Official World Golf Rankings
Encyclopedia
The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of male professional golf
ers (although there is no rule prohibiting women from being ranked). It was introduced in 1986 and 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:
Points are also awarded for high finishes on six other tours:
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
, 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, 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
, Seve Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle
, Tom Watson
, Mark O'Meara
and Greg Norman
. 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, 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. 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.
At first only the Championship Committee of the Royal and Ancient used the rankings for official purposes, but the PGA Tour
recognized them in 1990, and in 1997 all five of the then principal men's golf tours
did so. The rankings, which had previously been called the Sony Rankings, were renamed the Official World Golf Rankings at that time. They are run from offices in Virginia Water
in Surrey
, England
.
Fifteen players have been Official World No. 1. Seve Ballesteros took over from Bernhard Langer
shortly after Langer had been the first ranking leader in 1986 and then vied with Greg Norman
for the No.1 spot for three years, when Nick Faldo
took over as Greg Norman’s main rival. Ian Woosnam
and Fred Couples
held the position at various times during 1991 and 1992 before Nick Faldo took over again until 1994, when Nick Price
’s career year took him to No. 1. Greg Norman would return to the top ranking in 1995 and 1996, then after a single week at No. 1 by Tom Lehman
, Tiger Woods
dominated the position from 1997 to 2010 with brief interruptions from Ernie Els
, David Duval
, and then from September 2004 Vijay Singh
, who became the twelfth World No. 1 following his win at the PGA championship. He and Woods would swap the position several times in 2005, but Woods eventually reopened a wide lead at the top. Woods' lead over his nearest rivals in the rankings in June 2008 was large enough that he remained number one at the end of that year, despite taking six months off following knee surgery. Woods holds the longest consecutive streak as No. 1 at 281 weeks. This streak was ended in October 2010 by England's Lee Westwood
who subsequently became the second English World No. 1; the third from Britain, and the fifth from Europe. On February 27, 2011, Martin Kaymer
took over the number one ranking from Westwood, becoming the second German to be ranked number one after Bernhard Langer. On April 24, 2011, Lee Westwood
regained the number one position following a victory in Indonesia; but on May 29, 2011, Luke Donald
took the world number one spot from Westwood by defeating him in a sudden death playoff for the BMW PGA Championship. In so doing, Donald became the first player ever to reach the official number one position despite having never finished as either a champion or a runner-up in a major championship.
For each tour, a minimum number of points are available for each event. For most events the actual number of points available depends on the current rankings (top 200) of the participating golfers and the ranking of the top 30 golfers entered from the "home tour". Major championships
have a fixed number of 100 points for the winner. In addition, most tours have a "premier event" that is guaranteed a much higher minimum point level.
The winners of the individual events in the World Golf Championships
series (three from 1999 to 2008, four from 2009) generally receive 70 to 78 points. The winner of most PGA Tour
events gains a number of points in the range from 24 to the 70s, and most European Tour events offer a points tally between 24 and 50s for the winner. Before 2007 the official points allocations were half these levels, and they were initially doubled up to calculate weighted points. For example a major championship win carried 50 points for the winner, which was initially given a weighting of two, so the adjusted points tally was 100. This system, which was confusing and had no apparent advantages, was abandoned in mid 2007. Tournaments which are reduced to 54 holes by inclement weather or other factors retain full points, but if a tournament is reduced to 36 holes, its points allocation is reduced by 25%.
Each player's personal ranking is calculated from the ranking points he has obtained over the previous two years. Firstly, his points from all the tournaments he has played in are scaled down over a two year period. The full value of a tournament holds for 13 weeks, but from then on it is reduced in equal weekly increments over the remainder of the two year period, in order to give priority to recent form. The player's adjusted points are then totalled, and this total is divided by the number of ranking tournaments in which he has participated over the previous two years, subject to a minimum denominator of 40 tournaments. 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. Players with full membership of one of the larger tours (that is, almost all players in the top few hundred in the rankings) usually play between 20 and 35 ranking tournaments each year, unless they are injured. Starting in 2010, a maximum denominator is also used. The maximum denominator was set to 60 starting the first week of 2010 and will be reduced by 2 every six months until it reaches 52 in January 2012. Only the player's 60 (58, 56, 54, 52) most recent tournaments (within the two year period) will be used to calculated his ranking. New rankings are released every Monday.
and three of the four current World Golf Championships
; see table below. Starting in 2012, a ranking in the top 70 will grant automatic entry to the Tournament of Hope, a fifth WGC event to be launched that year. Also, ranking points are the sole criterion for selection for the International Team in the Presidents Cup
and 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.
Note: The PGA Championship does not have an official automatic entry based on the Official World Golf Ranking but has invited those in the top 100 for the last several years. It makes note of its strong field by referencing the number of top 100 ranked golfers entered in its press releases.
http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2005/news_080205_vijay.html
http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2006/news/tigerphil081306.html
The rankings are well known to those who follow men's professional golf
and feature prominently in media
coverage of the sport. When Vijay Singh
temporarily ended Tiger Woods'
record run as world number 1 in 2004 it was one of the most reported golf stories of the year.
Since the introduction of the latest rating method in September 2001, the highest points average as well as the largest lead in points average were set by Tiger Woods
on September 16, 2007. After winning the BMW Championship and The Tour Championship
in consecutive weeks, he had an average of 24.36 and a lead of 14.73 points over Phil Mickelson
.
Ernie Els
holds the record for most weeks in the World Top 10, with 788. He is followed by Tiger Woods (736 weeks) and Phil Mickelson (701 weeks).
Order – indicates the sequence in which the players first reached number 1.
Majors – number of major championships
each player has won throughout his golfing career.
These are the golfers who have topped the rankings, in order of the number of weeks they have spent at Number 1 up to November 27, 2011, at which date Luke Donald
was World Number 1.
Of these players Bernhard Langer and Seve Ballesteros would be most likely to gain additional weeks at number 1 if the rankings were backdated to before April 1986, with Ballesteros also being ranked number one in Mark McCormack's world golf rankings
(from which the Official World Rankings were developed) in 1983, 1984, and 1985. Those rankings were only published at the end of each year, which implies an additional 100 to 150 weeks for Ballesteros as number one to those listed in the table above. Tom Watson
was number one according to McCormack's system from 1978 to 1982, implying around 250 to 300 weeks as number one; Jack Nicklaus
was number one on those year-end rankings from their first publication in December 1968 to 1977 inclusive, and would have been likely to have been number one from around 1965 onwards if the McCormack rankings, in themselves, had been backdated, implying a total of around 600 to 650 weeks as number one.
remained ranked just behind Greg Norman
despite winning three majors in two years. On that occasion, 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 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. In April 1991, a quirk in the way the rankings treated results from previous years meant that Ian Woosnam
, who had never won a major, took the number one spot from Faldo on the eve of the latter's attempt to win the Masters for a third year in succession; as if justifying the ranking system, Woosnam—and not Faldo—won the tournament. Twelve months later, Fred Couples
similarly took over the number one ranking shortly before the 1992 Masters, then also went on to make that tournament his first major victory. At the end of 1996 and 1997, Greg Norman had regained the top spot and remained narrowly ahead of first Tom Lehman
, and then Tiger Woods
and Ernie Els
, in the rankings, despite his rivals enjoying major victories in those years while he won none. In 1998, Woods himself finished the year ranked number one, after a season in which Mark O'Meara
won two major titles while Woods won just once on the PGA Tour. In March 1999, David Duval
briefly became world number one after winning The Players Championship
, 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).
Tiger Woods dominated the number one spot for the following five years, but when Vijay Singh
won the PGA Championship
in 2004 and with it took the number one ranking, the change highlighted the fact that Woods had not won a major for over two years. Woods responded by winning the very next major, the 2005 Masters, and with it regained the number one spot, which he would then retain for another five years. Following knee surgery in the summer of 2008, Woods missed the entire second half of the year, while Pádraig Harrington
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 number one on the ranking system in December 2008.
During 2010, there was much debate as to whether Woods' continued retention of the number one 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 number one spot - including Masters champion Phil Mickelson
(who had won four majors since 2004 but had yet to reach number one 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
(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 number one on October 31. During 2011, the possession of the number one 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
. Donald became the first ever golfer to climb to number one before having won or finished runner-up in a major championship in his career, although he did replace Westwood as number one by defeating him in a playoff for the BMW PGA Championship, the first time it had changed hands in so dramatic a fashion. Donald's consistency through the rest of the 2011 season would keep him in the number one position, despite not gaining his maiden major victory.
A breakdown of the year-end top-100 by eligibility for the major team competitions: Ryder Cup
(USA vs. Europe) and Presidents Cup
(USA vs. non-European international team).
*Two men tied for 100th place.
Note: The Presidents Cup was founded in 1994.
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:
s. The yearly leaders are listed below.
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
ers (although there is no rule prohibiting women from being ranked). It was introduced in 1986 and is endorsed by the four major championships
Men's major golf championships
The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the Major Championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf...
and six major professional tours
Professional golf 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, with each tour being based in a specific geographical region, although some of their tournaments may be held in other...
, five of which are charter members of the International Federation of PGA Tours:
- PGA TourPGA TourThe PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
- European Tour
- Asian TourAsian TourThe 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. The Asian Tour is administered from offices in Singapore...
(not a charter member of the Federation) - PGA Tour of AustralasiaPGA Tour of AustralasiaThe PGA Tour of Australasia is a professional golf tour for men. Official events on the tour count for World Golf Ranking points. The tour was formed in 1973 as the PGA Tour of Australia and adopted its current name in 1991....
- Japan Golf TourJapan Golf TourThe Japan Golf Tour 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 men's professional tours after the PGA Tour and the European Tour. However since the early 1990s, the growth in prize money has not kept pace with...
- Sunshine TourSunshine TourThe Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tour based in Southern Africa. For much of its history it was known either as the South African Tour or the FNB Tour, but it rebranded itself in an attempt to broaden its appeal...
Points are also awarded for high finishes on six other tours:
- Canadian Tour, which became a full member of the Federation in 2009
- OneAsia TourOneAsia TourOneAsia is 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. The Japan Golf Tour has been invited to participate in the...
, not a member of the Federation, but a joint venture between two charter members and two other tours that became full members in 2009 - Nationwide TourNationwide TourThe Nationwide Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either failed to score well enough at that level's Qualifying School to earn their PGA Tour card, or who have done so but then failed to win enough money to stay at that level...
, the official developmental tour for the PGA Tour - Challenge TourChallenge TourThe 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 Seniors Tour, some of the events are played outside of Europe...
, the official developmental tour for the European Tour - Korean TourKorean TourThe Korean Tour is a men's professional golf tour run by the Korea Professional Golfers' Association of South Korea. In 2011, it had total prize money of about US$14 million....
, from 2011 - Tour de las AméricasTour de las AmericasThe Tour de las Américas is the men's professional golf tour for Latin America.Top level tournament golf in Latin America has had an unstable history. Some of the national open championships in the region are long established, but they did not traditionally form a coherent tour...
, from 2011
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, which found in the 1980s that its system of issuing invitations to The Open ChampionshipThe Open Championship
The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...
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 McCormack
Mark Hume McCormack was an American lawyer, sports agent for professional athletes and a prolific writer...
, 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, 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
Bernhard Langer 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 90s, being the first official number one ranked player in 1986...
, Seve Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle
Sandy Lyle
Alexander Walter Barr "Sandy" Lyle, MBE 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...
, Tom Watson
Tom Watson (golfer)
Thomas Sturges Watson is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and now mostly on the Champions Tour....
, Mark O'Meara
Mark O'Meara
Mark Francis O'Meara is an American professional golfer who was a prolific tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s...
and Greg Norman
Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
. 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, 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. 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.
At first only the Championship Committee of the Royal and Ancient used the rankings for official purposes, but the PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
recognized them in 1990, and in 1997 all five of the then principal men's golf tours
Professional golf 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, with each tour being based in a specific geographical region, although some of their tournaments may be held in other...
did so. The rankings, which had previously been called the Sony Rankings, were renamed the Official World Golf Rankings at that time. They are run from offices in Virginia Water
Virginia Water
Virginia Water is an affluent village, a lake and, originally, a stream, the village being in the Runnymede Borough Council in Surrey and the bodies of water stretching over the borders of Runnymede, Old Windsor and Sunninghill and Ascot, England....
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Fifteen players have been Official World No. 1. Seve Ballesteros took over from Bernhard Langer
Bernhard Langer
Bernhard Langer 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 90s, being the first official number one ranked player in 1986...
shortly after Langer had been the first ranking leader in 1986 and then vied with Greg Norman
Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
for the No.1 spot for three years, when Nick Faldo
Nick Faldo
Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No...
took over as Greg Norman’s main rival. Ian Woosnam
Ian Woosnam
Ian Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', 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 competitive in the Ryder Cup...
and Fred Couples
Fred Couples
Frederick Steven Couples is an American professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. A former World No. 1, he has won numerous events, most notably the 1992 Masters Tournament. In August 2011 he won his maiden senior major at the Senior Players Championship...
held the position at various times during 1991 and 1992 before Nick Faldo took over again until 1994, when Nick Price
Nick Price
Nicholas Raymond Leige Price is a South African-Zimbabwean Professional golfer and an inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.-Background:...
’s career year took him to No. 1. Greg Norman would return to the top ranking in 1995 and 1996, then after a single week at No. 1 by Tom Lehman
Tom Lehman
Thomas Edward Lehman is an American professional golfer.Lehman was born in Austin, Minnesota, but Alexandria, Minnesota is credited as his official Minnesota hometown. He attended the University of Minnesota, graduating with a degree in Business/Accounting and turned professional in 1982. It took...
, Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
dominated the position from 1997 to 2010 with brief interruptions from Ernie Els
Ernie Els
Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing...
, David Duval
David Duval
David Robert Duval is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 who competes on the PGA Tour.-Early years:...
, and then from September 2004 Vijay Singh
Vijay Singh
Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008...
, who became the twelfth World No. 1 following his win at the PGA championship. He and Woods would swap the position several times in 2005, but Woods eventually reopened a wide lead at the top. Woods' lead over his nearest rivals in the rankings in June 2008 was large enough that he remained number one at the end of that year, despite taking six months off following knee surgery. Woods holds the longest consecutive streak as No. 1 at 281 weeks. This streak was ended in October 2010 by England's Lee Westwood
Lee Westwood
Lee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons...
who subsequently became the second English World No. 1; the third from Britain, and the fifth from Europe. On February 27, 2011, Martin Kaymer
Martin Kaymer
Martin Kaymer is a German professional golfer. He became the No. 1 ranked golfer in the Official World Golf Rankings on 27 February 2011 after his runner-up finish in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship....
took over the number one ranking from Westwood, becoming the second German to be ranked number one after Bernhard Langer. On April 24, 2011, Lee Westwood
Lee Westwood
Lee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons...
regained the number one position following a victory in Indonesia; but on May 29, 2011, Luke Donald
Luke Donald
Luke Campbell Donald is an English professional golfer who is the current World Number One. He plays mainly on the U.S. based PGA Tour but is also a member of the European Tour. In 2006 he reached the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in his career. In January 2007, he...
took the world number one spot from Westwood by defeating him in a sudden death playoff for the BMW PGA Championship. In so doing, Donald became the first player ever to reach the official number one position despite having never finished as either a champion or a runner-up in a major championship.
Calculation of the rankings
Points are awarded on the basis of final positions in official money events on the qualifying tours.For each tour, a minimum number of points are available for each event. For most events the actual number of points available depends on the current rankings (top 200) of the participating golfers and the ranking of the top 30 golfers entered from the "home tour". Major championships
Men's major golf championships
The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the Major Championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf...
have a fixed number of 100 points for the winner. In addition, most tours have a "premier event" that is guaranteed a much higher minimum point level.
| Tour | Minimum Points | Premier Event | Minimum Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| PGA Tour PGA Tour The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America... |
24 | The Players Championship The Players Championship The Players Championship is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour.Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, the inaugural event in 1974 was played at Atlanta Country Club in Marietta, Georgia before moving to the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas in 1975 and Inverrary... |
80 |
| European Tour | 24 | BMW PGA Championship | 64 |
| Japan Golf Tour Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour 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 men's professional tours after the PGA Tour and the European Tour. However since the early 1990s, the growth in prize money has not kept pace with... |
16 | Japan Open Japan Open Golf Championship The is Japan's national open golf championship. As of 2011, it is one of the three richest tournaments on the Japan Golf Tour, with a prize fund of ¥200 million... |
32 |
| PGA Tour of Australasia PGA Tour of Australasia The PGA Tour of Australasia is a professional golf tour for men. Official events on the tour count for World Golf Ranking points. The tour was formed in 1973 as the PGA Tour of Australia and adopted its current name in 1991.... |
16 | Australian Open Australian Open (golf) The Australian Open is one of the principal annual golf tournaments on the PGA Tour of Australasia, and also the OneAsia Tour since its formation in 2009. The event was first played in 1904 and takes place toward the end of each year... |
32 |
| Sunshine Tour Sunshine Tour The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tour based in Southern Africa. For much of its history it was known either as the South African Tour or the FNB Tour, but it rebranded itself in an attempt to broaden its appeal... |
14 | South African Open | 32 |
| Asian Tour 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. The Asian Tour is administered from offices in Singapore... |
14 | Black Mountain Masters Black Mountain Masters The Black Mountain Masters was a golf tournament on the Asian Tour, played in Thailand. The inaugural tournament was held in 2009 at the Black Mountain Golf Club and the prize fund was US$500,000. Johan Edfors won the inaugural tournament and won $79,250.... |
20 |
| Nationwide Tour Nationwide Tour The Nationwide Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either failed to score well enough at that level's Qualifying School to earn their PGA Tour card, or who have done so but then failed to win enough money to stay at that level... |
14 | Nationwide Tour Championship | 20 |
| Challenge 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 Seniors Tour, some of the events are played outside of Europe... |
12 | Apulia San Domenico Grand Final | 16 |
| Canadian Tour | 6 | n/a | n/a |
| OneAsia Tour OneAsia Tour OneAsia is 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. The Japan Golf Tour has been invited to participate in the... |
6 | n/a | n/a |
| Tour de las Américas Tour de las Americas The Tour de las Américas is the men's professional golf tour for Latin America.Top level tournament golf in Latin America has had an unstable history. Some of the national open championships in the region are long established, but they did not traditionally form a coherent tour... |
6 | n/a | n/a |
| Korean Tour Korean Tour The Korean Tour is a men's professional golf tour run by the Korea Professional Golfers' Association of South Korea. In 2011, it had total prize money of about US$14 million.... |
6 | n/a | n/a |
The winners of the individual events in the World Golf Championships
World Golf Championships
The World Golf Championships are a group of four annual events for male professional golfers created by the International Federation of PGA Tours, with a fifth to be added in 2012...
series (three from 1999 to 2008, four from 2009) generally receive 70 to 78 points. The winner of most PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
events gains a number of points in the range from 24 to the 70s, and most European Tour events offer a points tally between 24 and 50s for the winner. Before 2007 the official points allocations were half these levels, and they were initially doubled up to calculate weighted points. For example a major championship win carried 50 points for the winner, which was initially given a weighting of two, so the adjusted points tally was 100. This system, which was confusing and had no apparent advantages, was abandoned in mid 2007. Tournaments which are reduced to 54 holes by inclement weather or other factors retain full points, but if a tournament is reduced to 36 holes, its points allocation is reduced by 25%.
Each player's personal ranking is calculated from the ranking points he has obtained over the previous two years. Firstly, his points from all the tournaments he has played in are scaled down over a two year period. The full value of a tournament holds for 13 weeks, but from then on it is reduced in equal weekly increments over the remainder of the two year period, in order to give priority to recent form. The player's adjusted points are then totalled, and this total is divided by the number of ranking tournaments in which he has participated over the previous two years, subject to a minimum denominator of 40 tournaments. 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. Players with full membership of one of the larger tours (that is, almost all players in the top few hundred in the rankings) usually play between 20 and 35 ranking tournaments each year, unless they are injured. Starting in 2010, a maximum denominator is also used. The maximum denominator was set to 60 starting the first week of 2010 and will be reduced by 2 every six months until it reaches 52 in January 2012. Only the player's 60 (58, 56, 54, 52) most recent tournaments (within the two year period) will be used to calculated his ranking. New rankings are released every Monday.
Importance of the rankings
A professional golfer's ranking is of considerable significance to his career. For example, a ranking in the World Top 50 explicitly grants automatic entry to three of the four majorsMen's major golf championships
The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the Major Championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf...
and three of the four current World Golf Championships
World Golf Championships
The World Golf Championships are a group of four annual events for male professional golfers created by the International Federation of PGA Tours, with a fifth to be added in 2012...
; see table below. Starting in 2012, a ranking in the top 70 will grant automatic entry to the Tournament of Hope, a fifth WGC event to be launched that year. Also, ranking points are the sole criterion for selection for the International Team in the Presidents Cup
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 less Europe. Europe competes against the U.S. in a similar but considerably older event, the Ryder Cup. The Presidents Cup is held biennially...
and one of the qualification criteria for the European Ryder Cup
Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe...
team. The rankings are also used to help select the field for various other tournaments.
| Tournament | Automatic entries |
|---|---|
| The Masters | Top 50 |
| U.S. Open U.S. Open (golf) The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour... |
Top 60 (from 2012) |
| The Open Championship The Open Championship The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico... |
Top 50 |
| PGA Championship PGA Championship The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship... |
(Top 100)see note |
| WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship The WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship is one of the annual World Golf Championships. It is a knockout event and is staged in January or February each year... |
Top 64 (sole criterion) |
| WGC-CA Championship WGC-CA Championship The WGC-Cadillac Championship is one of the four annual World Golf Championships tournaments for male professional golfers. It is sanctioned and organized by the International Federation of PGA Tours and the prize money is official money on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour... |
Top 50 |
| WGC-Bridgestone Invitational WGC-Bridgestone Invitational The WGC-Bridgestone Invitational is one of the annual World Golf Championships for male professional golfers. It is sanctioned and organized by the International Federation of PGA Tours and the prize money is official money on both the PGA Tour and the PGA European Tour... |
Top 50 |
| WGC-HSBC Champions | Top 25 |
| Tournament of Hope Tournament of Hope The Tournament of Hope is a proposed golf tournament to take place in South Africa, which is planned to annually occur starting in 2012. The Tournament of Hope will be the fifth World Golf Championship event with a planned purse of US$10 million, which at its announcement in April 2011 was richer... (from 2012) |
Top 70 |
Note: The PGA Championship does not have an official automatic entry based on the Official World Golf Ranking but has invited those in the top 100 for the last several years. It makes note of its strong field by referencing the number of top 100 ranked golfers entered in its press releases.
http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2005/news_080205_vijay.html
http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2006/news/tigerphil081306.html
The rankings are well known to those who follow men's professional golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
and feature prominently in media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
coverage of the sport. When Vijay Singh
Vijay Singh
Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008...
temporarily ended Tiger Woods'
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
record run as world number 1 in 2004 it was one of the most reported golf stories of the year.
Current rankings
These are the top 10 ranked golfers and their point tallies as of November 27, 2011.| Rank | Change | Player | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luke Donald Luke Donald Luke Campbell Donald is an English professional golfer who is the current World Number One. He plays mainly on the U.S. based PGA Tour but is also a member of the European Tour. In 2006 he reached the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in his career. In January 2007, he... |
10.22 | ||
| 2 | Rory McIlroy Rory McIlroy Rory McIlroy is a Northern Irish professional golfer from Holywood in County Down. He has represented Europe, Great Britain & Ireland, and Ireland as both an amateur and a professional. He had a successful amateur career, topping the World Amateur Golf Ranking for one week as a 17-year-old in 2007... |
7.48 | ||
| 3 | Lee Westwood Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons... |
7.35 | ||
| 4 | Martin Kaymer Martin Kaymer Martin Kaymer is a German professional golfer. He became the No. 1 ranked golfer in the Official World Golf Rankings on 27 February 2011 after his runner-up finish in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.... |
6.91 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Dustin Johnson Dustin Johnson Dustin Hunter Johnson is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour. He is one of the longest drivers on the PGA Tour having been third in the driving distance stats for three consecutive years between 2009-2011.... |
5.69 | |
| 6 | 1 | Steve Stricker Steve Stricker Steven Stricker is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He has won 11 tournaments on the PGA Tour including the 2001 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and two FedEx Cup playoff events. His most successful season on tour came in 2009, when he had three tournament victories... |
5.68 | |
| 7 | Adam Scott | 5.60 | ||
| 8 | Jason Day | 5.41 | ||
| 9 | Webb Simpson Webb Simpson James Frederick "Webb" Simpson is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.-Amateur career:Simpson was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. He played high school golf at Broughton High before his collegiate golf career at Wake Forest University. He was a three-time All-American and... |
5.18 | ||
| 10 | 1 | Nick Watney Nick Watney Nicholas Alan Watney is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. The highlight of Watney's career to date is his victory at the 2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship.... |
4.97 |
Since the introduction of the latest rating method in September 2001, the highest points average as well as the largest lead in points average were set by Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
on September 16, 2007. After winning the BMW Championship and The Tour Championship
The Tour Championship
The Tour Championship was historically the final event of golf's PGA Tour season. Since 2007, it has been the final event of the FedEx Cup, the competition for the first official championship trophy for the PGA Tour season. From 1987 to 1996, several courses hosted the event...
in consecutive weeks, he had an average of 24.36 and a lead of 14.73 points over Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson
Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed...
.
Ernie Els
Ernie Els
Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing...
holds the record for most weeks in the World Top 10, with 788. He is followed by Tiger Woods (736 weeks) and Phil Mickelson (701 weeks).
Number 1 ranked golfers
| Weeks | Player | Country | Order | Majors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 623 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
9 | 14 | |
| 331 | Greg Norman Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s... |
3 | 2 | |
| 98 | Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No... |
4 | 6 | |
| 61 | Seve Ballesteros | 2 | 5 | |
| 50 | Ian Woosnam Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', 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 competitive in the Ryder Cup... |
5 | 1 | |
| 44 | Nick Price Nick Price Nicholas Raymond Leige Price is a South African-Zimbabwean Professional golfer and an inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.-Background:... |
7 | 3 | |
| 32 | Vijay Singh Vijay Singh Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008... |
12 | 3 | |
| 27 | Luke Donald Luke Donald Luke Campbell Donald is an English professional golfer who is the current World Number One. He plays mainly on the U.S. based PGA Tour but is also a member of the European Tour. In 2006 he reached the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in his career. In January 2007, he... |
15 | 0 | |
| 22 | Lee Westwood Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons... |
13 | 0 | |
| 16 | Fred Couples Fred Couples Frederick Steven Couples is an American professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. A former World No. 1, he has won numerous events, most notably the 1992 Masters Tournament. In August 2011 he won his maiden senior major at the Senior Players Championship... |
6 | 1 | |
| 15 | David Duval David Duval David Robert Duval is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 who competes on the PGA Tour.-Early years:... |
11 | 1 | |
| 9 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
10 | 3 | |
| 8 | Martin Kaymer Martin Kaymer Martin Kaymer is a German professional golfer. He became the No. 1 ranked golfer in the Official World Golf Rankings on 27 February 2011 after his runner-up finish in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.... |
14 | 1 | |
| 3 | Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer 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 90s, being the first official number one ranked player in 1986... |
1 | 2 | |
| 1 | Tom Lehman Tom Lehman Thomas Edward Lehman is an American professional golfer.Lehman was born in Austin, Minnesota, but Alexandria, Minnesota is credited as his official Minnesota hometown. He attended the University of Minnesota, graduating with a degree in Business/Accounting and turned professional in 1982. It took... |
8 | 1 |
Order – indicates the sequence in which the players first reached number 1.
Majors – number of major championships
Men's major golf championships
The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the Major Championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf...
each player has won throughout his golfing career.
These are the golfers who have topped the rankings, in order of the number of weeks they have spent at Number 1 up to November 27, 2011, at which date Luke Donald
Luke Donald
Luke Campbell Donald is an English professional golfer who is the current World Number One. He plays mainly on the U.S. based PGA Tour but is also a member of the European Tour. In 2006 he reached the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in his career. In January 2007, he...
was World Number 1.
Of these players Bernhard Langer and Seve Ballesteros would be most likely to gain additional weeks at number 1 if the rankings were backdated to before April 1986, with Ballesteros also being ranked number one in Mark McCormack's world golf rankings
Mark 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 Rankings...
(from which the Official World Rankings were developed) in 1983, 1984, and 1985. Those rankings were only published at the end of each year, which implies an additional 100 to 150 weeks for Ballesteros as number one to those listed in the table above. Tom Watson
Tom Watson (golfer)
Thomas Sturges Watson is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and now mostly on the Champions Tour....
was number one according to McCormack's system from 1978 to 1982, implying around 250 to 300 weeks as number one; Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...
was number one on those year-end rankings from their first publication in December 1968 to 1977 inclusive, and would have been likely to have been number one from around 1965 onwards if the McCormack rankings, in themselves, had been backdated, implying a total of around 600 to 650 weeks as number one.
Discussion caused by the "number one" ranking
On a few occasions the ranking system has caused discussion about whether it has produced the "right" World Number One. This usually occurs when the number one ranked player has not won a major championship during the ranking period, while a rival has won more than one—notably at the end of 1990, when Nick FaldoNick Faldo
Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No...
remained ranked just behind Greg Norman
Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
despite winning three majors in two years. On that occasion, 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 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. In April 1991, a quirk in the way the rankings treated results from previous years meant that Ian Woosnam
Ian Woosnam
Ian Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', 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 competitive in the Ryder Cup...
, who had never won a major, took the number one spot from Faldo on the eve of the latter's attempt to win the Masters for a third year in succession; as if justifying the ranking system, Woosnam—and not Faldo—won the tournament. Twelve months later, Fred Couples
Fred Couples
Frederick Steven Couples is an American professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. A former World No. 1, he has won numerous events, most notably the 1992 Masters Tournament. In August 2011 he won his maiden senior major at the Senior Players Championship...
similarly took over the number one ranking shortly before the 1992 Masters, then also went on to make that tournament his first major victory. At the end of 1996 and 1997, Greg Norman had regained the top spot and remained narrowly ahead of first Tom Lehman
Tom Lehman
Thomas Edward Lehman is an American professional golfer.Lehman was born in Austin, Minnesota, but Alexandria, Minnesota is credited as his official Minnesota hometown. He attended the University of Minnesota, graduating with a degree in Business/Accounting and turned professional in 1982. It took...
, and then Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
and Ernie Els
Ernie Els
Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing...
, in the rankings, despite his rivals enjoying major victories in those years while he won none. In 1998, Woods himself finished the year ranked number one, after a season in which Mark O'Meara
Mark O'Meara
Mark Francis O'Meara is an American professional golfer who was a prolific tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s...
won two major titles while Woods won just once on the PGA Tour. In March 1999, David Duval
David Duval
David Robert Duval is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 who competes on the PGA Tour.-Early years:...
briefly became world number one after winning The Players Championship
The Players Championship
The Players Championship is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour.Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, the inaugural event in 1974 was played at Atlanta Country Club in Marietta, Georgia before moving to the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas in 1975 and Inverrary...
, 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).
Tiger Woods dominated the number one spot for the following five years, but when Vijay Singh
Vijay Singh
Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008...
won the PGA Championship
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...
in 2004 and with it took the number one ranking, the change highlighted the fact that Woods had not won a major for over two years. Woods responded by winning the very next major, the 2005 Masters, and with it regained the number one spot, which he would then retain for another five years. Following knee surgery in the summer of 2008, Woods missed the entire second half of the year, while Pádraig Harrington
Padraig Harrington
Pádraig P. Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who plays on The European Tour and The PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008.-Background:...
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 number one on the ranking system in December 2008.
During 2010, there was much debate as to whether Woods' continued retention of the number one 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 number one spot - including Masters champion Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson
Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed...
(who had won four majors since 2004 but had yet to reach number one in the rankings), Lee Westwood
Lee Westwood
Lee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons...
(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
Martin Kaymer is a German professional golfer. He became the No. 1 ranked golfer in the Official World Golf Rankings on 27 February 2011 after his runner-up finish in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship....
(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 number one on October 31. During 2011, the possession of the number one 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
Luke Donald
Luke Campbell Donald is an English professional golfer who is the current World Number One. He plays mainly on the U.S. based PGA Tour but is also a member of the European Tour. In 2006 he reached the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in his career. In January 2007, he...
. Donald became the first ever golfer to climb to number one before having won or finished runner-up in a major championship in his career, although he did replace Westwood as number one by defeating him in a playoff for the BMW PGA Championship, the first time it had changed hands in so dramatic a fashion. Donald's consistency through the rest of the 2011 season would keep him in the number one position, despite not gaining his maiden major victory.
Breakdown by nationality
A breakdown of the year-end top-100 by nationality.| Country | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | 1992 | 1991 | 1990 | 1989 | 1988 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | 32 | 31 | 34 | 39 | 41 | 41 | 49 | 47 | 48 | 51 | 56 | 55 | 56 | 58 | 56 | 52 | 49 | 53 | 60 | 58 | 55 | 59 | |
| 18 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 9 | |
| – | 11 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
| – | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| – | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| – | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 9 | |
| 8 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 8 | |
| 6 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | |
| 4 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | |
| 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
A breakdown of the year-end top-100 by eligibility for the major team competitions: Ryder Cup
Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe...
(USA vs. Europe) and Presidents Cup
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 less Europe. Europe competes against the U.S. in a similar but considerably older event, the Ryder Cup. The Presidents Cup is held biennially...
(USA vs. non-European international team).
| Team | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | 1992 | 1991 | 1990 | 1989 | 1988 | 1987 | 1986* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 32 | 32 | 31 | 34 | 39 | 41 | 41 | 49 | 47 | 48 | 51 | 56 | 55 | 56 | 58 | 56 | 52 | 49 | 53 | 60 | 58 | 55 | 59 | 59 | 59 |
| Europe | 36 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 25 | 23 | 25 | 23 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 20 | 25 | 27 | 21 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 16 | 15 | 17 |
| International | 32 | 39 | 39 | 36 | 33 | 31 | 32 | 26 | 30 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 27 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 24 | 26 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 25 |
Year end world number 1 ranked golfers
- 1986 Greg NormanGreg NormanGregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
- 1987 Greg NormanGreg NormanGregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
(2) - 1988 Seve Ballesteros
- 1989 Greg NormanGreg NormanGregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
(3) - 1990 Greg NormanGreg NormanGregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
(4) - 1991 Ian WoosnamIan WoosnamIan Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', 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 competitive in the Ryder Cup...
- 1992 Nick FaldoNick FaldoSir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No...
- 1993 Nick FaldoNick FaldoSir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No...
(2) - 1994 Nick PriceNick PriceNicholas Raymond Leige Price is a South African-Zimbabwean Professional golfer and an inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.-Background:...
- 1995 Greg NormanGreg NormanGregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
(5)
- 1996 Greg NormanGreg NormanGregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
(6) - 1997 Greg NormanGreg NormanGregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
(7) - 1998 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
- 1999 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(2) - 2000 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(3) - 2001 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(4) - 2002 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(5) - 2003 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(6) - 2004 Vijay SinghVijay SinghVijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008...
- 2005 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(7)
- 2006 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(8) - 2007 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(9) - 2008 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(10) - 2009 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(11) - 2010 Lee WestwoodLee WestwoodLee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons...
Mark H. McCormack Award - Most weeks at number 1 during calendar year
- 1998 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
- 1999 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(2) - 2000 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(3) - 2001 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(4) - 2002 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(5) - 2003 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(6) - 2004 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(7) - 2005 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(8) - 2006 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(9) - 2007 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(10) - 2008 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(11) - 2009 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(12) - 2010 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
(13) - 2011 Luke DonaldLuke DonaldLuke Campbell Donald is an English professional golfer who is the current World Number One. He plays mainly on the U.S. based PGA Tour but is also a member of the European Tour. In 2006 he reached the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in his career. In January 2007, he...
Year end world top 10 players and ranking point tallies
See History section above for notes on changes to method of calculation.| Rank | Lee Westwood Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons... | 9.24 |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
7.88 |
| 3 | Martin Kaymer Martin Kaymer Martin Kaymer is a German professional golfer. He became the No. 1 ranked golfer in the Official World Golf Rankings on 27 February 2011 after his runner-up finish in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.... |
7.26 |
| 4 | Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed... |
6.70 |
| 5 | Jim Furyk Jim Furyk James Michael Furyk is an American professional golfer, 2010 FedEx Cup champion, and 2010 PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 2003 U.S. Open. Furyk is known for consistently playing at the top level and for a visibly unconventional, looping golf swing... |
6.22 |
| 6 | Graeme McDowell Graeme McDowell Graeme McDowell MBE is a Northern Irish professional golfer.McDowell has won seven events on the European Tour, including the 2010 U.S. Open which was also his first win on the PGA Tour... |
6.18 |
| 7 | Steve Stricker Steve Stricker Steven Stricker is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He has won 11 tournaments on the PGA Tour including the 2001 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and two FedEx Cup playoff events. His most successful season on tour came in 2009, when he had three tournament victories... |
6.11 |
| 8 | Paul Casey Paul Casey Paul Alexander Casey is an English golfer who is a member of the world's top two professional golf tours, the U.S.-based PGA Tour and the European Tour. In 2009 he achieved his highest position, third, in the Official World Golf Rankings.... |
5.90 |
| 9 | Luke Donald Luke Donald Luke Campbell Donald is an English professional golfer who is the current World Number One. He plays mainly on the U.S. based PGA Tour but is also a member of the European Tour. In 2006 he reached the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in his career. In January 2007, he... |
5.65 |
| 10 | Rory McIlroy Rory McIlroy Rory McIlroy is a Northern Irish professional golfer from Holywood in County Down. He has represented Europe, Great Britain & Ireland, and Ireland as both an amateur and a professional. He had a successful amateur career, topping the World Amateur Golf Ranking for one week as a 17-year-old in 2007... |
5.60 |
| Rank | |2008 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... | 14.67 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
11.97 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
19.62 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed... |
8.26 | Sergio García Sergio García Sergio García Fernández is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on both the United States PGA Tour and the European Tour. He has spent much of his career in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings... |
8.10 | Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed... |
8.72 |
| 3 | Steve Stricker Steve Stricker Steven Stricker is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He has won 11 tournaments on the PGA Tour including the 2001 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and two FedEx Cup playoff events. His most successful season on tour came in 2009, when he had three tournament victories... |
6.67 | Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed... |
7.03 | Jim Furyk Jim Furyk James Michael Furyk is an American professional golfer, 2010 FedEx Cup champion, and 2010 PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 2003 U.S. Open. Furyk is known for consistently playing at the top level and for a visibly unconventional, looping golf swing... |
6.55 |
| 4 | Lee Westwood Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons... |
6.60 | Pádraig Harrington Padraig Harrington Pádraig P. Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who plays on The European Tour and The PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008.-Background:... |
6.95 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
6.51 |
| 5 | Pádraig Harrington Padraig Harrington Pádraig P. Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who plays on The European Tour and The PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008.-Background:... |
5.55 | Vijay Singh Vijay Singh Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008... |
6.65 | Steve Stricker Steve Stricker Steven Stricker is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He has won 11 tournaments on the PGA Tour including the 2001 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and two FedEx Cup playoff events. His most successful season on tour came in 2009, when he had three tournament victories... |
6.45 |
| 6 | Jim Furyk Jim Furyk James Michael Furyk is an American professional golfer, 2010 FedEx Cup champion, and 2010 PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 2003 U.S. Open. Furyk is known for consistently playing at the top level and for a visibly unconventional, looping golf swing... |
5.53 | Robert Karlsson Robert Karlsson Robert Karlsson is a Swedish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and as of 2011 on the PGA Tour.-Career:... |
5.09 | Justin Rose Justin Rose Justin Peter Rose is a South African-born English professional golfer who plays most of his golf on the PGA Tour while keeping his membership on the European Tour... |
6.00 |
| 7 | Paul Casey Paul Casey Paul Alexander Casey is an English golfer who is a member of the world's top two professional golf tours, the U.S.-based PGA Tour and the European Tour. In 2009 he achieved his highest position, third, in the Official World Golf Rankings.... |
5.36 | Camilo Villegas Camilo Villegas Camilo Villegas is a Colombian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the European Tour.-Early years:Villegas was born in Medellín, Colombia, and took up golf as a child... |
4.90 | Adam Scott | 5.81 |
| 8 | Henrik Stenson Henrik Stenson Henrik Stenson is a Swedish professional golfer who plays both on the US and European tours. He has spent over 100 weeks ranked in the World top ten and his career high ranking of fourth is the best by any Swedish golfer.-Career:... |
5.33 | Henrik Stenson Henrik Stenson Henrik Stenson is a Swedish professional golfer who plays both on the US and European tours. He has spent over 100 weeks ranked in the World top ten and his career high ranking of fourth is the best by any Swedish golfer.-Career:... |
4.77 | Pádraig Harrington Padraig Harrington Pádraig P. Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who plays on The European Tour and The PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008.-Background:... |
5.57 |
| 9 | Rory McIlroy Rory McIlroy Rory McIlroy is a Northern Irish professional golfer from Holywood in County Down. He has represented Europe, Great Britain & Ireland, and Ireland as both an amateur and a professional. He had a successful amateur career, topping the World Amateur Golf Ranking for one week as a 17-year-old in 2007... |
4.86 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
4.77 | K.J. Choi Choi Kyung-Ju Choi Kyung-Ju , also known as K. J. Choi. is a South Korean professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour. Since turning pro in 1994, he has won a total of eighteen professional golf tournaments worldwide, including eight on the PGA Tour, making him Asia's most successful golfer. His... |
5.15 |
| 10 | Kenny Perry Kenny Perry James Kenneth Perry is an American professional golfer who currently plays on both the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour, for which he became eligible following his 50th birthday.-Early years:... |
4.72 | Lee Westwood Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons... |
4.73 | Vijay Singh Vijay Singh Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008... |
5.08 |
| Rank | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
20.41 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
17.16 | Vijay Singh Vijay Singh Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008... |
12.79 |
| 2 | Jim Furyk Jim Furyk James Michael Furyk is an American professional golfer, 2010 FedEx Cup champion, and 2010 PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 2003 U.S. Open. Furyk is known for consistently playing at the top level and for a visibly unconventional, looping golf swing... |
8.88 | Vijay Singh Vijay Singh Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008... |
9.78 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
11.60 |
| 3 | Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed... |
7.17 | Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed... |
8.14 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
10.98 |
| 4 | Adam Scott | 7.03 | Retief Goosen Retief Goosen Retief Goosen is a South African professional golfer who has been in the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for over 250 weeks between 2001 and 2007. His main achievements have been two U.S... |
8.10 | Retief Goosen Retief Goosen Retief Goosen is a South African professional golfer who has been in the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for over 250 weeks between 2001 and 2007. His main achievements have been two U.S... |
7.47 |
| 5 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
6.05 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
8.03 | Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed... |
7.00 |
| 6 | Retief Goosen Retief Goosen Retief Goosen is a South African professional golfer who has been in the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for over 250 weeks between 2001 and 2007. His main achievements have been two U.S... |
5.61 | Sergio García Sergio García Sergio García Fernández is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on both the United States PGA Tour and the European Tour. He has spent much of his career in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings... |
7.23 | Pádraig Harrington Padraig Harrington Pádraig P. Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who plays on The European Tour and The PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008.-Background:... |
5.55 |
| 7 | Vijay Singh Vijay Singh Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008... |
5.58 | Jim Furyk Jim Furyk James Michael Furyk is an American professional golfer, 2010 FedEx Cup champion, and 2010 PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 2003 U.S. Open. Furyk is known for consistently playing at the top level and for a visibly unconventional, looping golf swing... |
5.80 | Sergio García Sergio García Sergio García Fernández is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on both the United States PGA Tour and the European Tour. He has spent much of his career in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings... |
5.40 |
| 8 | Pádraig Harrington Padraig Harrington Pádraig P. Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who plays on The European Tour and The PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008.-Background:... |
5.46 | Colin Montgomerie Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE is a Scottish professional golfer, often referred to by one of his nicknames 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999, and 31... |
4.78 | Mike Weir Mike Weir Michael Richard Weir, CM, O.Ont is a Canadian professional golfer on the PGA Tour. He spent over 110 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 2001 and 2005. He is best known for winning the Masters in 2003.... |
5.40 |
| 9 | Luke Donald Luke Donald Luke Campbell Donald is an English professional golfer who is the current World Number One. He plays mainly on the U.S. based PGA Tour but is also a member of the European Tour. In 2006 he reached the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in his career. In January 2007, he... |
5.25 | Adam Scott | 4.68 | Davis Love III Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III is an American professional golfer.Love was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina before turning professional in 1985. He earned his PGA Tour card in the fall of 1985, on his first attempt. He quickly established himself on the PGA... |
5.38 |
| 10 | Geoff Ogilvy Geoff Ogilvy Geoff Charles Ogilvy is an Australian professional golfer. He won the 2006 U.S. Open and has also won three World Golf Championships.-Professional career:... |
5.21 | Chris DiMarco Chris DiMarco Christian Dean DiMarco is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. DiMarco has won seven tournaments as a pro, including three PGA Tour events.-Early years:... |
4.58 | Stewart Cink Stewart Cink Stewart Ernest Cink is an American professional golfer who won the 2009 Open Championship. He has spent over 40 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings from 2004 to 2009.-Early years and education:... |
4.65 |
| Rank | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
14.58 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
15.72 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
15.67 |
| 2 | Vijay Singh Vijay Singh Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008... |
9.77 | Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed... |
7.72 | Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed... |
9.16 |
| 3 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
8.41 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
6.84 | David Duval David Duval David Robert Duval is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 who competes on the PGA Tour.-Early years:... |
7.98 |
| 4 | Davis Love III Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III is an American professional golfer.Love was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina before turning professional in 1985. He earned his PGA Tour card in the fall of 1985, on his first attempt. He quickly established himself on the PGA... |
7.53 | Sergio García Sergio García Sergio García Fernández is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on both the United States PGA Tour and the European Tour. He has spent much of his career in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings... |
6.19 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
6.99 |
| 5 | Jim Furyk Jim Furyk James Michael Furyk is an American professional golfer, 2010 FedEx Cup champion, and 2010 PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 2003 U.S. Open. Furyk is known for consistently playing at the top level and for a visibly unconventional, looping golf swing... |
6.81 | Retief Goosen Retief Goosen Retief Goosen is a South African professional golfer who has been in the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for over 250 weeks between 2001 and 2007. His main achievements have been two U.S... |
6.16 | Davis Love III Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III is an American professional golfer.Love was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina before turning professional in 1985. He earned his PGA Tour card in the fall of 1985, on his first attempt. He quickly established himself on the PGA... |
6.02 |
| 6 | Mike Weir Mike Weir Michael Richard Weir, CM, O.Ont is a Canadian professional golfer on the PGA Tour. He spent over 110 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 2001 and 2005. He is best known for winning the Masters in 2003.... |
6.54 | David Toms David Toms David Wayne Toms is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He has won a total of thirteen events on the PGA Tour including the 2001 PGA Championship... |
6.02 | Sergio García Sergio García Sergio García Fernández is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on both the United States PGA Tour and the European Tour. He has spent much of his career in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings... |
5.86 |
| 7 | Retief Goosen Retief Goosen Retief Goosen is a South African professional golfer who has been in the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for over 250 weeks between 2001 and 2007. His main achievements have been two U.S... |
5.92 | Pádraig Harrington Padraig Harrington Pádraig P. Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who plays on The European Tour and The PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008.-Background:... |
5.63 | David Toms David Toms David Wayne Toms is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He has won a total of thirteen events on the PGA Tour including the 2001 PGA Championship... |
5.83 |
| 8 | Pádraig Harrington Padraig Harrington Pádraig P. Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who plays on The European Tour and The PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008.-Background:... |
5.28 | Vijay Singh Vijay Singh Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008... |
5.53 | Vijay Singh Vijay Singh Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008... |
5.60 |
| 9 | David Toms David Toms David Wayne Toms is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He has won a total of thirteen events on the PGA Tour including the 2001 PGA Championship... |
5.09 | Davis Love III Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III is an American professional golfer.Love was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina before turning professional in 1985. He earned his PGA Tour card in the fall of 1985, on his first attempt. He quickly established himself on the PGA... |
4.82 | Darren Clarke Darren Clarke Darren Christopher Clarke is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who currently plays on the European Tour and has previously played on the PGA Tour. He has won 22 tournaments worldwide on a number of golf's main tours including the European Tour, the PGA Tour, the Sunshine Tour and the... |
5.03 |
| 10 | Kenny Perry Kenny Perry James Kenneth Perry is an American professional golfer who currently plays on both the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour, for which he became eligible following his 50th birthday.-Early years:... |
5.08 | Colin Montgomerie Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE is a Scottish professional golfer, often referred to by one of his nicknames 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999, and 31... |
4.39 | Retief Goosen Retief Goosen Retief Goosen is a South African professional golfer who has been in the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for over 250 weeks between 2001 and 2007. His main achievements have been two U.S... |
4.95 |
| Rank | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
29.40 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
19.98 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
12.30 |
| 2 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
11.65 | David Duval David Duval David Robert Duval is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 who competes on the PGA Tour.-Early years:... |
13.15 | Mark O'Meara Mark O'Meara Mark Francis O'Meara is an American professional golfer who was a prolific tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s... |
10.43 |
| 3 | David Duval David Duval David Robert Duval is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 who competes on the PGA Tour.-Early years:... |
11.20 | Colin Montgomerie Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE is a Scottish professional golfer, often referred to by one of his nicknames 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999, and 31... |
10.36 | David Duval David Duval David Robert Duval is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 who competes on the PGA Tour.-Early years:... |
9.67 |
| 4 | Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed... |
11.07 | Davis Love III Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III is an American professional golfer.Love was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina before turning professional in 1985. He earned his PGA Tour card in the fall of 1985, on his first attempt. He quickly established himself on the PGA... |
9.48 | Davis Love III Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III is an American professional golfer.Love was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina before turning professional in 1985. He earned his PGA Tour card in the fall of 1985, on his first attempt. He quickly established himself on the PGA... |
9.43 |
| 5 | Lee Westwood Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons... |
9.46 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
8.64 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
9.18 |
| 6 | Colin Montgomerie Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE is a Scottish professional golfer, often referred to by one of his nicknames 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999, and 31... |
8.34 | Lee Westwood Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons... |
7.85 | Nick Price Nick Price Nicholas Raymond Leige Price is a South African-Zimbabwean Professional golfer and an inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.-Background:... |
8.98 |
| 7 | Davis Love III Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III is an American professional golfer.Love was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina before turning professional in 1985. He earned his PGA Tour card in the fall of 1985, on his first attempt. He quickly established himself on the PGA... |
7.88 | Vijay Singh Vijay Singh Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008... |
7.82 | Colin Montgomerie Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE is a Scottish professional golfer, often referred to by one of his nicknames 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999, and 31... |
8.91 |
| 8 | Hal Sutton Hal Sutton Hal Evan Sutton is an American professional golfer.Sutton was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. A promising golfer at the Centenary College of Louisiana, he was named Golf Magazines 1980 College Player of the Year... |
7.71 | Nick Price Nick Price Nicholas Raymond Leige Price is a South African-Zimbabwean Professional golfer and an inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.-Background:... |
7.20 | Lee Westwood Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons... |
8.65 |
| 9 | Vijay Singh Vijay Singh Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008... |
7.17 | Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed... |
6.58 | Vijay Singh Vijay Singh Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008... |
8.51 |
| 10 | Tom Lehman Tom Lehman Thomas Edward Lehman is an American professional golfer.Lehman was born in Austin, Minnesota, but Alexandria, Minnesota is credited as his official Minnesota hometown. He attended the University of Minnesota, graduating with a degree in Business/Accounting and turned professional in 1982. It took... |
7.10 | Mark O'Meara Mark O'Meara Mark Francis O'Meara is an American professional golfer who was a prolific tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s... |
6.52 | Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed... |
7.76 |
| Rank | 1997 | 1996 | 1995http://www.pgatour.com/r/stats/1995/186.html | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greg Norman Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s... |
11.49 | Greg Norman Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s... |
10.78 | Greg Norman Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s... |
21.93 |
| 2 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
10.76 | Tom Lehman Tom Lehman Thomas Edward Lehman is an American professional golfer.Lehman was born in Austin, Minnesota, but Alexandria, Minnesota is credited as his official Minnesota hometown. He attended the University of Minnesota, graduating with a degree in Business/Accounting and turned professional in 1982. It took... |
9.74 | Nick Price Nick Price Nicholas Raymond Leige Price is a South African-Zimbabwean Professional golfer and an inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.-Background:... |
16.34 |
| 3 | Nick Price Nick Price Nicholas Raymond Leige Price is a South African-Zimbabwean Professional golfer and an inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.-Background:... |
9.93 | Colin Montgomerie Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE is a Scottish professional golfer, often referred to by one of his nicknames 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999, and 31... |
9.10 | Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer 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 90s, being the first official number one ranked player in 1986... |
15.64 |
| 4 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
9.89 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
8.60 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
14.66 |
| 5 | Davis Love III Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III is an American professional golfer.Love was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina before turning professional in 1985. He earned his PGA Tour card in the fall of 1985, on his first attempt. He quickly established himself on the PGA... |
9.09 | Fred Couples Fred Couples Frederick Steven Couples is an American professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. A former World No. 1, he has won numerous events, most notably the 1992 Masters Tournament. In August 2011 he won his maiden senior major at the Senior Players Championship... |
8.16 | Colin Montgomerie Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE is a Scottish professional golfer, often referred to by one of his nicknames 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999, and 31... |
14.00 |
| 6 | Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed... |
8.73 | Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No... |
7.98 | Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No... |
13.94 |
| 7 | Colin Montgomerie Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE is a Scottish professional golfer, often referred to by one of his nicknames 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999, and 31... |
8.58 | Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed... |
7.77 | Corey Pavin Corey Pavin Corey Allen Pavin is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour. He spent over 150 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1986 and 1997.-Biography:... |
13.47 |
| 8 | Masashi Ozaki Masashi Ozaki is a Japanese professional golfer. Ozaki is often known as Jumbo Ozaki on account of his height and length off the tee. He featured in the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings for almost 200 weeks between 1989 and 1998... |
8.05 | Masashi Ozaki Masashi Ozaki is a Japanese professional golfer. Ozaki is often known as Jumbo Ozaki on account of his height and length off the tee. He featured in the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings for almost 200 weeks between 1989 and 1998... |
7.58 | Fred Couples Fred Couples Frederick Steven Couples is an American professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. A former World No. 1, he has won numerous events, most notably the 1992 Masters Tournament. In August 2011 he won his maiden senior major at the Senior Players Championship... |
11.02 |
| 9 | Tom Lehman Tom Lehman Thomas Edward Lehman is an American professional golfer.Lehman was born in Austin, Minnesota, but Alexandria, Minnesota is credited as his official Minnesota hometown. He attended the University of Minnesota, graduating with a degree in Business/Accounting and turned professional in 1982. It took... |
8.02 | Davis Love III Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III is an American professional golfer.Love was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina before turning professional in 1985. He earned his PGA Tour card in the fall of 1985, on his first attempt. He quickly established himself on the PGA... |
7.53 | Masashi Ozaki Masashi Ozaki is a Japanese professional golfer. Ozaki is often known as Jumbo Ozaki on account of his height and length off the tee. He featured in the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings for almost 200 weeks between 1989 and 1998... |
10.82 |
| 10 | Mark O'Meara Mark O'Meara Mark Francis O'Meara is an American professional golfer who was a prolific tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s... |
7.98 | Mark O'Meara Mark O'Meara Mark Francis O'Meara is an American professional golfer who was a prolific tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s... |
7.12 | Steve Elkington Steve Elkington Stephen John Elkington is an Australian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He spent over 50 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings from 1995 to 1998.-Early years and education:... |
10.43 |
| Rank | 1994 http://www.pgatour.com/r/stats/1994/186.html | 1993 http://www.golftoday.co.uk/tours/rankings/history.html | 1992 http://www.golftoday.co.uk/tours/rankings/history.html | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Price Nick Price Nicholas Raymond Leige Price is a South African-Zimbabwean Professional golfer and an inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.-Background:... |
21.30 | Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No... |
20.65 | Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No... |
23.54 |
| 2 | Greg Norman Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s... |
20.68 | Greg Norman Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s... |
18.79 | Fred Couples Fred Couples Frederick Steven Couples is an American professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. A former World No. 1, he has won numerous events, most notably the 1992 Masters Tournament. In August 2011 he won his maiden senior major at the Senior Players Championship... |
16.27 |
| 3 | Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No... |
16.78 | Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer 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 90s, being the first official number one ranked player in 1986... |
17.19 | Ian Woosnam Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', 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 competitive in the Ryder Cup... |
13.14 |
| 4 | Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer 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 90s, being the first official number one ranked player in 1986... |
15.66 | Nick Price Nick Price Nicholas Raymond Leige Price is a South African-Zimbabwean Professional golfer and an inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.-Background:... |
15.89 | José María Olazábal José María Olazábal José María Olazábal Manterola is a Spanish professional golfer who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships.-Career outline:... |
12.87 |
| 5 | José María Olazábal José María Olazábal José María Olazábal Manterola is a Spanish professional golfer who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships.-Career outline:... |
15.18 | Fred Couples Fred Couples Frederick Steven Couples is an American professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. A former World No. 1, he has won numerous events, most notably the 1992 Masters Tournament. In August 2011 he won his maiden senior major at the Senior Players Championship... |
14.93 | Greg Norman Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s... |
12.63 |
| 6 | Fred Couples Fred Couples Frederick Steven Couples is an American professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. A former World No. 1, he has won numerous events, most notably the 1992 Masters Tournament. In August 2011 he won his maiden senior major at the Senior Players Championship... |
13.74 | Paul Azinger Paul Azinger Paul William Azinger is an American professional golfer and occasional on air golf analyst. He spent almost 300 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1988 and 1994.-Early years:... |
14.59 | Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer 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 90s, being the first official number one ranked player in 1986... |
12.44 |
| 7 | Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing... |
13.57 | Ian Woosnam Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', 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 competitive in the Ryder Cup... |
11.41 | John Cook John Cook (golfer) John Neuman Cook is an American professional golfer, who has played on the PGA Tour and currently plays on the Champions Tour.... |
11.68 |
| 8 | Colin Montgomerie Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE is a Scottish professional golfer, often referred to by one of his nicknames 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999, and 31... |
12.38 | Tom Kite Tom Kite Thomas Oliver Kite, Jr. is an American professional golfer and golf course architect. He spent 175 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1989 and 1994.... |
10.07 | Nick Price Nick Price Nicholas Raymond Leige Price is a South African-Zimbabwean Professional golfer and an inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.-Background:... |
11.51 |
| 9 | Masashi Ozaki Masashi Ozaki is a Japanese professional golfer. Ozaki is often known as Jumbo Ozaki on account of his height and length off the tee. He featured in the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings for almost 200 weeks between 1989 and 1998... |
11.39 | Davis Love III Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III is an American professional golfer.Love was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina before turning professional in 1985. He earned his PGA Tour card in the fall of 1985, on his first attempt. He quickly established himself on the PGA... |
9.61 | Paul Azinger Paul Azinger Paul William Azinger is an American professional golfer and occasional on air golf analyst. He spent almost 300 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1988 and 1994.-Early years:... |
10.83 |
| 10 | Corey Pavin Corey Pavin Corey Allen Pavin is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour. He spent over 150 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1986 and 1997.-Biography:... |
10.87 | Corey Pavin Corey Pavin Corey Allen Pavin is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour. He spent over 150 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1986 and 1997.-Biography:... |
9.59 | Davis Love III Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III is an American professional golfer.Love was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina before turning professional in 1985. He earned his PGA Tour card in the fall of 1985, on his first attempt. He quickly established himself on the PGA... |
10.75 |
| Rank | 1991 http://www.golftoday.co.uk/tours/rankings/history.html | 1990 http://www.golftoday.co.uk/tours/rankings/history.html | 1989 http://www.golftoday.co.uk/tours/rankings/history.html | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ian Woosnam Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', 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 competitive in the Ryder Cup... |
17.11 | Greg Norman Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s... |
18.95 | Greg Norman Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s... |
17.76 |
| 2 | Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No... |
15.34 | Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No... |
18.54 | Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No... |
16.25 |
| 3 | José María Olazábal José María Olazábal José María Olazábal Manterola is a Spanish professional golfer who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships.-Career outline:... |
15.32 | José María Olazábal José María Olazábal José María Olazábal Manterola is a Spanish professional golfer who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships.-Career outline:... |
17.22 | Seve Ballesteros | 15.03 |
| 4 | Seve Ballesteros | 13.70 | Ian Woosnam Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', 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 competitive in the Ryder Cup... |
15.47 | Curtis Strange Curtis Strange Curtis Northrup Strange is an American professional golfer. He is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He spent over 200 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between their debut in 1986 and 1990.-Early years through college:Strange and his... |
13.79 |
| 5 | Greg Norman Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s... |
13.11 | Payne Stewart Payne Stewart William Payne Stewart was an American professional golfer who won three majors in his career, the last of which occurred only months before he died in an airplane accident at the age of 42.... |
12.75 | Payne Stewart Payne Stewart William Payne Stewart was an American professional golfer who won three majors in his career, the last of which occurred only months before he died in an airplane accident at the age of 42.... |
12.82 |
| 6 | Fred Couples Fred Couples Frederick Steven Couples is an American professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. A former World No. 1, he has won numerous events, most notably the 1992 Masters Tournament. In August 2011 he won his maiden senior major at the Senior Players Championship... |
12.78 | Paul Azinger Paul Azinger Paul William Azinger is an American professional golfer and occasional on air golf analyst. He spent almost 300 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1988 and 1994.-Early years:... |
11.63 | Tom Kite Tom Kite Thomas Oliver Kite, Jr. is an American professional golfer and golf course architect. He spent 175 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1989 and 1994.... |
12.41 |
| 7 | Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer 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 90s, being the first official number one ranked player in 1986... |
12.59 | Seve Ballesteros | 10.15 | José María Olazábal José María Olazábal José María Olazábal Manterola is a Spanish professional golfer who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships.-Career outline:... |
12.00 |
| 8 | Payne Stewart Payne Stewart William Payne Stewart was an American professional golfer who won three majors in his career, the last of which occurred only months before he died in an airplane accident at the age of 42.... |
11.83 | Tom Kite Tom Kite Thomas Oliver Kite, Jr. is an American professional golfer and golf course architect. He spent 175 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1989 and 1994.... |
10.10 | Mark Calcavecchia Mark Calcavecchia Mark John Calcavecchia is an American professional golfer and a former PGA Tour member. During his professional career, he has won thirteen PGA Tour events, including the 1989 Open Championship. Calcavecchia currently plays on the Champions Tour.-Early years:Calcavecchia was born in Laurel,... |
11.81 |
| 9 | Paul Azinger Paul Azinger Paul William Azinger is an American professional golfer and occasional on air golf analyst. He spent almost 300 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1988 and 1994.-Early years:... |
10.88 | Mark McNulty Mark McNulty Mark William McNulty is an Irish/Zimbabwean professional golfer currently playing on the Champions Tour. He was one of the leading players on the European Tour from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s, and cracked the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for 83 weeks from 1987 to 1992.McNulty... |
10.06 | Ian Woosnam Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', 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 competitive in the Ryder Cup... |
11.56 |
| 10 | Rodger Davis Rodger Davis Rodger Miles Davis is an Australian professional golfer.Davis was born in Sydney. He turned professional in 1974 and spent his regular career playing mainly on the PGA Tour of Australasia and the European Tour. He won the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit in 1990 and 1991... |
8.90 | Mark Calcavecchia Mark Calcavecchia Mark John Calcavecchia is an American professional golfer and a former PGA Tour member. During his professional career, he has won thirteen PGA Tour events, including the 1989 Open Championship. Calcavecchia currently plays on the Champions Tour.-Early years:Calcavecchia was born in Laurel,... |
9.96 | Paul Azinger Paul Azinger Paul William Azinger is an American professional golfer and occasional on air golf analyst. He spent almost 300 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1988 and 1994.-Early years:... |
10.95 |
| Rank | 1988 http://www.golftoday.co.uk/tours/rankings/history.html | 1987 http://www.golftoday.co.uk/tours/rankings/history.html | 1986 http://www.golftoday.co.uk/tours/rankings/history.html | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seve Ballesteros | 1458 | Greg Norman Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s... |
1231 | Greg Norman Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s... |
1507 |
| 2 | Greg Norman Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s... |
1365 | Seve Ballesteros | 1169 | Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer 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 90s, being the first official number one ranked player in 1986... |
1181 |
| 3 | Sandy Lyle Sandy Lyle Alexander Walter Barr "Sandy" Lyle, MBE 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... |
1297 | Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer 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 90s, being the first official number one ranked player in 1986... |
1112 | Seve Ballesteros | 1175 |
| 4 | Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No... |
1103 | Sandy Lyle Sandy Lyle Alexander Walter Barr "Sandy" Lyle, MBE 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... |
879 | Tsuneyuki Nakajima Tsuneyuki Nakajima Tsuneyuki "Tommy" Nakajima 20 October 1954) is a Japanese professional golfer.Nakajima was born in Gunma. He turned professional in 1975. He has won 48 events on the Japan Golf Tour, ranking third on the most Japan Golf Tour wins list. He also was the leading money winner four times in five years:... |
899 |
| 5 | Curtis Strange Curtis Strange Curtis Northrup Strange is an American professional golfer. He is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He spent over 200 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between their debut in 1986 and 1990.-Early years through college:Strange and his... |
1092 | Curtis Strange Curtis Strange Curtis Northrup Strange is an American professional golfer. He is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He spent over 200 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between their debut in 1986 and 1990.-Early years through college:Strange and his... |
873 | Andy Bean Andy Bean Thomas Andrew Bean is an American professional golfer who previously played on the PGA Tour and currently plays on the Champions Tour... |
694 |
| 6 | Ben Crenshaw Ben Crenshaw Ben Daniel Crenshaw is an American professional golfer.Crenshaw was born in Austin, Texas. He attended and played golf at Austin High School and the University of Texas, where he won three NCAA Championships from 1971 to 1973... |
898 | Ian Woosnam Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', 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 competitive in the Ryder Cup... |
830 | Bob Tway Bob Tway Robert Raymond Tway IV is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments including eight PGA Tour victories. He spent 25 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings in 1986-87.... |
687 |
| 7 | Ian Woosnam Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', 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 competitive in the Ryder Cup... |
854 | Payne Stewart Payne Stewart William Payne Stewart was an American professional golfer who won three majors in his career, the last of which occurred only months before he died in an airplane accident at the age of 42.... |
717 | Hal Sutton Hal Sutton Hal Evan Sutton is an American professional golfer.Sutton was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. A promising golfer at the Centenary College of Louisiana, he was named Golf Magazines 1980 College Player of the Year... |
674 |
| 8 | David Frost David Frost (golfer) David Laurence Frost is a South African professional golfer who has more than twenty professional tournament wins to his name, spread across four continents.... |
843 | Lanny Wadkins Lanny Wadkins Jerry Lanston "Lanny" Wadkins, Jr. is an American professional golfer. He ranked in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for 86 weeks from their debut in 1986 to 1988.... |
697 | Curtis Strange Curtis Strange Curtis Northrup Strange is an American professional golfer. He is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He spent over 200 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between their debut in 1986 and 1990.-Early years through college:Strange and his... |
653 |
| 9 | Paul Azinger Paul Azinger Paul William Azinger is an American professional golfer and occasional on air golf analyst. He spent almost 300 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1988 and 1994.-Early years:... |
825 | Mark McNulty Mark McNulty Mark William McNulty is an Irish/Zimbabwean professional golfer currently playing on the Champions Tour. He was one of the leading players on the European Tour from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s, and cracked the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for 83 weeks from 1987 to 1992.McNulty... |
673 | Payne Stewart Payne Stewart William Payne Stewart was an American professional golfer who won three majors in his career, the last of which occurred only months before he died in an airplane accident at the age of 42.... |
652 |
| 10 | Mark Calcavecchia Mark Calcavecchia Mark John Calcavecchia is an American professional golfer and a former PGA Tour member. During his professional career, he has won thirteen PGA Tour events, including the 1989 Open Championship. Calcavecchia currently plays on the Champions Tour.-Early years:Calcavecchia was born in Laurel,... |
819 | Ben Crenshaw Ben Crenshaw Ben Daniel Crenshaw is an American professional golfer.Crenshaw was born in Austin, Texas. He attended and played golf at Austin High School and the University of Texas, where he won three NCAA Championships from 1971 to 1973... |
668 | Mark O'Meara Mark O'Meara Mark Francis O'Meara is an American professional golfer who was a prolific tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s... |
639 |
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:
- 1984 Tom WatsonTom Watson (golfer)Thomas Sturges Watson is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and now mostly on the Champions Tour....
- 1985 Bernhard LangerBernhard LangerBernhard Langer 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 90s, being the first official number one ranked player in 1986...
- 1986 Greg NormanGreg NormanGregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
- 1987 Seve Ballesteros and Ian WoosnamIan WoosnamIan Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', 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 competitive in the Ryder Cup...
- 1988 Seve Ballesteros
- 1989 Greg NormanGreg NormanGregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
- 1990 José María OlazábalJosé María OlazábalJosé María Olazábal Manterola is a Spanish professional golfer who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships.-Career outline:...
- 1991 Seve Ballesteros
- 1992 Nick FaldoNick FaldoSir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No...
- 1993 Greg NormanGreg NormanGregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
- 1994 Ernie ElsErnie ElsTheodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing...
- 1995 Greg NormanGreg NormanGregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
- 1996 Tom LehmanTom LehmanThomas Edward Lehman is an American professional golfer.Lehman was born in Austin, Minnesota, but Alexandria, Minnesota is credited as his official Minnesota hometown. He attended the University of Minnesota, graduating with a degree in Business/Accounting and turned professional in 1982. It took...
- 1997 Ernie ElsErnie ElsTheodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing...
- 1998 Mark O'MearaMark O'MearaMark Francis O'Meara is an American professional golfer who was a prolific tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s...
- 1999 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
- 2000 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
- 2001 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
- 2002 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
- 2003 Vijay SinghVijay SinghVijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008...
- 2004 Vijay SinghVijay SinghVijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008...
- 2005 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
- 2006 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
- 2007 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
- 2008 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
- 2009 Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
- 2010 Lee WestwoodLee WestwoodLee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons...
World Money List
Since 1996, the International Federation of PGA Tours has sanctioned a World Money List http://www.pgatour.com/r/stats/info/?157 which is the total official money earned by a player on all member tours. It is computed in United States dollarUnited States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
s. The yearly leaders are listed below.
| Year | Player | Events | Earnings ($ United States dollar The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies.... ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Luke Donald Luke Donald Luke Campbell Donald is an English professional golfer who is the current World Number One. He plays mainly on the U.S. based PGA Tour but is also a member of the European Tour. In 2006 he reached the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in his career. In January 2007, he... |
28 | 5,867,601 |
| 2009 | Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... |
19 | 10,948,054 |
| 2008 | Sergio García Sergio García Sergio García Fernández is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on both the United States PGA Tour and the European Tour. He has spent much of his career in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings... |
26 | 6,979,959 |
| 2007 | Tiger Woods | 17 | 11,002,706 |
| 2006 | Tiger Woods | 19 | 11,141,827 |
| 2005 | Tiger Woods | 23 | 11,515,939 |
| 2004 | Vijay Singh Vijay Singh Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008... |
32 | 11,104,892 |
| 2003 | Vijay Singh | 28 | 7,639,461 |
| 2002 | Tiger Woods | 21 | 7,392,188 |
| 2001 | Tiger Woods | 21 | 6,213,229 |
| 2000 | Tiger Woods | 22 | 9,501,387 |
| 1999 | Tiger Woods | 23 | 6,981,836 |
| 1998 | David Duval David Duval David Robert Duval is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 who competes on the PGA Tour.-Early years:... |
24 | 2,680,489 |
| 1997 | Tiger Woods | 22 | 2,082,381 |
| 1996 | Masashi Ozaki Masashi Ozaki is a Japanese professional golfer. Ozaki is often known as Jumbo Ozaki on account of his height and length off the tee. He featured in the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings for almost 200 weeks between 1989 and 1998... |
21 | 1,944,034 |
See also
- List of World Number One male golfers
- Women's World Golf RankingsWomen's World Golf RankingsThe Women's World Golf Rankings, also known for sponsorship reasons as the Rolex Rankings, were introduced in February 2006. They are sanctioned by the five main women's golf tours and the organisations behind them: Ladies Professional Golf Association , Ladies European Tour, Ladies Professional...
- for female professional golfers - World Amateur Golf RankingWorld Amateur Golf RankingThe World Amateur Golf Ranking for men was introduced by the R&A, the governing body of amateur golf outside the United States and Mexico, on 23 January 2007. It is based on the results of over 750 amateur tournaments and is updated weekly. Rankings are based on the players' average performances in...
- for male amateur golfers
External links
- Official World Golf Rankings website (includes archive of weekly ranking lists of Top-200 from 1987 on)