The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...
ers. 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 in these tournaments are included in the rankings. In 2022, 23 tours factored into the world rankings.
As well as being of general interest, the rankings have an additional importance, in that they are used as one of the qualifying criteria for entry into a number of leading tournaments.
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
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world. It is a private members-only club based in St Andrews in Scotland. It was previously known colloquially as "The R&A", but in 2004, a new organisation kn ...
, which found in the 1980s that its system of issuing invitations to
The Open Championship
The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later t ...
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
Mark Hume McCormack (November 6, 1930 – May 16, 2003) was an American lawyer, sports agent and writer. He was the founder and chairman of International Management Group, now IMG, an international management organization serving sports ...
, 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
The McCormack rankings were unofficial world golf rankings published in Mark McCormack's ''World of Professional Golf Annual'' from 1968 to 1985, and were a forerunner of the current Official World Golf Ranking. Unlike their replacement they were ...
, 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
Bernhard Langer (; born 27 August 1957) is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, he became the sport's first official number one ran ...
,
Seve Ballesteros,
Sandy Lyle
Alexander Walter Barr Lyle (born 9 February 1958) is a Scottish professional golfer. Lyle has won two major championships during his career. Along with Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam, he became one of Britain's top golfers during the 1980s. He spe ...
,
Tom Watson,
Mark O'Meara
Mark Francis O'Meara (born January 13, 1957) is an American professional golfer. He was a tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. He spent nearly 200 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World ...
and
Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...
. 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 and the minimum number of events reduced from 60 to 40. 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.
In 2010, a maximum number of tournaments was introduced as well as the minimum of 40. 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.
At first only the Championship Committee of the
Royal and Ancient used the rankings for official purposes, but the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
recognized them in 1990, and in 1997 all five of the then principal men's golf
tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...
did so. The rankings, which had previously been called the Sony Rankings, were renamed the Official World Golf Rankings at that time.
Organization
Since 2004 the rankings have been produced by a company called "Official World Golf Ranking" which took over the ranking system from
IMG img or IMG is an abbreviation for image.
img or IMG may also refer to:
* IMG (company), global sports and media business headquartered in New York City but with its main offices in Cleveland, originally known as the "International Management Group ...
.
[ The company is a company limited by guarantee incorporated in the United Kingdom with its registered office at the European Tour Building at ]Wentworth Wentworth may refer to:
People
* Wentworth (surname)
* Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder
* S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator
* Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...
. The company has seven members: The PGA of America, the International Federation of PGA Tours, the USGA, the PGA Tour, Augusta National, the R&A and the PGA European Tour, who each contribute to the running of the company; £50,000 each in 2020. There is a chairman and seven directors, one appointed by each member, who make up the Governing board.[ There is also a Technical committee.][
One of the objects of the company is "to devise, maintain, review, update, administer and promote the recognition of a system that fairly ranks the relative performances of male professional golfers participating in the leading golf tournaments throughout the world, taking into account all relevant factors including, amongst other matters, the date of the tournament, the prestige of the tournament, the standard of the other participants and the value of the tournament prize fund."
]
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
Professional golf tours are the means by which otherwise unconnected professional golf tournaments are organised into a regular schedule. There are separate tours for men and women; most are based in a specific geographical region, although some to ...
:
* PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
* European Tour
The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...
* Asian Tour
The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan, which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on the tour count for Wo ...
(from 2000; not a charter member of the Federation)
* PGA Tour of Australasia
The PGA Tour of Australasia, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, is a professional golf tour for men, owned and operated by the PGA of Australia. Official events on the tour count for World Golf Ra ...
* Japan Golf Tour
The Japan Golf Tour ( ja, 日本ゴルフツアー機構) is a prominent golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006 it offers the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after th ...
* Sunshine Tour
Points are also awarded for high finishes on other tours:
* Korn Ferry Tour
The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. T ...
, the official developmental tour for the PGA Tour
* Challenge Tour
The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe.
History
T ...
, the official developmental tour for the European Tour
* PGA Tour Canada
PGA Tour Canada, commonly referred to as the Canadian Tour, is a men's professional golf tour headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The United States based PGA Tour took over operation of the tour on November 1, 2012, at which time it was renamed PG ...
, which became a full member of the Federation in 2009 under its former name of the Canadian Professional Golf Tour
* Korean Tour
The Korean Tour is a men's professional golf tour run by the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) of South Korea. In 2011, it had total prize money of about US$14 million.
Professional golf in Korea dates back to the mid 20th century. ...
, from 2011
* PGA Tour Latinoamérica
PGA Tour Latinoamérica is a third level professional golf tour formed in 2012 and operated by the PGA Tour. It was formed in concert with the now defunct Tour de las Américas. Executives from the Tour de las Américas became employees of the new ...
, from 2011 (Tour de las Américas
The Tour de las Américas (TLA) was the principal men's professional golf tour throughout Latin America and the Caribbean from 2000 through to 2012 when it was superseded by PGA Tour Latinoamérica.
History
Top level tournament golf in Latin Ame ...
in 2011 and early 2012)
* Asian Development Tour, the official developmental tour for the Asian Tour, from 2013
* PGA Tour China
PGA Tour China is a China-based men's professional golf tour as part of the PGA Tour's global expansion. The tour started in 2014. After a hiatus in 2017, the tour resumed in 2018. It is known as PGA Tour Series China. An earlier tour, the Omega ...
, from 2014
* Alps Tour, from July 2015
* Nordic Golf League
The Nordic Golf League is one of the four PGA European Tour-recognised third-tier men's professional golf tours that are known as the Satellite Tours. The top five players on the rankings list at the end of each season earn a place on the second t ...
, from July 2015[
* Pro Golf Tour, from July 2015][
* ]MENA Golf Tour
The MENA Tour is a golf tour in the Middle East and North Africa. It was founded in 2011 by the Dubai-based Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation. It was previous affiliated to The R&A and the Arab Golf Federation. The previous iteration of the tour wa ...
, from April 2016
* Big Easy Tour
The Big Easy Tour is a golf tour based in Southern Africa, founded in 2011. It is a developmental tour for the Sunshine Tour. The top five players earn Sunshine Tour cards, with those 6th–30th earning entry into the final stage of Sunshine Tour q ...
, from 2018
* China Tour, from 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
* All Thailand Golf Tour
The All Thailand Golf Tour (or simply as ATGT) is the main professional golf tour played by both men and women in Thailand. All Thailand Golf Tour office is headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand. Originally the TPC Tour, it adopted the name All Thaila ...
, from 2019
* Professional Golf Tour of India, from 2019[
* Japan Challenge Tour (known as the Abema TV Tour for sponsorship reasons), from 2019][
Starting in 2012, some events received points that had not previously received any. These were the Sunshine Tour "Winter Series" and the PGA Tour of Australasia "State Based and Regional Tournaments".
Previous tours:
* Asia Golf Circuit, from 1986 until 1997.]
* OneAsia Tour
The OneAsia Tour was a men's professional golf tour based in the Asia-Pacific region. The tour was founded in 2009 as a joint venture between the PGA Tour of Australasia, the China Golf Association, the Korean Golf Association and the Korean PGA. T ...
, added in 2009 but was dropped in 2018.
* LocaliQ Series
The LocaliQ Series, stylized as the LOCALiQ Series, was a one-off professional golf tour played in 2020 and organised by the PGA Tour.
The series was announced following the cancellation of much of the PGA Tour's global development tours due to t ...
, a one-off tour in 2020 created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
* Forme Tour
The Forme Tour was a men's professional golf tour played in the United States. The tour was created by the PGA Tour in 2021 in response to COVID-19 pandemic related restrictions on travel between the United States and Canada, in order to provide c ...
, a one-off tour in 2021 for PGA Tour Canada
PGA Tour Canada, commonly referred to as the Canadian Tour, is a men's professional golf tour headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The United States based PGA Tour took over operation of the tour on November 1, 2012, at which time it was renamed PG ...
members who couldn't travel to Canada due to restrictions
* PGA EuroPro Tour
The PGA EuroPro Tour was a men's developmental professional golf tour. It was created in 2002 by the merger of two development tours, the EuroPro Tour and the PGA MasterCard Tour, as the Professional Golfers' Association and Barry Hearn's Matchr ...
, from July 2015 through 2022
In July 2022, Official World Golf Ranking announced that it had received an application from LIV Golf
LIV Golf () is a professional golf tour financed by the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. The name "LIV" refers to the Roman numerals for 54, the score if every hole on a par-72 course were birdied and the number ...
for it to be included in the ranking system.
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.
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 give a "Strength of Field" value. This is then converted into an event ranking using a table. As examples, a strength of field value of 10 converts to an event ranking of 8, a strength of field value of 100 converts to an event ranking of 24, while a strength of field 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, some tours have a "flagship event" that is guaranteed a higher ranking.
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 "Strength of Field" (rating over 500) in 2020 are:
Rank refers to the player's world ranking before the event.
]
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.
Since 2019, the PGA Tour has used its season-ending Tour Championship
The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 ...
strictly to determine the final distribution of its FedEx Cup
The FedEx Cup is a championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Announced in November 2005, it was first awarded in 2007. Rory McIlroy is the 2022 champion. T ...
bonus pool. The 30 players are seeded according to their ranking in the FedEx Cup standings, with all players starting at a specified score with respect to par and the player leading the field after four rounds winning the FedEx Cup and receiving credit for an official PGA Tour win. The person with the lowest score over the event's four rounds receives no recognition from the tour. The OWGR ignores the PGA Tour's treatment of this event, awarding ranking points based solely on each player's performance during the Tour Championship itself.
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. There is also a maximum of 52 tournaments, which means that only the player's 52 most recent tournaments (within the two-year period) are used.
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
The World Golf Championships (WGC) are a group of annual professional golf tournaments created by the International Federation of PGA Tours as a means of gathering the best players in the world together more frequently than the pre-existing four ...
; see table below. In addition, rankings are the main criterion for selection for the International Team in the Presidents Cup
The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...
, 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
Bernhard Langer (; born 27 August 1957) is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, he became the sport's first official number one ran ...
the first world No. 1 ranked player, ahead of Seve Ballesteros, who had topped the unofficial McCormack's World Golf Rankings
The McCormack rankings were unofficial world golf rankings published in Mark McCormack's ''World of Professional Golf Annual'' from 1968 to 1985, and were a forerunner of the current Official World Golf Ranking. Unlike their replacement they were ...
at the end of the previous year. Ballesteros briefly held the No. 1 spot after Langer, before Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...
'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
Ian Harold Woosnam (born 2 March 1958) is a Welsh professional golfer.
Nicknamed 'Woosie', Woosnam was one of the "Big Five" generation of European golfers, all born within 12 months of one another, all of whom have won majors, and made Europe ...
, 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 to justify his new ranking, 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
Nicholas Raymond Leige Price (born 28 January 1957) is a Zimbabwean retired professional golfer who has won three major championships in his career: the PGA Championship twice (in 1992 and 1994) and The Open Championship in 1994. In the mid-19 ...
, 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
Thomas Edward Lehman (born March 7, 1959) is an American professional golfer. A former number 1 ranked golfer, his tournament wins include one major title, the 1996 Open Championship; and he is the only golfer in history to have been awarded th ...
, and then Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
and Ernie Els
Theodore Ernest Els (; born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer. A former , he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature (he stands ) along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victor ...
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
Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE (born 23 June 1963) is a Scottish professional golfer. He has won a record eight European Tour Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999. He has won 31 European Tour events ...
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
Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 and the 2020 Masters Tournament with a record scor ...
similarly had more points in total than the world number one Jason Day
Jason Day (born 12 November 1987) is an Australian professional golfer, PGA Tour member and winner of the 2015 PGA Championship. He is a former world number one in the World Golf Ranking, having first achieved the ranking in September 2015. ...
. Woods then finished 1998 narrowly ahead of Mark O'Meara
Mark Francis O'Meara (born January 13, 1957) is an American professional golfer. He was a tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. He spent nearly 200 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World ...
even though the latter won two major titles that year while Woods won just once on the PGA Tour. In March 1999, David Duval
David Robert Duval (born November 9, 1971) is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 Golfer who competed on the PGA Tour and currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Duval won 13 PGA Tour tournaments between 1997 and 2001; incl ...
became world No. 1 after winning The Players Championship
The Players Championship (commonly known as simply The Players, stylized by the PGA Tour as The PLAYERS Championship) is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour. Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, it began in 1974. The ...
, 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
Vijay Singh ( hif, विजय सिंह ; born 22 February 1963), nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer. He has won 34 events on the PGA Tour, including three major championships: one Masters title (2000) and two ...
won the PGA Championship
The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...
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
Pádraig Peter Harrington (born 31 August 1971) is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Champi ...
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
Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970), nicknamed Lefty, is an American professional golfer who plays for LIV Golf. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), two ...
(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
Martin Kaymer ( ; born 28 December 1984) is a German professional golfer. A winner of two major championships, he was also the No. 1 ranked golfer in the Official World Golf Ranking for eight weeks in 2011.
Kaymer achieved his first major vict ...
(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
Thomas Edward Lehman (born March 7, 1959) is an American professional golfer. A former number 1 ranked golfer, his tournament wins include one major title, the 1996 Open Championship; and he is the only golfer in history to have been awarded th ...
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.
On August 16, 2015, following Jordan Spieth
Jordan Alexander Spieth (born July 27, 1993) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour and former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is a three-time major winner and the 2015 FedEx Cup champion.
Spieth's first majo ...
's second-place finish at the 2015 PGA Championship
The 2015 PGA Championship was the 97th PGA Championship, held August 13–16 on the Straits Course of Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin (the course is physically in Haven but holds a Kohler mailing address due to its Kohler Company ownershi ...
(that followed earlier wins at the Masters and the U.S. Open), Spieth became the 18th world No. 1. 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
Jason Day (born 12 November 1987) is an Australian professional golfer, PGA Tour member and winner of the 2015 PGA Championship. He is a former world number one in the World Golf Ranking, having first achieved the ranking in September 2015. ...
, the 2015 PGA Championship
The 2015 PGA Championship was the 97th PGA Championship, held August 13–16 on the Straits Course of Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin (the course is physically in Haven but holds a Kohler mailing address due to its Kohler Company ownershi ...
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
Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 and the 2020 Masters Tournament with a record scor ...
became the 20th player to reach number one in the rankings following his victory at the Genesis Open
The Genesis Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in southern California, first played in 1926 as the Los Angeles Open. Other previous names include Genesis Open, Northern Trust Open and Nissan Open. Played annually i ...
. He would remain number one for over a year before being overtaken in May 2018 by Justin Thomas
Justin Louis Thomas (born April 29, 1993) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and is former World Number One. In 2017, Thomas experienced a breakout year, winning five PGA Tour events and the FedEx Cup championship. ...
, who had won the PGA championship and four other events in 2017. Johnson regained top spot but was overtaken again in September 2018 by Justin Rose
Justin Peter Rose, (born 30 July 1980) is an English professional golfer who plays most of his golf on the PGA Tour, while keeping his membership on the European Tour. He won his first major championship at the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion Golf ...
, who had finished second at the Open and again in two FedEx Cup playoff events. Rose became the 22nd player to reach number one, and the fourth Englishman. Johnson regained the number one position from Rose but was replaced by a new number one for a third time in 2018 on October 21, when Brooks Koepka
Brooks Koepka (, born May 3, 1990) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LIV Golf tour. In October 2018, he became world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking for 47 weeks after winning the 2018 CJ Cup. He won the U.S. Ope ...
added victory in the CJ Cup
The CJ Cup is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. The tournament was played for the first time in October 2017 at the start of the 2017–18 season, and is sponsored by CJ Group. The first three editions were played at the Nine Bridges ...
to his two 2018 major titles. Koepka remained number one on the ranking at the end of 2018, even though Rose had amassed a higher total of ranking points (from more events entered). Dustin Johnson regained the number one position early in 2019 with victory at the WGC-Mexico Championship
The WGC Championship was a professional golf tournament that was held between 1999 and 2021. It was one of the three or four annual World Golf Championships until the number of WGC events was reduced to two following the 2021 season.
Under sp ...
, but Koepka returned to number one when he retained his PGA Championship
The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...
title in May 2019. Koepka remained number one at the end of 2019, although FedEx Cup winner Rory McIlroy had (like Rose the year before) amassed more ranking points in total than him.
On February 9, 2020, McIlroy regained the number one position as his higher 2019 points total became reflected in the weighted average. Following the resumption of golf on the PGA Tour after suspension due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, Jon Rahm
Jon Rahm Rodríguez (born 10 November 1994) is a Spanish professional golfer. He was the number one golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for a record 60 weeks and later became world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, first ac ...
became the 24th player to top the world rankings, and the second Spaniard, on July 19 after his victory at the Memorial Tournament
The Memorial Tournament is a PGA Tour golf tournament founded in 1976 by Jack Nicklaus. It is played on a Nicklaus-designed course at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb north of Columbus. The golf course passes through a large n ...
, his fourth worldwide win in twelve months. Rahm became the second player after Luke Donald to become world number one before having won or been runner-up in a major championship. The following month Dustin Johnson regained the number one position following his victory in the Northern Trust event and remained number one at the end of 2020, strengthening his hold on the position by winning his first Masters Tournament in November. Jon Rahm
Jon Rahm Rodríguez (born 10 November 1994) is a Spanish professional golfer. He was the number one golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for a record 60 weeks and later became world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, first ac ...
regained the number one position following his victory in the U.S. Open in June 2021.
In March 2022, Scottie Scheffler
Scott Alexander Scheffler (born June 21, 1996) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. From March to October 2022, he was World Number 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He won the 2022 Masters Tournament.
Early life
Sc ...
became the 25th player to reach number one after winning the WGC Match Play
The WGC Match Play, currently titled as the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play for sponsorship reasons, is a professional men's golf tournament that has been held since 1999. It is the only one of the World Golf Championships to have been conteste ...
, his third victory of the 2022 season. Scheffler became the third player to become world number one before winning or finishing runner-up in a major. Emulating Ian Woosnam in 1991, Scheffler then promptly won his first major in his very first start as world number one, the 2022 Masters Tournament.
Rankings archive
Year-end world number 1 ranked golfers
*1986 Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...
*1987 Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...
(2)
*1988 Seve Ballesteros
*1989 Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...
(3)
*1990 Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...
(4)
*1991 Ian Woosnam
Ian Harold Woosnam (born 2 March 1958) is a Welsh professional golfer.
Nicknamed 'Woosie', Woosnam was one of the "Big Five" generation of European golfers, all born within 12 months of one another, all of whom have won majors, and made Europe ...
*1992 Nick Faldo
*1993 Nick Faldo (2)
*1994 Nick Price
Nicholas Raymond Leige Price (born 28 January 1957) is a Zimbabwean retired professional golfer who has won three major championships in his career: the PGA Championship twice (in 1992 and 1994) and The Open Championship in 1994. In the mid-19 ...
*1995 Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...
(5)
*1996 Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...
(6)
*1997 Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...
(7)
*1998 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
*1999 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(2)
*2000 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(3)
*2001 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(4)
*2002 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(5)
*2003 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(6)
*2004 Vijay Singh
Vijay Singh ( hif, विजय सिंह ; born 22 February 1963), nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer. He has won 34 events on the PGA Tour, including three major championships: one Masters title (2000) and two ...
*2005 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(7)
*2006 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(8)
*2007 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(9)
*2008 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(10)
*2009 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(11)
*2010 Lee Westwood
*2011 Luke Donald
*2012 Rory McIlroy
*2013 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(12)
*2014 Rory McIlroy (2)
*2015 Jordan Spieth
Jordan Alexander Spieth (born July 27, 1993) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour and former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is a three-time major winner and the 2015 FedEx Cup champion.
Spieth's first majo ...
*2016 Jason Day
Jason Day (born 12 November 1987) is an Australian professional golfer, PGA Tour member and winner of the 2015 PGA Championship. He is a former world number one in the World Golf Ranking, having first achieved the ranking in September 2015. ...
*2017 Dustin Johnson
Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 and the 2020 Masters Tournament with a record scor ...
*2018 Brooks Koepka
Brooks Koepka (, born May 3, 1990) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LIV Golf tour. In October 2018, he became world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking for 47 weeks after winning the 2018 CJ Cup. He won the U.S. Ope ...
*2019 Brooks Koepka
Brooks Koepka (, born May 3, 1990) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LIV Golf tour. In October 2018, he became world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking for 47 weeks after winning the 2018 CJ Cup. He won the U.S. Ope ...
(2)
*2020 Dustin Johnson
Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 and the 2020 Masters Tournament with a record scor ...
(2)
*2021 Jon Rahm
Jon Rahm Rodríguez (born 10 November 1994) is a Spanish professional golfer. He was the number one golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for a record 60 weeks and later became world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, first ac ...
Mark H. McCormack Award
Awarded to the player with the most weeks at No. 1 during calendar year and named after Mark McCormack
Mark Hume McCormack (November 6, 1930 – May 16, 2003) was an American lawyer, sports agent and writer. He was the founder and chairman of International Management Group, now IMG, an international management organization serving sports ...
, originator of the ranking.
*1998 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
*1999 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(2)
*2000 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(3)
*2001 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(4)
*2002 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(5)
*2003 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(6)
*2004 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(7)
*2005 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(8)
*2006 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(9)
*2007 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(10)
*2008 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(11)
*2009 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(12)
*2010 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(13)
*2011 Luke Donald
*2012 Rory McIlroy
*2013 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
(14)
*2014 Rory McIlroy (2)
*2015 Rory McIlroy (3)
*2016 Jason Day
Jason Day (born 12 November 1987) is an Australian professional golfer, PGA Tour member and winner of the 2015 PGA Championship. He is a former world number one in the World Golf Ranking, having first achieved the ranking in September 2015. ...
*2017 Dustin Johnson
Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 and the 2020 Masters Tournament with a record scor ...
*2018 Dustin Johnson
Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 and the 2020 Masters Tournament with a record scor ...
(2)
*2019 Brooks Koepka
Brooks Koepka (, born May 3, 1990) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LIV Golf tour. In October 2018, he became world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking for 47 weeks after winning the 2018 CJ Cup. He won the U.S. Ope ...
*2020 Dustin Johnson
Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 and the 2020 Masters Tournament with a record scor ...
(3)
*2021 Jon Rahm
Jon Rahm Rodríguez (born 10 November 1994) is a Spanish professional golfer. He was the number one golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for a record 60 weeks and later became world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, first ac ...
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):
*1983 Seve Ballesteros 422
*1984 Tom Watson 376
*1985 Bernhard Langer
Bernhard Langer (; born 27 August 1957) is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, he became the sport's first official number one ran ...
368
*1986 Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...
582
*1987 Seve Ballesteros
and Ian Woosnam
Ian Harold Woosnam (born 2 March 1958) is a Welsh professional golfer.
Nicknamed 'Woosie', Woosnam was one of the "Big Five" generation of European golfers, all born within 12 months of one another, all of whom have won majors, and made Europe ...
326
*1988 Seve Ballesteros 482
*1989 Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...
422
*1990 José María Olazábal
José María Olazábal Manterola (, ; born 5 February 1966) is a Spanish professional golfer from the Basque region who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships, both at The Masters.
...
466
*1991 Seve Ballesteros 392
*1992 Nick Faldo 596
*1993 Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...
492
*1994 Ernie Els
Theodore Ernest Els (; born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer. A former , he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature (he stands ) along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victor ...
554
*1995 Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...
430
*1996 Tom Lehman
Thomas Edward Lehman (born March 7, 1959) is an American professional golfer. A former number 1 ranked golfer, his tournament wins include one major title, the 1996 Open Championship; and he is the only golfer in history to have been awarded th ...
370
*1997 Ernie Els
Theodore Ernest Els (; born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer. A former , he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature (he stands ) along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victor ...
394
*1998 Mark O'Meara
Mark Francis O'Meara (born January 13, 1957) is an American professional golfer. He was a tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. He spent nearly 200 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World ...
408
*1999 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
750
*2000 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
948.22
*2001 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
568.11
*2002 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
684.00
*2003 Vijay Singh
Vijay Singh ( hif, विजय सिंह ; born 22 February 1963), nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer. He has won 34 events on the PGA Tour, including three major championships: one Masters title (2000) and two ...
550.87
*2004 Vijay Singh
Vijay Singh ( hif, विजय सिंह ; born 22 February 1963), nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer. He has won 34 events on the PGA Tour, including three major championships: one Masters title (2000) and two ...
707.57
*2005 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
772.44
*2006 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
746.28
*2007 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
689.60
*2008 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
426.24
*2009 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
604.54
*2010 Lee Westwood 374.21
*2011 Luke Donald 533.49
*2012 Rory McIlroy 596.99
*2013 Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
488.25
*2014 Rory McIlroy 567.77
*2015 Jordan Spieth
Jordan Alexander Spieth (born July 27, 1993) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour and former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is a three-time major winner and the 2015 FedEx Cup champion.
Spieth's first majo ...
630.50
*2016 Dustin Johnson
Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 and the 2020 Masters Tournament with a record scor ...
454.20
*2017 Jordan Spieth
Jordan Alexander Spieth (born July 27, 1993) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour and former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is a three-time major winner and the 2015 FedEx Cup champion.
Spieth's first majo ...
450.43
*2018 Bryson DeChambeau
Bryson James Aldrich DeChambeau (born September 16, 1993) is an American professional golfer. He has won eight times on the PGA Tour including one major championship, the 2020 U.S. Open. As an amateur, DeChambeau became the fifth player in hi ...
392.43
*2019 Rory McIlroy 496.25
*2020 Dustin Johnson
Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 and the 2020 Masters Tournament with a record scor ...
463.54
*2021 Collin Morikawa
Collin Morikawa (born February 6, 1997) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and European Tour. He began his PGA Tour career with 22 consecutive made cuts, second only to Tiger Woods' 25-cut streak. Morikawa has five PGA ...
418.14
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.
''Note: 2020 events were played in a different order due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.
Summary
See also
* List of world number one male golfers
*List of male golfers who have been in the world top 10
This is a list of golfers who have appeared in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). The rankings started on 6 April 1986 and are updated each week. 114 golfers have reached the top 10.
Tiger Woods holds the record for the most wee ...
*Women's World Golf Rankings
The Women's World Golf Rankings, also known for sponsorship reasons as the Rolex Rankings, were introduced in February 2006. They are sanctioned by eight women's golf tours and the organisations behind them: Ladies Professional Golf Association ( ...
– for female professional golfers
*World Amateur Golf Ranking The World Amateur Golf Ranking for men was introduced by The R&A, the governing body of the sport of golf outside the United States and Mexico, on 23 January 2007. It is based on the results of over 2,600 amateur tournaments per year (and amateurs p ...
– for male and female amateur golfers
Notes and references
External links
*
{{Golf
Golf terminology
Golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...
Golf rankings