The St. Andrews meeting of the Board followed a decision made by the Board at the Open Championship in July to authorise a study of proposals from the PGA European Tour and the US PGA Tour for adjustments in the current "rating" system and to explore the addition of a "Home Tour Strength-of-Field" element into the Official World Golf Ranking as from January 1, 1999.
After reviewing the results of the aforementioned study, it was unanimously agreed to make the following changes in the Official World Golf Ranking:-
- In addition to the current maximum 825 rating points based on the number and ranking of the Top-100 ranked players competing in each event, there will be additional maximum 75 rating points based on the number and position of the Top-30 of the "Home Tour" Money List/Order of Merit at the end of the previous season’s events. The number of Home Tour rating points cannot exceed 75% of any event’s World Ranking rating points.
- The minimum Rating Point category for the European and US PGA Tour events will be raised from a minimum first place of 10 to 12 Ranking Points.
- The current minimum Rating Point category for the Australian and Japan Open Championships (16 first place points) will now also include the South African Open. Thus with the Volvo PGA Championship in Europe and the Players Championship in the United States already having a minimum points category, all the five Tours will have their "flagship" event recognised in the ranking system.
The Board also made a decision to discontinue the practice of reducing the ranking points of events curtailed to 54 holes by 25%. All Tours now give full official money to these events and it was agreed that the World Ranking would from January 1 1999 fall in line with this practice. However, in the case of events reduced to only 36 holes the World Ranking points will be reduced by 25%.
HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS
The Official World Golf Ranking, which is endorsed by the four Major Championships and the five professional tours which make up the International Federation of PGA Tours, is issued every Monday, following the completion of the previous week’s tournaments from around the world.
The official events from the five professional tours are all taken into account and points are generally awarded according to the players’ finishing positions and are related to the strength of field based on the number and ranking of the Top-100 World Ranked players and the Top-30 of the Home Tour players in the respective tournaments (event "Rankings"). However, the four Major Championships are rated separately to reflect the higher quality of the events together with the Players Championship in the United States. In addition, the Volvo PGA Championship in Europe, and the Australian, Japan and South African Open Championships are allocated higher minimum points levels to reflect their status.
The World Ranking points for each player are accumulated over a two year "rolling" period with the points awarded in the most recent 52-week period doubled. Each player is then ranked according to his average points per tournament, which is determined by dividing his total number of points by the tournaments he has played over that two-year period. There is a minimum requirement of 20 tournaments for each 52-week period.
The winners of the Masters Tournament, the US Open Championship, the Open Championship and the PGA Championship are awarded 50 points (30 points for 2nd place, 20 for 3rd, 15 for 4th down to a single point for a player completing the final round), and the winner of the Players Championship is awarded 40 points (points are awarded down to 50th place). The Volvo PGA Championship has a minimum 32 points for the winner (points down to 40th place). Minimum points levels for the winners of official Tour events have been set at 6 points for Southern Africa (points to 9th place), 8 points for Australasia and Japan (points to 12th place), and 12 points for Europe and the United States (points to 16th place). In addition the Open Championships of Australia, Japan and South Africa have a minimum of 16 points for the winner down to a single point for 21st place.
Points are reduced by 25% for tournaments curtailed to 36 holes because of inclement weather or other reasons.
