Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Need to know: OWGR’s modernized system debuts this week

It’s a big week for the Official World Golf Ranking.

While Joohyung Kim continued his rise in the world rankings, his win at the Wyndham Championship vaulting him from No. 34 to No. 21, that’s hardly the week’s most notable news as it pertains to the OWGR. Starting this week, the OWGR will begin its modernized, field rating-based system.

The new ranking will create field ratings for each event that are based on each player’s strokes gained world rating, which is determined by round-by-round stroke-play scores that are adjusted for relative difficulty of each round. The sum of the performance points, calculated using strokes gained world rating, for every player in the field will determine the field rating, which effectively replaces strength of field. Previously, only players in the top 200 determined field strengths.

However, a player’s ranking won’t be solely determined by their strokes gained world rating, as the OWGR plans to place premiums on winning and major performance. Players with fewer than 10 official rounds played will contribute 0.1 performance points to events.

The new system also does away with minimum point levels (except for majors), flagship tournaments and home ratings.

There will still be a two-year rolling period as the new system gradually takes its place. OWGR officials said, “as top players often compete against each other, the top 10 is likely to remain the same, while the top 50 is likely to change by two to five players.”

Click here to read more about the modernized OWGR, including a long list of FAQs.