The World Amateur Golf Ranking for men was introduced by

The R&A The R&A is the collective name of a group of companies that together play a significant role within the game of golf. Historically, "the R&A" was a colloquial name for the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews; in 2004, the club spun off ...

, the governing body of the sport of

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 wi ...

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 participating in certain professional events) and is updated each Wednesday. Rankings are based on the players' average performances in counting events over a rolling period. This period was 52 weeks initially but was gradually expanded during 2016 to 104 weeks, similar to those of the

Official World Golf Ranking 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 "rolli ...

. Like the Official World Golf Ranking for male professional golfers, the amateur ranking was initiated by The R&A to provide a more reliable means of selecting an appropriate field for one of its tournaments. The professional ranking was initially used to help set the field for

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 th ...

and the amateur ranking plays a role in selecting the field for

The Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

, which was previously selected mainly on the basis of national handicap systems. Other tournament organisers will be able to use the rankings to select players if they so wish. The first set of rankings featured over 1,000 players from 46 countries and was headed by the 2006

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

champion,

Richie Ramsay } Richie Ramsay (born 15 June 1983) is a Scottish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour. Ramsay played in the 2005 Walker Cup and, in 2006, became the first British golfer in almost a century to win the U.S. Amateur. Ramsay turned ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. In February 2011, the

United States Golf Association The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

(USGA) endorsed the rankings and announced it would use them for an exemption category in all their men's amateur championships, including the U.S. Amateur, beginning in 2011. The women's rankings were started in February 2011.

Mitsuki Katahira is a retired Japanese professional golfer. In 2011, she was world No. 1 in the inaugural World Amateur Golf Ranking. Amateur career Katahira was born in 1989 in the Greater Tokyo Area, Japan. After graduating from junior high school, she moved ...

was the first number one.

Leona Maguire Leona Maguire (born 30 November 1994) is an Irish professional golfer. She was ranked 1st in the world on the women's World Amateur Golf Ranking from May 2015 until May 2016 and then from August 2016 until February 2018. Maguire's 135 weeks a ...

holds the record for most weeks at the top of the rankings with 135 weeks. Only three male and two female golfers have ever held the No. 1-ranking as both an amateur and a professional. The first to do so was Rory McIlroy, who was when he became the No. 1 amateur and when he first became the world No. 1 professional.

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 ...

was the second to accomplish this feat, he was when he topped the amateur rankings and when he reached No. 1 in the

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 ...

, who was ranked no. 1 for 60 weeks, became professional world no. 1 in July 2020.

Lydia Ko Lydia Ko (born 24 April 1997) is a New Zealand professional golfer and the No. 1-ranked woman professional golfer. She first achieved the top ranking on 2 February 2015 at of age, making her the youngest player of either gender to be ranked ...

was the first player to accomplish this feat in the female ranking. She was only and held the ranking for a record 130 consecutive weeks, and she was a mere when she first reached the pinnacle of the

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 (L ...

(WWGR).

Atthaya Thitikul Atthaya Thitikul ( th, อาฒยา ฐิติกุล, , ; born 20 February 2003) is a Thai professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour. She is the youngest golfer ever to win a professional gol ...

held the amateur No. 1 for 12 weeks in 2019–2020 and topped the WWGR on 31 October 2022.

Chronology of Men's World Number Ones

;Key

Chronology of Women's World Number Ones

;Key

Elite events

Prior to 2020, events were ranked in eight categories: Elite, A, B, C, D, E, F or G. The Elite events are listed below. The calculation of the ranking changed in 2020 and there are no longer any categories.

Men

European Amateur The European Amateur Championship is an annual amateur golf tournament played at various locations throughout Europe. It is organized by the European Golf Association and was one of the "Elite" tournaments recognized by the World Amateur Golf Rank ...

Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship The Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship is an annual amateur golf tournament. It is played at various locations throughout Asia-Pacific. It is organized by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) and was first played in 2009. It was organized in ...

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eisen ...

NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships The NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship, played in late May or early June, is the top annual competition in U.S. men's collegiate golf. The teams that win their respective Division I conference championships are given automatic spots in th ...

(beginning in 2016)

Women

The Womens Amateur Championship The Women's Amateur Championship, previously known as the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship, was founded in 1893 by the Ladies' Golf Union. It is organised by The R&A, which merged with the Ladies' Golf Union in 2017. Until the dawn of the ...

European Ladies Amateur Championship The European Ladies Amateur Championship is an annual amateur golf tournament. It is organized by the European Golf Association and is one of the "elite" tournaments recognized by the World Amateur Golf Ranking The World Amateur Golf Ranking for men ...

* U.S. Women's Amateur *

Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific The Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific was founded in 2018 by The R&A and the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation, to create an event corresponding to The Womens Amateur Championship and U.S. Women's Amateur for Asia, analogous to the Asia-Pacific Amateur ...

Espirito Santo Trophy The Espirito Santo Trophy (World Women's Amateur Team Championships) is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for women organised by the International Golf Federation. The inaugural event was held in 1964. It was instituted by the Fre ...

NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships The NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship, played in the month of May, is the annual competition in women's collegiate golf for individuals and teams from universities in Division I. Golf was one of twelve women's sports added to the NCAA cha ...

References

External links

* {{Sport world rankings Amateur golf Golf rankings