By Jamie Kennedy, europeantour.com
Launched in 1984, the Official Golf World Ranking provides players and fans with a rolling two-year system, rating the best professional golfers in the world.
At the end of each season we like to take a look back at the golfing year and pick out some of best facts and figures from the rankings.
Where better to start than with the year-ending top ten players in the world?
1. Jason Day
2. Rory McIlroy
3. Dustin Johnson
4. Henrik Stenson
5. Jordan Spieth
6. Hideki Matsuyama
7. Adam Scott
8. Patrick Reed
9. Alex Noren
10. Bubba Watson
While it’s Australia’s Jason Day who finishes the year ranked as World Number One, it was Dustin Johnson who picked up the most World Ranking points in 2016. The US Open Champion earned 454.2 points in the calendar year, 70 points more than Day and 72 points more than Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama.
The average age of the top five players in the world is just 30.2. That is the youngest year-ending top five since 2003 when Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Davis Love III and Jim Furyk were leading the way in the game.
Alex Noren’s remarkable form in recent months has brought with it an astonishing rise into the top ten in the world. The Swede picked up four wins in the space of five months and after starting the year at 96th in the world, he finishes ranked ninth. That leap is the second largest jump into the top ten in a calendar year, behind only Webb Simpson, who moved 203 spots into tenth back in 2011.
Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello also jumped 87 places in 2016 and tied Noren for the biggest jump into the world’s top 50, having been ranked 114th on January 1.
In total, there are 11 new entries in the top 50 in the world at the end of 2016, down from 19 at the end of 2015.
South African Richard Sterne boasts the most impressive move into top 100 in the world, finishing the year ranked 91st in the Official Golf World Ranking having started 2016 at 411th.
As for the players who have made the biggest impression on the rankings in the last few months, here’s a look at the top five biggest point gainers in the last six months:
1. Hideki Matsuyama
2. Henrik Stenson
3. Dustin Johnson
4. Rory McIlroy
5. Alex Noren
And here’s the list from last three months:
1. Hideki Matsuyama
2. Alex Noren
3. Yuta Ikeda
4. Tyrrell Hatton
5. Henrik Stenson
It’s no surprise to see Matsuyama ranked so highly in recent times. The 24 year old’s last six finishes read fifth-win-second-win-win-win, including victories at the WGC-HSBC Champions in China and Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
Matsuyama isn’t the only Japanese golfer to have made a big impression late in 2016. 30 year old Yuma Ikeda has moved into the top 35 in the world thanks to two wins and six runner-up finishes in his last 12 events.
Talking of consistency, at 20th, American Matt Kuchar was the only player inside the top 100 in the world to start and finish 2016 in the same position.
The four Majors and four WGC events are those with the highest available World Ranking points due to the stellar fields they attract.
Here’s a look at the top points earners in 2016’s Majors and World Golf Championships:
1. Dustin Johnson
2. Jason Day
3. Henrik Stenson
4. Danny Willett
5. Jimmy Walker
6. Hideki Matsuyama
7. Adam Scott
8. Jordan Spieth
9. Rory McIlroy
10. Scott Piercy
World Number One Day, the only player in the top five on this list without a Major title in 2016, has shown some seriously impressive consistency in 2016.
The Australian finished in the top 25 in all seven Major/WGC events he played in 2016 including a win at the WGC Dell Match Play and a runner-up finish at the US PGA Championship, where he lost out to Jimmy Walker by just a single shot.
An honourable mention, too, for 51 year old Mukesh Kumar, who made the biggest single-event jump in the rankings, moving up 1,229 spots after winning the Indian Open in December.
As for the biggest movers in 2016, look no further than the likes of young European Tour rookie Thomas Detry. The 23 year old Belgian moved 1,516 places in the world after an impressive campaign on the Challenge Tour and will start 2017 ranked inside the top 200 in the world.
And finally, no World Ranking article would be complete without a mention of Tiger Woods. Having missed a large majority of 2016 through injury, the former World Number One fell as a low as 898th.
However a late season appearance in his own event at the Hero World Challenge in December, albeit a 15th place finish out of 18 players, saw him rise to a year-ending position of 652nd. That 248-place jump in the ranking is Tiger’s largest single-week move as professional, having previously moved up 263 places after making the cut as an amateur at the 1995 Masters.
ARTICLE COMPLETED WITH SPECIAL HELP BY OWGR GURU 'NOSFERATU'. FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER HERE.
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