiger Woods17.16Vijay Singh12.79
2Jim Furyk8.88Vijay Singh9.78Tiger Woods11.60
3Phil Mickelson7.17Phil Mickelson8.14Ernie Els10.98
4Adam Scott7.03Retief Goosen8.10Retief Goosen7.47
5Ernie Els6.05Ernie Els8.03Phil Mickelson7.00
6Retief Goosen5.61Sergio García7.23Pádraig Harrington 5.55
7Vijay Singh5.58Jim Furyk5.80Sergio García5.40
8Pádraig Harrington5.46Colin Montgomerie4.78Mike Weir5.40
9Luke Donald5.25Adam Scott4.68Davis Love III5.38
10Geoff Ogilvy5.21Chris DiMarco4.58Stewart Cink4.65
Rank 2003 2002 2001
1Tiger Woods14.58Tiger Woods15.72Tiger Woods15.67
2Vijay Singh9.77Phil Mickelson7.72Phil Mickelson9.16
3Ernie Els8.41Ernie Els6.84David Duval7.98
4Davis Love III7.53Sergio García6.19Ernie Els6.99
5Jim Furyk6.81Retief Goosen6.16Davis Love III6.02
6Mike Weir6.54David Toms6.02Sergio García5.86
7Retief Goosen5.92Pádraig Harrington5.63David Toms5.83
8Pádraig Harrington5.28Vijay Singh5.53Vijay Singh5.60
9David Toms5.09Davis Love III4.82Darren Clarke5.03
10Kenny Perry5.08Colin Montgomerie4.39Retief Goosen4.95
Rank 2000 1999 1998
1Tiger Woods29.40Tiger Woods19.98Tiger Woods12.30
2Ernie Els11.65David Duval13.15Mark O'Meara10.43
3David Duval11.20Colin Montgomerie10.36David Duval9.67
4Phil Mickelson11.07Davis Love III9.48Davis Love III9.43
5Lee Westwood9.46Ernie Els8.64Ernie Els9.18
6Colin Montgomerie8.34Lee Westwood7.85Nick Price8.98
7Davis Love III7.88Vijay Singh7.82Colin Montgomerie8.91
8Hal Sutton7.71Nick Price7.20Lee Westwood8.65
9Vijay Singh7.17Phil Mickelson6.58Vijay Singh8.51
10Tom Lehman7.10Mark O'Meara6.52Phil Mickelson7.76
Rank 1997 1996 1995
1Greg Norman11.49Greg Norman10.78Greg Norman21.93
2Tiger Woods10.76Tom Lehman9.74Nick Price16.34
3Nick Price9.93Colin Montgomerie9.10Bernhard Langer15.64
4Ernie Els9.89Ernie Els8.60Ernie Els14.66
5Davis Love III9.09Fred Couples8.16Colin Montgomerie14.00
6Phil Mickelson8.73Nick Faldo7.98Nick Faldo13.94
7Colin Montgomerie8.58Phil Mickelson7.77Corey Pavin13.47
8Masashi Ozaki8.05Masashi Ozaki7.58Fred Couples11.02
9Tom Lehman8.02Davis Love III7.53Masashi Ozaki10.82
10Mark O'Meara7.98Mark O'Meara7.12Steve Elkington10.43
Rank 1994 1993 1992
1Nick Price21.30Nick Faldo20.65Nick Faldo23.54
2Greg Norman20.68Greg Norman18.79Fred Couples16.27
3Nick Faldo16.78Bernhard Langer17.19Ian Woosnam13.14
4Bernhard Langer15.66Nick Price15.89José María Olazábal12.87
5José María Olazábal15.18Fred Couples14.93Greg Norman12.63
6Fred Couples13.74Paul Azinger14.59Bernhard Langer12.44
7Ernie Els13.57Ian Woosnam11.41John Cook11.68
8Colin Montgomerie12.38Tom Kite10.07Nick Price11.51
9Masashi Ozaki11.39Davis Love III9.61Paul Azinger10.83
10Corey Pavin10.87Corey Pavin9.59Davis Love III10.75
Rank 1991 1990 1989
1Ian Woosnam17.11Greg Norman18.95Greg Norman17.76
2Nick Faldo15.34Nick Faldo18.54Nick Faldo16.25
3José María Olazábal15.32José María Olazábal17.22Seve Ballesteros15.03
4Seve Ballesteros13.70Ian Woosnam15.47Curtis Strange13.79
5Greg Norman13.11Payne Stewart12.75Payne Stewart12.82
6Fred Couples12.78Paul Azinger11.63Tom Kite12.41
7Bernhard Langer12.59Seve Ballesteros10.15José María Olazábal12.00
8Payne Stewart11.83Tom Kite10.10Mark Calcavecchia11.81
9Paul Azinger10.88Mark McNulty10.06Ian Woosnam11.56
10Rodger Davis8.90Mark Calcavecchia9.96Paul Azinger10.95
Rank 1988 1987 1986
1Seve Ballesteros1458Greg Norman1231Greg Norman1507
2Greg Norman1365Seve Ballesteros1169Bernhard Langer1181
3Sandy Lyle1297Bernhard Langer1112Seve Ballesteros1175
4Nick Faldo1103Sandy Lyle879Tsuneyuki Nakajima899
5Curtis Strange1092Curtis Strange873Andy Bean694
6Ben Crenshaw898Ian Woosnam830Bob Tway687
7Ian Woosnam854Payne Stewart717Hal Sutton674
8David Frost843Lanny Wadkins697Curtis Strange653
9Paul Azinger825Mark McNulty673Payne Stewart652
10Mark Calcavecchia819Ben Crenshaw668Mark O'Meara639

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
2016 Dustin Johnson 454.20

World Money List

Since 1996, the International Federation of PGA Tours has sanctioned a World Money List 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 McIlroy24 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

13 players have reached world No. 2 in the official rankings, but have never risen to world No. 1.

Player Country First Weeks Ref
Lyle, SandySandy Lyle  Scotland April 10, 1988 23 [22]
Olazábal, José MaríaJosé María Olazábal  Spain March 17, 1991 35 [23]
Montgomerie, ColinColin Montgomerie  Scotland March 17, 1996 24 [24]
Pavin, CoreyCorey Pavin  United States June 2, 1996 1 [25]
Love III, DavisDavis Love III  United States July 19, 1998 5 [26]
O'Meara, MarkMark O'Meara  United States September 6, 199815 [27]
Mickelson, PhilPhil Mickelson  United States February 11, 2001 270 [28]
Furyk, JimJim Furyk  United States September 10, 2006 39 [29]
García, SergioSergio García  Spain November 9, 2008 18 [30]
Stricker, SteveSteve Stricker  United States September 6, 2009 12 [31]
Stenson, HenrikHenrik Stenson  Sweden May 25, 2014 24 [32]
Watson, BubbaBubba Watson  United States February 22, 2015 4 [33]
Matsuyama, HidekiHideki Matsuyama  Japan June 18, 2017 5 [34]

First – first week the player reached number 2, Weeks – total weeks at number 2.

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. 1 2 3 4 5 "OWGR Board Announce Inclusion of New Tours". OWGR. July 15, 2015.
  4. 1 2 "OWGR Board Announcement". OWGR. April 15, 2016.
  5. 1 2 "OWGR Board Announcement". OWGR. August 7, 2017.
  6. Structure of Ranking Points and Rating Values from January 1 2012
  7. Thailand Golf Championship 2011
  8. "Official World Golf Ranking Board Announces Adjustments To Ranking System". July 25, 2011.
  9. "Events – 2016". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  10. Official World Ranking Board Approves Introduction of Maximum Divisor July 15, 2009
  11. "U.S. Open to expand world-ranking use". ESPN. Associated Press. February 5, 2011.
  12. "PGA Championship field to include 93 of top 100 players". PGA of America. August 2, 2005.
  13. "For Woods and Mickelson, Medinah means everything". PGA of America. Associated Press. August 13, 2006.
  14. "Kiawah's got talent". PGA of America. August 2, 2012.
  15. "Olympic Games - Qualification System - IGF". International Golf Federation. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  16. Official World Golf Ranking
  17. OWGR, Week 37, September 16, 2007
  18. "Official World Golf Ranking - Top Tens". Golf Today. February 4, 2007.
  19. "69 Players Who Have Reached the Top-10 in World Ranking" (PDF). Official World Golf Ranking. December 31, 2007.
  20. "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.
  21. "Tiger Woods Wins Seventh Consecutive Mark H. McCormack Award". March 16, 2005.
  22. "Week ending April 10th 1988" (pdf). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  23. "After week ending March 17th 1991" (pdf). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  24. "March 17 1996" (pdf). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  25. "June 02 1996" (pdf). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  26. "July 19 1998" (pdf). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  27. "September 06 1998" (pdf). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  28. "February 11 2001" (pdf). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  29. "September 10 2006" (pdf). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  30. "Week ending 09 November 2008" (pdf). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  31. "Week ending 06 September 2009" (pdf). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  32. "Week 21 2014 Ending 25 May 2014" (pdf). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  33. "Week 8 2015 Ending 22 February 2015" (pdf). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  34. "Week 4 2017 Ending 18 June 2017" (pdf). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
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