Official World Golf Rankings

The Official World Golf Rankings are a system for rating the performance level of male professional golfers. They were introduced in 1986 and are endorsed by the four Major Championships and the six professional tours which make up the International Federation of PGA Tours, which are The PGA TOUR, PGA European Tour, Asian Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia, Japan Golf Tour, and Sunshine Tour. Points are also awarded for high finishes on the Canadian Tour, Nationwide Tour and Challenge Tour.

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 majors (The Masters, US Open, The Open Championship), and effectively assures entry into the fourth (PGA Championship). 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.

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 ended Tiger Woods' record run as world number 1 in 2004 it was one of the most reported golf stories of the year.