Women's World Golf Rankings
Encyclopedia
The Women's World Golf Rankings, also known for sponsorship reasons as the Rolex
Rolex
Rolex SA is a Swiss watchmaking manufacturer of high-quality, luxury wristwatches. Rolex watches are popularly regarded as status symbols and BusinessWeek magazine ranks Rolex No.71 on its 2007 annual list of the 100 most valuable global brands...

 Rankings
, were introduced in February 2006. They are sanctioned by the five main women'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...

 and the organisations behind them: Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA Tour), Ladies European Tour
Ladies European Tour
The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1979. It is based in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal structure which enables it to focus on maximising returns to its members through prize money,...

, Ladies Professional Golfers' Association of Japan, Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association, and Australian Ladies Professional Golf, and also by the Ladies' Golf Union
Ladies' Golf Union
The Ladies' Golf Union is the governing body for women's and girls' amateur golf in Great Britain and Ireland . It was founded in 1893 and is based in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, which is often known as the "Home of Golf"...

, which administers the Women's British Open
Women's British Open
The Women's British Open is a leading event in women's professional golf and the only tournament which is classified as a major championship by both the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour. Since 2007, it has been called the Ricoh Women's British Open, for sponsorship reasons...

.

The idea of introducing a set of women's rankings similar to the Official World Golf Rankings
Official World Golf Rankings
The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of male professional golfers...

 for men was developed at the May 2004 World Congress of Women's Golf, and was first planned for 2005, but then put back to 2006.

Calculation of the rankings

The rankings are based on performances on the five major tours and the Futures Tour
FUTURES Tour
The LPGA Futures Tour, previously styled in uppercase as FUTURES Tour and known for sponsorship reasons between 2006 and 2010 as the Duramed FUTURES Tour, is the official developmental golf tour of the LPGA Tour...

, the official developmental tour of the LPGA, over a two-year period. Amateur players are eligible. The system for calculating the rankings is similar to that for the men's Official World Golf Rankings. Players receive points for each good finish on the relevant tours, with the number of points available in each event depending on the strength of the field, as determined by the competitors' existing rankings (when the rankings were introduced rankings were calculated for earlier periods; indeed the first ever set showed notional changes since the previous week). The only exceptions are the four LPGA majors and Futures Tour events, which have a fixed-point allocation. Rankings are tapered so the recent results are more important.

Original formula

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

Formula revisions

On 2 August 2006 the Rolex Rankings Board and Technical Committee announced following its bi-annual meeting two changes to the ranking formula.
  1. The elimination of the minimum event requirement. Players would no longer be required to participate in fifteen qualifying events to be included in the rankings and could be included after playing in as few as one qualifying event. This change would also have the effect of permitting amateurs who had played well in one event to be ranked (e.g., Morgan Pressel
    Morgan Pressel
    Morgan Pressel is an American professional golfer, currently playing on the LPGA Tour. She turned pro at age 17 and is the youngest-ever winner of a modern LPGA major championship. Pressel has reached as high as fourth in the world rankings....

    , who finished second in the 2005 U.S. Women's Open, or Michelle Wie
    Michelle Wie
    Michelle Sung Wie is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. At age 10, she became the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship. Wie would also become the youngest winner of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and the youngest to qualify for a LPGA Tour event...

     from age 13).
  2. The introduction of a minimum divisor. Where previously a player's point total was divided by the number of events she played over the previous 104 weeks, now the player's point total would be divided by the greater of (i) the number of events played or (ii) 35. Thus, players with 35 or more events over the previous 104 weeks would continue to use the actual number of events played as the divisor, but players with fewer than 35 events would use 35 as the divisor.


Many commentators saw the latter change as directed at Michelle Wie
Michelle Wie
Michelle Sung Wie is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. At age 10, she became the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship. Wie would also become the youngest winner of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and the youngest to qualify for a LPGA Tour event...

, who at the time was ranked second in the world despite having competed in only 16 women's professional events in the two-year period. However, the chairman of the Rolex Rankings Technical Committee defended the change as one designed to make the women's rankings more comparable to the Official World Golf Rankings
Official World Golf Rankings
The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of male professional golfers...

 for men, which use a minimum divisor of 40 events.

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

Criticisms

When they were introduced the rankings attracted considerable criticism on two grounds. First, it was widely felt that members of the LPGA of Japan Tour were ranked too high, since few of them had competed successfully outside Japan. Second, the minimum of 15 events needed to qualify for a ranking was widely seen as having been selected purely to enable Michelle Wie
Michelle Wie
Michelle Sung Wie is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. At age 10, she became the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship. Wie would also become the youngest winner of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and the youngest to qualify for a LPGA Tour event...

 to be highly ranked because she had played exactly that number in the preceding two years, while every other highly ranked player had played many more events. If the women's rankings used the same system used for the men's rankings –- that is a minimum number of events of one but a minimum denominator of 40 to calculate the average points per tournament – Wie would have been just outside the top 10. But under the women's ranking system where only players who had played a minimum number of events were included, if the minimum number of events had been set higher than fifteen, Wie would not have been ranked at all.

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

Significance of the rankings

The rankings are used by each of the sponsoring tours to determine eligibility criteria for certain events. For example, 40 of the 144 places in the Women's British Open
Women's British Open
The Women's British Open is a leading event in women's professional golf and the only tournament which is classified as a major championship by both the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour. Since 2007, it has been called the Ricoh Women's British Open, for sponsorship reasons...

 are currently awarded on the basis of the rankings—10 to LET members and 30 to LPGA members. Four of the 12 places in the European Solheim Cup
Solheim Cup
The Solheim Cup is a biennial golf tournament for professional women golfers contested by teams representing Europe and the United States. It is named after the Norwegian-American golf club manufacturer Karsten Solheim, who was a driving force behind its creation.The inaugural Cup was held in 1990,...

 team are allocated on the basis of the rankings.

Current top ten

As of 28 November 2011
Ranking Change Player Country Points
1 Yani Tseng
Yani Tseng
Yani Tseng is a Taiwanese professional golfer currently playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She is the youngest player ever, male or female, to win five major championships and is currently ranked number 1 in the Women's World Golf Rankings....

 
18.16
2 Suzann Pettersen
Suzann Pettersen
Suzann Pettersen is a Norwegian professional golfer. She plays mainly on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour, and is also a member of the Ladies European Tour. Her career best world ranking is second. She has held that position at several times, most recently beginning 22 August 2011.-Amateur...

 
10.89
3 Cristie Kerr
Cristie Kerr
Cristie Kerr is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She has 14 wins on the LPGA Tour, including two major championships, and over $13 million in career earnings...

 
10.52
4 Na Yeon Choi
Na Yeon Choi
Na Yeon Choi is a South Korean female professional golfer playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.-Amateur career:At age 17 in 2004, Choi won the ADT CAPS Invitational on the LPGA of Korea Tour , beating future Hall-of-Famer Se Ri Pak by four strokes. Choi turned professional shortly thereafter, in...

 
10.38
5 Paula Creamer
Paula Creamer
Paula Creamer is an American professional golfer on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. As a professional, she has won 11 tournaments, including 9 LPGA Tour events. Creamer has been as high as number 2 in the Women's World Golf Rankings. She was the 2010 U.S...

 
8.43
6 Sun Ju Ahn
Sun Ju Ahn
Sun-Ju Ahn is a South Korean professional golfer currently playing on the LPGA of Japan Tour. She led the LPGA of Japan Tour money list in 2010 and 2011.-LPGA of Korea Tour wins :-LPGA of Japan Tour :-External links:*...

 
8.31
7 Jiyai Shin  8.10
8 1 Ai Miyazato
Ai Miyazato
is a Japanese professional golfer who currently competes on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the Japan LPGA Tour . She was the top-ranked golfer in the Women's World Golf Rankings for three periods of time in 2010.-Early life and amateur career:...

 
7.20
9 1 I.K. Kim  7.18
10 Stacy Lewis
Stacy Lewis
Stacy Lewis is an American professional golfer on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.-Early years:Born in Ohio, Lewis grew up in Texas at The Woodlands outside of Houston, and graduated from The Woodlands High School in 2003...

 
7.01

Change column indicates change in rank from previous week.

Notes
  • On 12 January 2009, Annika Sörenstam
    Annika Sörenstam
    Annika Sörenstam is a Swedish-American professional golfer whose achievements rank her as one of the most successful golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golfer...

    , who was ranked 3rd the previous week despite having announced her retirement effective at the end of the 2008 season, was removed from the rankings. No official explanation was given for her removal. Sörenstam later posted in her personal blog that she asked to be removed.
  • On 10 May 2010, one week after announcing that she was retiring from golf, Lorena Ochoa
    Lorena Ochoa
    Lorena Ochoa Reyes is a Mexican professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010, and was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for over three years, from April 2007 to her retirement in May 2010...

     also voluntarily removed herself from the rankings. Her last position in the rankings was number 2 for the week of 3 May 2010.

World number ones

As of 28 November 2011
No.PlayerCountryStart dateEnd dateWeeksTotal weeks
1 Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam is a Swedish-American professional golfer whose achievements rank her as one of the most successful golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golfer...

 
21 February 2006 22 April 2007 60 60
2 Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa Reyes is a Mexican professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010, and was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for over three years, from April 2007 to her retirement in May 2010...

 
23 April 2007 2 May 2010 158 158
3 Jiyai Shin  3 May 2010 20 June 2010 7 -
4 Ai Miyazato
Ai Miyazato
is a Japanese professional golfer who currently competes on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the Japan LPGA Tour . She was the top-ranked golfer in the Women's World Golf Rankings for three periods of time in 2010.-Early life and amateur career:...

 
21 June 2010 27 June 2010 1 -
5 Cristie Kerr
Cristie Kerr
Cristie Kerr is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She has 14 wins on the LPGA Tour, including two major championships, and over $13 million in career earnings...

 
28 June 2010 18 July 2010 3 -
Ai Miyazato
Ai Miyazato
is a Japanese professional golfer who currently competes on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the Japan LPGA Tour . She was the top-ranked golfer in the Women's World Golf Rankings for three periods of time in 2010.-Early life and amateur career:...

 
19 July 2010 25 July 2010 1 -
Jiyai Shin  26 July 2010 15 August 2010 3 -
Cristie Kerr
Cristie Kerr
Cristie Kerr is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She has 14 wins on the LPGA Tour, including two major championships, and over $13 million in career earnings...

 
16 August 2010 22 August 2010 1 -
Ai Miyazato
Ai Miyazato
is a Japanese professional golfer who currently competes on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the Japan LPGA Tour . She was the top-ranked golfer in the Women's World Golf Rankings for three periods of time in 2010.-Early life and amateur career:...

 
23 August 2010 24 October 2010 10 12
Cristie Kerr
Cristie Kerr
Cristie Kerr is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She has 14 wins on the LPGA Tour, including two major championships, and over $13 million in career earnings...

 
25 October 2010 31 October 2010 1 5
Jiyai Shin  1 November 2010 13 February 2011 15 25
6 Yani Tseng
Yani Tseng
Yani Tseng is a Taiwanese professional golfer currently playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She is the youngest player ever, male or female, to win five major championships and is currently ranked number 1 in the Women's World Golf Rankings....

 
14 February 2011 current 42 42

Year end No. 1

YearPlayer
2006   Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam is a Swedish-American professional golfer whose achievements rank her as one of the most successful golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golfer...

2007   Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa Reyes is a Mexican professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010, and was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for over three years, from April 2007 to her retirement in May 2010...

2008   Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa Reyes is a Mexican professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010, and was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for over three years, from April 2007 to her retirement in May 2010...

2009   Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa Reyes is a Mexican professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010, and was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for over three years, from April 2007 to her retirement in May 2010...

2010   Jiyai Shin

Green shading indicates the player was No. 1 throughout the year.

Historical rankings

Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam is a Swedish-American professional golfer whose achievements rank her as one of the most successful golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golfer...

 of Sweden topped the first set of rankings, which was released on Tuesday 21 February 2006. Paula Creamer
Paula Creamer
Paula Creamer is an American professional golfer on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. As a professional, she has won 11 tournaments, including 9 LPGA Tour events. Creamer has been as high as number 2 in the Women's World Golf Rankings. She was the 2010 U.S...

 (United States); Michelle Wie
Michelle Wie
Michelle Sung Wie is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. At age 10, she became the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship. Wie would also become the youngest winner of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and the youngest to qualify for a LPGA Tour event...

 (United States); Yuri Fudoh
Yuri Fudoh
is a Japanese golfer. She was the leading money winner on the JLPGA Tour six times in a row from 2000 to 2005. She became the first player on the JLPGA Tour to earn in excess of 100 million yen, a feat she accomplished in 2000, and achieved again in 2003, 2004 and 2005.In 2003, Fudoh became the...

 (Japan); and Cristie Kerr
Cristie Kerr
Cristie Kerr is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She has 14 wins on the LPGA Tour, including two major championships, and over $13 million in career earnings...

 (United States) took the other places in the top 5. The top one hundred players in the initial rankings came from the following countries:
  • 25: South Korea
  • 23: Japan
  • 21: United States
  • 6: Australia, Sweden
  • 5: United Kingdom (England 3; Scotland 2)
  • 4: Taiwan
  • 2: France
  • 1: Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Philippines

Initial Top Ten
21 February 2006
RankPlayerCountryAve. points
1 Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam is a Swedish-American professional golfer whose achievements rank her as one of the most successful golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golfer...

 
18.47
2 Paula Creamer
Paula Creamer
Paula Creamer is an American professional golfer on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. As a professional, she has won 11 tournaments, including 9 LPGA Tour events. Creamer has been as high as number 2 in the Women's World Golf Rankings. She was the 2010 U.S...

 
9.65
3 Michelle Wie
Michelle Wie
Michelle Sung Wie is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. At age 10, she became the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship. Wie would also become the youngest winner of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and the youngest to qualify for a LPGA Tour event...

 
9.24
4 Yuri Fudoh
Yuri Fudoh
is a Japanese golfer. She was the leading money winner on the JLPGA Tour six times in a row from 2000 to 2005. She became the first player on the JLPGA Tour to earn in excess of 100 million yen, a feat she accomplished in 2000, and achieved again in 2003, 2004 and 2005.In 2003, Fudoh became the...

 
7.37
5 Cristie Kerr
Cristie Kerr
Cristie Kerr is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She has 14 wins on the LPGA Tour, including two major championships, and over $13 million in career earnings...

 
6.94
6 Ai Miyazato
Ai Miyazato
is a Japanese professional golfer who currently competes on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the Japan LPGA Tour . She was the top-ranked golfer in the Women's World Golf Rankings for three periods of time in 2010.-Early life and amateur career:...

 
6.58
7 Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa Reyes is a Mexican professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010, and was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for over three years, from April 2007 to her retirement in May 2010...

 
6.10
8 Jeong Jang
Jeong Jang
Jeong Jang is a South Korean professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She is also a member of the LPGA of Korea Tour.Jang was born in Daejeon, South Korea. She started playing golf at the age of thirteen. As a teenager she won the 1997 Korea Women's Open and the 1998 Korea...

 
4.91
9 Hee-Won Han
Hee-Won Han
Hee-Won Han is a South Korean golfer. She attended Ryukoku University and turned professional in 1998. Han currently plays on the United States LPGA Tour. Her caddie is Jeffrey Snow....

 
4.49
10 Juli Inkster
Juli Inkster
Juli Inkster is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. With a professional career spanning 27 years to date, Inkster's 31 wins rank her second in wins among all active players on the LPGA Tour; she has over $11 million in career earnings...

 
4.11

Initial top ten after 2 August 2006 formula change
7 August 2006
RankPlayerCountryAve. points
1 Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam is a Swedish-American professional golfer whose achievements rank her as one of the most successful golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golfer...

 
17.41
2 Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa Reyes is a Mexican professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010, and was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for over three years, from April 2007 to her retirement in May 2010...

 
9.87
3 Karrie Webb
Karrie Webb
Karrie Ann Webb AM is Australia's most successful female professional golfer, and one of the top players in the history of global women's golf. She currently plays mainly on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and also turns out once or twice a year on the ALPG Tour in her home country. She is a member of...

 
9.39
4 Paula Creamer
Paula Creamer
Paula Creamer is an American professional golfer on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. As a professional, she has won 11 tournaments, including 9 LPGA Tour events. Creamer has been as high as number 2 in the Women's World Golf Rankings. She was the 2010 U.S...

 
8.13
5 Cristie Kerr
Cristie Kerr
Cristie Kerr is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She has 14 wins on the LPGA Tour, including two major championships, and over $13 million in career earnings...

 
8.04
6 Juli Inkster
Juli Inkster
Juli Inkster is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. With a professional career spanning 27 years to date, Inkster's 31 wins rank her second in wins among all active players on the LPGA Tour; she has over $11 million in career earnings...

 
7.75
7 Michelle Wie
Michelle Wie
Michelle Sung Wie is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. At age 10, she became the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship. Wie would also become the youngest winner of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and the youngest to qualify for a LPGA Tour event...

 
6.83
8 Jeong Jang
Jeong Jang
Jeong Jang is a South Korean professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She is also a member of the LPGA of Korea Tour.Jang was born in Daejeon, South Korea. She started playing golf at the age of thirteen. As a teenager she won the 1997 Korea Women's Open and the 1998 Korea...

 
6.09
9 Yuri Fudoh
Yuri Fudoh
is a Japanese golfer. She was the leading money winner on the JLPGA Tour six times in a row from 2000 to 2005. She became the first player on the JLPGA Tour to earn in excess of 100 million yen, a feat she accomplished in 2000, and achieved again in 2003, 2004 and 2005.In 2003, Fudoh became the...

 
5.98
10 Ai Miyazato
Ai Miyazato
is a Japanese professional golfer who currently competes on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the Japan LPGA Tour . She was the top-ranked golfer in the Women's World Golf Rankings for three periods of time in 2010.-Early life and amateur career:...

 
5.79


See also

  • LPGA Tour current money leaders
  • Official World Golf Ranking – for male professional golfers
  • World Amateur Golf Ranking
    World Amateur Golf Ranking
    The 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

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