Women's World Golf Rankings

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

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

Calculation of the rankings

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

Original formula

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

Formula revisions

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

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

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

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

2019 event table

The events with the highest "Event rating" in 2019 are shown in the following table.

DateEventEvent
ranking		WinnerTour
28 JulThe Evian Championship100Ko Jin-youngLPGA
7 AprANA Inspiration100Ko Jin-youngLPGA
2 JunU.S. Women's Open100Lee Jeong-eunLPGA
4 AugAIG Women's British Open100Hinako ShibunoLPGA
23 JunKPMG Women's PGA Championship100Hannah GreenLPGA
25 AugCanadian Women's Open62Ko Jin-youngLPGA
30 JunWalmart NW Arkansas Championship62Park Sung-hyunLPGA
3 MarHSBC Women's World Championship62Park Sung-hyunLPGA
28 AprHugel-Air Premia LA Open62Minjee LeeLPGA
31 MarKia Classic62Nasa HataokaLPGA
24 MarBank of Hope Founders Cup62Ko Jin-youngLPGA
24 NovCME Group Tour Championship62Kim Sei-youngLPGA
24 FebHonda LPGA Thailand62Amy YangLPGA
20 AprLotte Championship56Brooke HendersonLPGA
5 MayLPGA Mediheal Championship56Kim Sei-youngLPGA
26 MayPure Silk Championship56Bronte LawLPGA
27 OctBMW Ladies Championship56Jang Ha-naLPGA
16 JunMeijer LPGA Classic50Brooke HendersonLPGA
3 NovTaiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA50Nelly KordaLPGA
20 OctBuick LPGA Shanghai50Danielle KangLPGA
29 SepIndy Women in Tech Championship50M. J. HurLPGA

Criticisms

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

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

Significance of the rankings

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

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

Current top ten

As of 16 October 2023

RankChangePlayerCountryPoints
1SteadyLilia Vu United States8.00
2SteadyYin Ruoning China7.80
3SteadyKo Jin-young South Korea7.37
4Increase3Minjee Lee Australia7.10
5SteadyCéline Boutier France7.01
6Decrease2Nelly Korda United States6.95
7Decrease1Kim Hyo-joo South Korea6.19
8SteadyCharley Hull England5.82
9Increase4Lydia Ko New Zealand5.26
10Decrease1Allisen Corpuz United States5.17

Change column indicates change in rank from previous week.

Notes

  • On 12 January 2009, Annika Sörenstam, who was ranked No. 3 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.[10]
  • On 10 May 2010, one week after announcing that she was retiring from golf, Lorena Ochoa also voluntarily removed herself from the rankings. Her last position in the rankings was No. 2 for the week of 3 May 2010.[11]

World number ones
^ Record
* Current No. 1 player as of 23 October 2023[12]
No.PlayerCountryStart dateEnd dateWeeksTotal weeks
1Annika Sörenstam Sweden21 February 200622 April 20076060
2Lorena Ochoa Mexico23 April 20072 May 2010158^158
3Jiyai Shin South Korea3 May 201020 June 201077
4Ai Miyazato Japan21 June 201027 June 201011
5Cristie Kerr United States28 June 201018 July 201033
Ai Miyazato (2) Japan19 July 201025 July 201012
Jiyai Shin (2) South Korea26 July 201015 August 2010310
Cristie Kerr (2) United States16 August 201022 August 201014
Ai Miyazato (3) Japan23 August 201024 October 2010911
Cristie Kerr (3) United States25 October 201031 October 201015
Jiyai Shin (3) South Korea1 November 201013 February 20111525
6Yani Tseng Chinese Taipei14 February 201117 March 2013109109
7Stacy Lewis United States18 March 201314 April 201344
8Inbee Park South Korea15 April 20131 June 20145959
Stacy Lewis (2) United States2 June 201426 October 20142125
Inbee Park (2) South Korea27 October 20141 February 20151473
9Lydia Ko New Zealand2 February 201514 June 20151919
Inbee Park (3) South Korea15 June 201525 October 20151992
Lydia Ko (2) New Zealand26 October 201511 June 201785104
10Ariya Jutanugarn Thailand12 June 201725 June 201722
11Ryu So-yeon South Korea26 June 20175 November 20171919
12Park Sung-hyun South Korea6 November 201712 November 201711
13Shanshan Feng China13 November 201722 April 20182323
Inbee Park (4) South Korea23 April 201829 July 201814106
Ariya Jutanugarn (2) Thailand30 July 201819 August 201835
Park Sung-hyun (2) South Korea20 August 201828 October 20181011
Ariya Jutanugarn (3) Thailand29 October 20183 March 20191823
Park Sung-hyun (3) South Korea4 March 20197 April 2019516
14Ko Jin-young South Korea8 April 201930 June 20191212
Park Sung-hyun (4) South Korea1 July 201928 July 2019420
Ko Jin-young (2) South Korea29 July 201927 June 2021100112[lower-alpha 1]
15Nelly Korda United States28 June 202124 October 20211717
Ko Jin-young (3) South Korea25 October 20217 November 20212114
Nelly Korda (2) United States8 November 202130 January 20221229
Ko Jin-young (4) South Korea31 January 202230 October 202239154
16Atthaya Thitikul Thailand31 October 202213 November 202222
Nelly Korda (3) United States14 November 202227 November 2022231
Lydia Ko (3) New Zealand28 November 202223 April 202321125
Nelly Korda (4) United States24 April 202321 May 2023435
Ko Jin-young (5) South Korea22 May 202330 July 20237163^
Nelly Korda (5) United States31 July 202313 August 2023237
17Lilia Vu United States14 August 202310 September 202344
18Yin Ruoning China11 September 202324 September 202322
Lilia Vu* (2) United States25 September 2023Present59
  1. The rankings were frozen due to the COVID-19 pandemic from 16 March 2020 to 18 May 2020. (8 weeks)

Total weeks at No. 1
* Current No. 1 player as of 23 October 2023[12]
Rank Player Country Weeks Order Majors
1 Ko Jin-young  South Korea 163[lower-alpha 1] 14 2
2 Lorena Ochoa  Mexico 158 2 2
3 Lydia Ko  New Zealand 125 9 2
4 Yani Tseng  Chinese Taipei 109 6 5
5 Inbee Park  South Korea 106 8 7
6 Annika Sörenstam  Sweden 60 1 10
7 Nelly Korda  United States 37 15 1
8 Jiyai Shin  South Korea 25 3 2
Stacy Lewis  United States 7 2
10 Shanshan Feng  China 23 13 1
Ariya Jutanugarn  Thailand 10 2
12 Park Sung-hyun  South Korea 20 12 2
13 Ryu So-yeon  South Korea 19 11 2
14 Ai Miyazato  Japan 11 4 0
15 Lilia Vu*  United States 9 17 2
16 Cristie Kerr  United States 5 5 2
17 Atthaya Thitikul  Thailand 2 16 0
Yin Ruoning  China 18 1
  1. The rankings were frozen due to the COVID-19 pandemic from 16 March 2020 to 18 May 2020. (8 weeks)

Year end No. 1
* No. 1 player all year
YearPlayerCountry
2006Annika Sörenstam Sweden
2007Lorena Ochoa Mexico
2008Lorena Ochoa* (2) Mexico
2009Lorena Ochoa* (3) Mexico
2010Jiyai Shin South Korea
2011Yani Tseng Chinese Taipei
2012Yani Tseng* (2) Chinese Taipei
2013Inbee Park South Korea
2014Inbee Park (2) South Korea
2015Lydia Ko New Zealand
2016Lydia Ko* (2) New Zealand
2017Shanshan Feng China
2018Ariya Jutanugarn Thailand
2019Ko Jin-young South Korea
2020Ko Jin-young* (2) South Korea
2021Nelly Korda United States
2022Lydia Ko (3) New Zealand

Weeks at No. 1 by country
* Country with the current number one player as of 23 October 2023
Rank Country No. of
players		 No. of
weeks		 Players
1 South Korea5333[lower-alpha 1]Jiyai Shin, Inbee Park, Ryu So-yeon, Park Sung-hyun, Ko Jin-young
2 Mexico1158Lorena Ochoa
3 New Zealand1125Lydia Ko
4 Chinese Taipei1109Yani Tseng
5 United States*476Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis, Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu
6 Sweden160Annika Sörenstam
7 Thailand225Ariya Jutanugarn, Atthaya Thitikul
7 China225Shanshan Feng, Yin Ruoning
9 Japan111Ai Miyazato
  1. The rankings were frozen due to the COVID-19 pandemic from 16 March 2020 to 18 May 2020. (8 weeks)

Players who have reached No. 1 without having won a major title
Players Date of first No. 1 position Eventual first major title
Lorena Ochoa23 April 20072007 Women's British Open
Ai Miyazato21 June 2010none
Lydia Ko2 February 20152015 Evian Championship
Atthaya Thitikul31 October 2022none

Year-end world top 10 players
★ indicates player's highest year-end ranking
YearNo. 1No. 2No. 3No. 4No. 5No. 6No. 7No. 8No. 9No. 10
2006 Sweden A. Sörenstam★Mexico L. OchoaAustralia K. WebbUnited States C. KerrUnited States J. Inkster★Japan A. Miyazato★South Korea J. Jang★United States P. CreamerJapan S. Oyama★United States P. Hurst★
2007 Mexico L. Ochoa★Australia K. Webb★Norway S. PettersenSweden A. SörenstamUnited States P. CreamerUnited States C. KerrSouth Korea J. ShinUnited States J. InksterSouth Korea M.H. Kim★South Korea S.R. Pak★
2008 Mexico L. OchoaChinese Taipei Y. TsengSweden A. SörenstamUnited States P. Creamer★Norway S. PettersenSouth Korea J. ShinUnited States C. KerrSweden H. Alfredsson★United States A. Stanford★Australia K. Webb
2009 Mexico L. OchoaSouth Korea J. ShinNorway S. PettersenUnited States C. KerrChinese Taipei Y. TsengSweden A. Nordqvist★United States P. CreamerJapan A. MiyazatoUnited States A. StanfordUnited States M. Wie
2010 South Korea J. Shin★United States C. Kerr★Norway S. PettersenSouth Korea N.Y. ChoiChinese Taipei Y. TsengJapan A. MiyazatoSouth Korea I.K. Kim★South Korea S.J. AhnSouth Korea S.H. Kim★United States M. Wie
2011 Chinese Taipei Y. Tseng★Norway S. Pettersen★South Korea N.Y. ChoiUnited States C. KerrUnited States P. CreamerSouth Korea S.J. Ahn★South Korea J. ShinSouth Korea I.K. KimJapan A. MiyazatoUnited States S. Lewis
2012 Chinese Taipei Y. TsengSouth Korea N.Y. Choi★United States S. Lewis★South Korea I. ParkChina S. FengNorway S. PettersenSouth Korea S.Y. RyuSouth Korea J. ShinJapan A. MiyazatoJapan M. Miyazato★
2013 South Korea I. Park★Norway S. PettersenUnited States S. LewisNew Zealand L. KoSouth Korea S.Y. RyuChina S. FengSouth Korea N.Y. ChoiAustralia K. WebbUnited States L. ThompsonSouth Korea I.K. Kim
2014 South Korea I. ParkNew Zealand L. KoUnited States S. LewisNorway S. PettersenChina S. FengUnited States M. Wie★South Korea H.J. Kim★South Korea S.Y. RyuAustralia K. WebbUnited States L. Thompson
2015 New Zealand L. Ko★South Korea I. ParkUnited States S. LewisUnited States L. Thompson★South Korea S.Y. RyuChina S. FengSouth Korea S.Y. KimSouth Korea A. Yang★South Korea H.J. KimSouth Korea I.G. Chun
2016 New Zealand L. KoThailand A. JutanugarnSouth Korea I.G. Chun★China S. FengUnited States L. ThompsonSouth Korea S.Y. KimSouth Korea H.N. Jang★Canada B. HendersonSouth Korea S.Y. RyuSouth Korea S.H. Park
2017 China S. Feng★South Korea S.H. Park★South Korea S.Y. Ryu★United States L. ThompsonSouth Korea I.G. ChunThailand A. JutanugarnSweden A. NordqvistSouth Korea I.K. KimNew Zealand L. KoUnited States C. Kerr
2018 Thailand A. Jutanugarn★South Korea S.H. ParkSouth Korea S.Y. RyuSouth Korea I. ParkUnited States L. ThompsonAustralia M. LeeJapan N. HataokaEngland G. Hall★Canada B. HendersonSouth Korea J.Y. Ko
2019 South Korea J.Y. Ko★South Korea S.H. ParkUnited States N. KordaUnited States D. Kang★South Korea S.Y. KimJapan N. Hataoka★South Korea J.E. Lee★Canada B. HendersonAustralia M. LeeUnited States L. Thompson
2020 South Korea J.Y. KoSouth Korea S.Y. Kim★South Korea I. ParkUnited States N. KordaUnited States D. KangCanada B. Henderson★Japan N. HataokaAustralia M. LeeSouth Korea H.J. KimSouth Korea S.H. Park
2021 United States N. Korda★South Korea J.Y. KoNew Zealand L. KoSouth Korea S.Y. KimSouth Korea I. ParkJapan N. HataokaAustralia M. LeePhilippines Y. Saso★South Korea H.J. KimCanada B. Henderson
2022 New Zealand L. KoUnited States N. KordaThailand A. Thitikul★Australia M. Lee★South Korea J.Y. KoUnited States L. ThompsonCanada B. HendersonSouth Korea I.G. ChunSouth Korea H.J. KimJapan N. Hataoka

Historical rankings

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

  • 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

Breakdown by nationality

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

Country20
22		20
21		20
20		20
19		20
18		20
17		20
16		20
15		20
14		20
13		20
12		20
11		20
10		20
09		20
08		20
07		20
06
 South Korea3130354039414039394138373635313226
 Japan2015121411101011141718222220212324
 United States1822232024222221181917151822232023
 Thailand553343321311
 England43544323311232232
 Sweden43212212325434746
 Australia34433532313355444
 France21111123211323
 South Africa2111111111
 China1333222221121221
 Germany1321222222221
 Denmark122212111
 Spain1122223233322
 Canada111111211
 New Zealand11111111111
 Mexico1111111111
 Finland111
 Ireland11
 Scotland111111112131
 Slovenia1
 Philippines111
 Chinese Taipei122223232433433
 Netherlands111111
 India11
 Norway111111111111
 Paraguay11111
 Colombia111
 Italy121111
 Brazil111
 Wales1
 Chile1

See also

References
  1. "Women's World Rankings to begin in 2005". Golf Today. 2004. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
  2. "Two modifications announced for Rolex Rankings". LPGA. 3 August 2006. Retrieved 3 August 2006.
  3. "Modification Announced to Rolex Rankings Calculations". LPGA. 9 April 2007. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
  4. Kelley, Brent (21 February 2006). "First Women's World Golf Rankings Stir Up Controversy". about.com. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  5. "Entry Form, 2011 Ricoh Women's British Open: Rules and Conditions" (PDF). Ladies' Golf Union. Retrieved 29 July 2011. See especially "7. Exemptions from Pre-Qualifying and Final Qualifying", pages 2–3.
  6. "Solheim selection process changes". BBC Sport. 18 April 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  7. "U.S. Team". Solheim Cup. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  8. "32 Players, 8 Countries, 1 Crown: LPGA Unveils the International Crown" (Press release). LPGA. 24 January 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  9. "LPGA International Crown Celebrates "Year from Here" Event" (Press release). LPGA. 23 July 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  10. Sörenstam, Annika (February 2009). "Annika's Blog February 2009". Archived from the original on 24 March 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2009.
  11. "Ochoa removed from women's golf rankings". UPI.com. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
  12. "Rolex Rankings". Rolex Rankings. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
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