
To put it simply, a golfer's World Ranking
Official World Golf Ranking
The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of male professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments 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 incl…
How is a golfer's world ranking determined?
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.
What is the highest world rating in golf?
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.
How are the world ranking points calculated and calculated?
The World Ranking Points for each player are accumulated over a two year “rolling” period with the points awarded for each tournament maintained for a 13-week period to place additional emphasis on recent performances. Ranking points are then reduced in equal decrements for the remaining 91 weeks of the two year Ranking period.
How is a golfer's rating value calculated?
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.

How are points awarded in golf rankings?
Calculations. The rankings are based on performance over a two-year period. The ranking shows a player's average points per tournament, his total points earned divided by the number of tournaments he has competed in.
Are the Official World Golf Rankings biased?
In all cases, the bias is large and statistically significant. We find a persistent bias through time and also find that the bias tends to be the largest for golfers with SBSE ranks between 40 and 120.
What does OWGR mean in golf?
Official World Golf RankingShall mean the company known as “Official World Golf Ranking”. OWGR System. Shall mean the mechanism by which the Official World Golf Ranking is computed. Performance Points. The value each player contributes to a Tournament's Field Rating based on their current SG World Rating.
What is Tiger Woods world ranking?
The 2022 Masters Tournament witnessed Tiger Woods making a comeback after more than a year. Although he couldn't win the tournament, he did finish all four rounds, which made his OWGR and FedEx rankings shoot up. Woods currently ranks at 745th position on the Official World Golf Rankings.
How often are the world golf rankings updated?
The Official World Golf Rankings are updated every Monday after the latest weekend tournaments across the world. The latest standings are below and updated live, featuring the world standings and top 10 ranked players.
Who is number 1 player in golf?
Scottie SchefflerOfficial World Golf RankingRANKRANK LAST WEEKPLAYER NAME11Scottie Scheffler22Jon Rahm36Patrick Cantlay43Cameron Smith52 more rows
What does the T stand for in golf scores?
T scoreboard abbreviation for Tied at that score or position. Example: If you see T4 on a scoreboard it means everybody at that score is tied for fourth at that point.
What is divisor in golf?
A key factor in the calculation of the points is what is known as the divisor. This is a figure by which a player's total points are divided, and it's based on the number of events a player plays in. The figure ranges from 40-52, with 40 the minimum divisor.
How long was Tiger Woods number 1 in the world?
281 weeksTiger Woods had topped the rankings a total of 11 times, with his reign of 281 weeks between 12 June 2005 and 30 October 2010 the longest consecutive streak. His cumulative time spent at No. 1 – more than 13 years – is twice that of the next-best golfer, Greg Norman (331 weeks).
Who is the best golfer of all time?
Jack NicklausBased on the number of victories alone, Jack Nicklaus is hands down the best golfer of all time. He has a total of 73 PGA Tour wins, 10 Champions Tour trophies, and overall 115 worldwide wins.
Who is the most liked golf player?
70% of golf fans said they have a favorable opinion of Tiger Woods, placing him in a virtual tie with Phil Mickelson as golf's most popular player. Bubba Watson (59%), Rory McIlroy (59%) and Jordan Spieth (55%) rounded out the top five most popular golfers on tour.
Who holds most golf records?
Jack Nicklaus has won the most majors, achieving 18 victories during his career. Second on the list is Tiger Woods, who has won 15 majors to date; his most recent major victory was at the 2019 Masters.
How to get a golfer's world ranking?
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.
What is the official ranking of golf?
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.
What is the first stage of golf 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".
What is a professional golfer's ranking?
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.
When did McCormack publish his 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).
Who was the first golfer to be ranked 1?
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.
Who were the top six golfers in the world in 1986?
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).
Which golf clubs accept the World Golf Rankings?
Golf’s major governing bodies, such as the United States Golf Association and the Professional Golfers’ Association of America, as well as hosts of the world’s four major championships, including the Royal & Ancient Club and Augusta National Golf Club accept the World Golf Rankings.
What does it mean to score well in golf?
Scoring well in the rankings is a golfer’s ticket to the world’s most prestigious tournaments. For example, the Masters accepts the top 50 players from the previous year’s rankings, plus the top 50 from the most recent rankings prior to the Masters.
How many points does the BMW PGA Championship have?
The champion of the BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour receives at least 64 points. By comparison, winning a standard PGA Tour or European Tour event earns the winner 24 points.
How long do golf points stay on a player's tally?
Points remain on a player’s tally for two years (up to a maximum of 52 events played during that time), but they’re reduced on a sliding scale after 13 weeks, so recent performances carry greater weight.
When was the World Golf Rankings created?
The roots of the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) stretch back to 1986. The OWGR’s purpose is to rank the best golfers from around the globe on their performances over two years.
Is there a default system for golf rankings?
Not one default system is the end all and be all for golf rankings. However, there are several popular ways to make sense of the field as the various events approach. Let’s walk through them and see what makes them tick.
When was McCormack's golf ranking published?
McCormack published his rankings from 1968 to 1985 in his book “The World of Professional Golf Annual.”. Today, the rankings are issued weekly.
When did the British Open rankings start?
Origin. The official rankings began to be published in 1986. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews devised the system as a more equitable way to select players to be invited to the British Open. The rankings were inspired by an earlier unofficial ranking system developed by sports agent Mark McCormack, whose clients included Arnold Palmer.
Ranking Points
Amateur golfers achieve ranking points by placing highly in certain tournaments and matches. The higher you place in a tournament, the more points you will be awarded. Points are awarded based upon the strength of the field against which you are playing (also known as the Power of the event) and the size of the field of players.
Counting Events
The only way to earn points is by earning them at WAGR-certified events. A tournament or match of golf that is certified is known as a "counting event," because it can count towards your WAGR points total.

Overview
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 calculated each week. During 2018, nearly 400 tournaments on 20 tours were covered by the ranking system. All players competing i…
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 Internati…
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:
• PGA Tour
• European Tour
• Asian Tour (from 2000; not a charter member of the Federation)
Calculation of the rankings
Source:
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.
The first stage in the calculation is the ranking of each event. For most events the ranking depen…
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.
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 t…
Rankings archive
• 1986 Greg Norman
• 1987 Greg Norman (2)
• 1988 Seve Ballesteros
• 1989 Greg Norman (3)
• 1990 Greg Norman (4)
See also
• List of world number one male golfers
• List of male golfers who have been in the world top 10
• Women's World Golf Rankings – for female professional golfers
• World Amateur Golf Ranking – for male and female amateur golfers