Women's World Golf Rankings Explained

The Women's World Golf Rankings, also known for sponsorship reasons as the Rolex Rankings, were introduced in February 2006. They are sanctioned by 12 women's golf tours and the organisations behind them: Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA Tour), Ladies European Tour, Ladies Professional Golfers' Association of Japan (LPGA of Japan Tour), Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA of Korea Tour), WPGA Tour of Australasia, Epson Tour, China Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour, the Ladies European Tour Access Series, Taiwan LPGA Tour, JLPGA Step Up Tour (JSU), KLPGA Dream Tour (KDT), and Thai LPGA Tour and also by The R&A, which administers the Women's British Open and the United States Golf Association which conducts the U.S. Women's Open.

The idea of introducing a set of women's rankings similar to the Official World Golf Ranking was developed at the May 2004 World Congress of Women's Golf, and was first planned for 2005,[1] but then put back to 2006.

Calculation of the rankings

The rankings are based on performances on the eight major tours (LPGA, JLPGA, KLPGA, LET, ALPG, Epson Tour, LETAS, CLPGA) over a two-year period. Amateur players are eligible. The system for calculating the rankings is similar to that for the men's Official World Golf Ranking. Players receive points for each good finish on the relevant tours, with the number of points available in each event depending on the strength of the field, as determined by the competitors' existing rankings (when the rankings were introduced rankings were calculated for earlier periods; the first ever set showed notional changes since the previous week). The only exceptions are the five LPGA majors and all Epson Tour, CLPGA and LETAS events which have a fixed-point allocation, presently 100 points for the majors. Rankings are weighted as to the time elapsed over the two years, making the recent results more important.

Original formula

When the rankings were first introduced in February 2006, a player's ranking as calculated in the above description was divided by the number of events played, with a minimum required events of 15 over the previous two years. In addition, players were required to play in a minimum of 15 eligible events over the previous two-year period to be included in the rankings.

Formula revisions

On August 2, 2006, the Rolex Rankings Board and Technical Committee announced following its bi-annual meeting two changes to the ranking formula.[2]

  1. The elimination of the minimum event requirement. Players would no longer be required to participate in 15 qualifying events to be included in the rankings and could be included after playing in as few as one qualifying event. This change would also have the effect of permitting amateurs who had played well in one event to be ranked (e.g., Morgan Pressel, who finished second in the 2005 U.S. Women's Open, or Michelle Wie from age 13).
  2. The introduction of a minimum divisor. Where previously a player's point total was divided by the number of events she played over the previous 104 weeks, now the player's point total would be divided by the greater of (i) the number of events played or (ii) 35. Thus, players with 35 or more events over the previous 104 weeks would continue to use the actual number of events played as the divisor, but players with fewer than 35 events would use 35 as the divisor.

Many commentators saw the latter change as directed at Michelle Wie, who at the time was ranked second in the world despite having competed in only 16 women's professional events in the two-year period. However, the chairman of the Rolex Rankings Technical Committee defended the change as one designed to make the women's rankings more comparable to the Official World Golf Ranking for men, which use a minimum divisor of 40 events.

On April 16, 2007, another modification in the formula was introduced. Instead of points being awarded on an accumulated 104-week rolling period, with the points awarded in the most recent 13-week period carrying a higher value, points began to be reduced in 91 equal decrements following week 13 for the remaining 91 weeks of the two-year Rolex Ranking period rather than the seven equal 13-week decrements previously used.[3] This modification did not have an immediate impact on the rankings.

Criticisms

When they were introduced the rankings attracted considerable criticism on two grounds.[4] First, it was widely felt that members of the LPGA of Japan Tour were ranked too high, since few of them had competed successfully outside Japan. Second, the minimum of 15 events needed to qualify for a ranking was widely seen as having been selected purely to enable Michelle Wie to be highly ranked because she had played exactly that number in the preceding two years, while every other highly ranked player had played many more events. If the women's rankings used the same system used for the men's rankings – that is a minimum number of events of one but a minimum denominator of 40 to calculate the average points per tournament – Wie would have been just outside the top 10. But under the women's ranking system where only players who had played a minimum number of events were included, if the minimum number of events had been set higher than 15, Wie would not have been ranked at all.

The August 2006 revised formula addressed the second criticism. The technical committee that administers the rankings urged patience with regard to the first criticism, since the continuing "strength of the field" weighting of tournaments may correct the issue without any technical changes being made.

Significance of the rankings

The rankings are used by each of the sponsoring tours to determine eligibility criteria for certain events. For example, 40 of the 144 places in the Women's British Open are currently awarded on the basis of the rankings—10 to LET members and 30 to LPGA members.[5] Four of the 12 places in the European Solheim Cup team are allocated on the basis of the rankings.[6] For the U.S. Solheim Cup team, the top two players on the rankings not already qualified make the team.[7]

Since 2013, the rankings at the end of each LPGA Tour season in odd-numbered years have determined the eight countries that will compete in the following year's International Crown, a LPGA-sponsored team event scheduled in even-numbered years and first held in 2014. More specifically, the countries whose top four players have the highest cumulative rankings are invited to compete.[8] The individual participants from each qualified country are determined by the rankings immediately prior to the ANA Inspiration (known before 2015 as the Kraft Nabisco Championship) in the year of the event.[9]

Current top ten

Rank Change Player Country Points
1 11.70
2 7.15
3 1 5.56
4 1 5.53
5 5.21
6 5.12
7 1 5.07
8 1 4.92
9 4.81
10 1 4.41

Change column indicates change in rank from previous week.
Notes

World number ones

^Record
Current No. 1 player as of 19 August 2024[10]
No.PlayerCountryStart dateEnd datedata-sort-type=numberWeeks!data-sort-type=numberTotal weeks
1 60 60
2 158^ 158
3 7 7
4 1 1
5 3 3
(2) 1 2
(2) 3 10
(2) 1 4
(3) 9 11
(3) 1 5
(3) 15 25
6 109 109
7 4 4
8 59 59
(2) 21 25
(2) 14 73
9 19 19
(3) 19 92
(2) 85 104
10 2 2
11 19 19
12 1 1
13 23 23
(4) 14 106
(2) 3 5
(2) 28 October 201810 11
(3) 18 23
(3) 5 16
14 12 12
(4) 4 20
(2) 100 112
15 17 17
(3) 2 114
(2) 12 29
(4) 39 154
16 2 2
(3) 2 31
(3) 21 125
(4) 4 35
(5) 7 163^
(5) 2 37
17 4 4
18 2 2
(2) 5 9
(2) 2 4
(3) 19 28
  • (6)
Present 22 59

Total weeks at No. 1

Current No. 1 player as of 19 August 2024
data-sort-type=numberRankPlayerCountrydata-sort-type=numberWeeksdata-sort-type=numberOrderdata-sort-type=numberMajors
1163142
215822
312592
410965
510687
660110
759152
828172
92532
72
1123131
102
1320122
1419112
151140
16552
174181
182160

Year end No. 1

No. 1 player all year
YearPlayerCountry
2006
2007
2008 Lorena Ochoa
  • (2)
2009 Lorena Ochoa
  • (3)
2010
2011
2012 Yani Tseng
  • (2)
2013
2014 Inbee Park (2)
2015
2016 Lydia Ko
  • (2)
2017
2018
2019
2020 Ko Jin-young
  • (2)
2021
2022 Lydia Ko (3)
2023

Weeks at No. 1 by country

Country with the current number one player as of 19 August 2024
data-sort-type=numberRankCountrydata-sort-type=numberNo. of
players		data-sort-type=numberNo. of
weeks		Players
1 5 333 Jiyai Shin, Inbee Park, Ryu So-yeon, Park Sung-hyun, Ko Jin-young
2 1 158 Lorena Ochoa
3 1 125 Lydia Ko
4 4 117 Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis, Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu
5 1 109 Yani Tseng
6 1 60 Annika Sörenstam
7 2 27 Shanshan Feng, Yin Ruoning
8 2 25 Ariya Jutanugarn, Atthaya Thitikul
9 1 11 Ai Miyazato

Players who have reached No. 1 without having won a major title

PlayersDate of first No. 1 positionEventual first major title
2007 Women's British Open
none
2015 Evian Championship
none

Year-end world top 10 players

★ indicates player's highest year-end ranking

Year No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5 No. 6 No. 7 No. 8 No. 9 No. 10
2006 A. Sörenstam★ L. Ochoa K. Webb C. Kerr J. Inkster★ A. Miyazato★ J. Jang★ P. Creamer S. Oyama★ P. Hurst★
2007 L. Ochoa★ K. Webb★ S. Pettersen A. Sörenstam P. Creamer C. Kerr J. Shin J. Inkster M.H. Kim★ S.R. Pak★
2008 L. Ochoa Y. Tseng A. Sörenstam P. Creamer★ S. Pettersen J. Shin C. Kerr H. Alfredsson★ A. Stanford★ K. Webb
2009 L. Ochoa J. Shin S. Pettersen C. Kerr Y. Tseng A. Nordqvist★ P. Creamer A. Miyazato A. Stanford M. Wie
2010 J. Shin★ C. Kerr★ S. Pettersen N.Y. Choi Y. Tseng A. Miyazato I.K. Kim★ S.J. Ahn S.H. Kim★ M. Wie
2011 Y. Tseng★ S. Pettersen★ N.Y. Choi C. Kerr P. Creamer S.J. Ahn★ J. Shin I.K. Kim A. Miyazato S. Lewis
2012 Y. Tseng N.Y. Choi★ S. Lewis★ I. Park S. Feng S. Pettersen S.Y. Ryu J. Shin A. Miyazato M. Miyazato★
2013 I. Park★ S. Pettersen S. Lewis L. Ko S.Y. Ryu S. Feng N.Y. Choi K. Webb L. Thompson I.K. Kim
2014 I. Park L. Ko S. Lewis S. Pettersen S. Feng M. Wie★ H.J. Kim★ S.Y. Ryu K. Webb L. Thompson
2015 L. Ko★ I. Park S. Lewis L. Thompson★ S.Y. Ryu S. Feng S.Y. Kim A. Yang★ H.J. Kim I.G. Chun
2016 L. Ko A. Jutanugarn I.G. Chun★ S. Feng L. Thompson S.Y. Kim H.N. Jang★ B. Henderson S.Y. Ryu S.H. Park
2017 S. Feng★ S.H. Park★ S.Y. Ryu★ L. Thompson I.G. Chun A. Jutanugarn A. Nordqvist I.K. Kim L. Ko C. Kerr
2018 A. Jutanugarn★ S.H. Park S.Y. Ryu I. Park L. Thompson M. Lee N. Hataoka G. Hall★ B. Henderson J.Y. Ko
2019 J.Y. Ko★ S.H. Park N. Korda D. Kang★ S.Y. Kim N. Hataoka★ J.E. Lee★ B. Henderson M. Lee L. Thompson
2020 J.Y. Ko S.Y. Kim★ I. Park N. Korda D. Kang B. Henderson★ N. Hataoka M. Lee H.J. Kim S.H. Park
2021 N. Korda★ J.Y. Ko L. Ko S.Y. Kim I. Park N. Hataoka M. Lee Y. Saso★ H.J. Kim B. Henderson
2022 L. Ko N. Korda A. Thitikul★ M. Lee★ J.Y. Ko L. Thompson B. Henderson I.G. Chun H.J. Kim N. Hataoka
2023 L. Vu★ R. Yin★ C. Boutier★ M. Lee N. Korda J.Y. Ko H.J. Kim C. Hull★ A. Thitikul X. Lin★

Historical rankings

Annika Sörenstam of Sweden topped the first set of rankings, which was released on Tuesday 21 February 2006. Paula Creamer (United States); Michelle Wie (United States); Yuri Fudoh (Japan); and Cristie Kerr (United States) took the other places in the top 5. The top one hundred players in the initial rankings came from the following countries:

Initial top ten
21 February 2006!Rank!!Player!!Country!!Points
1 18.47
2 9.65
3 9.24
4 7.37
5 6.94
6 6.58
7 6.10
8 4.91
9 4.49
10 4.11
Initial top ten after 2 August 2006 formula change
7 August 2006!Rank!!Player!!Country!!Points
1 17.41
2 9.87
3 9.39
4 8.13
5 8.04
6 7.75
7 6.83
8 6.09
9 5.98
10 5.79

Breakdown by nationality

A breakdown of the year-end top-100 by nationality.

Country20
23		20
22		20
21		20
20		20
19		20
18		20
17		20
16		20
15		20
14		20
13		20
12		20
11		20
10		20
09		20
08		20
07		20
06
32 31 30 35 40 39 41 40 39 39 41 38 37 36 35 31 32 26
21 20 15 12 14 11 10 10 11 14 17 18 22 22 20 21 23 24
14 18 22 23 20 24 22 22 21 18 19 17 15 18 22 23 20 23
6 5 5 3 3 4 3 3 2 1 3 1 1
4 4 3 2 1 2 2 1 2 3 2 5 4 3 4 7 4 6
4 3 4 4 3 3 5 3 2 3 1 3 3 5 5 4 4 4
3 4 3 5 4 4 3 2 3 3 1 1 2 3 2 2 3 2
2 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 2 1 1 3 2 3
2 1 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 2 1
2 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 2 2
1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 3 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1
1
1 2 2 2 1 2 1 1 1
1 1 1
1
1 1 1
1 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 4 3 3 4 3 3
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1
1 2 1 1 1 1
1 1 1
1
1

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Women's World Rankings to begin in 2005 . Golf Today . 2004 . 16 April 2007 .
  2. Web site: Two modifications announced for Rolex Rankings . LPGA . August 3, 2006 . August 3, 2006.
  3. Web site: Modification Announced to Rolex Rankings Calculations . LPGA. April 9, 2007 . April 16, 2007.
  4. Web site: First Women's World Golf Rankings Stir Up Controversy . Kelley . Brent . about.com . 21 February 2006 . 3 January 2011.
  5. Web site: Entry Form, 2011 Ricoh Women's British Open: Rules and Conditions . Ladies' Golf Union. 29 July 2011. See especially "7. Exemptions from Pre-Qualifying and Final Qualifying", pages 2–3.
  6. News: Solheim selection process changes . BBC Sport . 18 April 2006 . 3 January 2011 .
  7. Web site: U.S. Team . Solheim Cup . 20 July 2023.
  8. 32 Players, 8 Countries, 1 Crown: LPGA Unveils the International Crown . LPGA . 24 January 2013 . 5 April 2013.
  9. LPGA International Crown Celebrates "Year from Here" Event . LPGA . 23 July 2013 . 30 September 2013.
  10. Web site: 19 August 2024 . Rolex Rankings . Rolex Rankings .

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