How The System Works
The Official World Golf Ranking, which is endorsed by the four Major Championships and the six 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.
From January 1, 2000, all tournaments that are sanctioned by the following Tours and where the prize money won counts towards their respective Order of Merit or Money List, will receive World Ranking points:
PGA Tour
European Tour
Southern Africa Tour
PGA Tour of Australasia
Japan Golf Tour
Asian PGA Tour
Canadian Tour
European Challenge Tour
Buy.com Tour
No Ranking points will be awarded at tournaments which do not carry official prize money on their respective Tour.
Points are awarded according to the players’ finishing positions and are related to the strength of the 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 “Ratings”). 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.
From January 1st, 2000, the Ranking points have been extended to a greater depth. For example, previously a highly rated tournament such as the Linde German Masters would receive points down to a finish position of 29th whereas on the new scale 49th place will be the last to receive points.
The World Ranking points for each player are accumulated over a two year “rolling” period. 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. A minimum tournament divisor is used in this calculation, which from January 1st, 2000, will be 40 tournaments over the two year period.
Each Tours events also have a minimum points level and the “Home Tour” rating or bonus is applied to the historic host Tour when more than one Tour is sanctioning the event - this change affects only a very few tournaments each year.
For further information on the Official World Golf Ranking, please contact Tony Greer at Pier House, Strand on the Green, Chiswick, London, W4 3NN, England. Fax: +(44) (0)208 233 5001
