The Governing Board of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) has announced the appointment of Trevor Immelman as its new chairman. This will take effect on 10 April. The South African, winner of the Masters Tournament in 2008, will succeed Peter Dawson, who has held the position since 2016.
After turning professional in 1999, Immelman enjoyed a successful career as an international player, reaching 12th place in the OWGR in 2006. The South African won five times on the Sunshine Tour. After succeeding on both the European Tour and the PGA TOUR, he claimed the Green Jacket in 2008, finishing three strokes ahead of Tiger Woods.
At 45, he captained the international team in the 2022 Presidents Cup. After joining the CBS commentary team in 2019, he was named their lead golf analyst in 2023 and will continue in that role. The Masters champion has expressed his delight at the step he is about to take: “The Official World Golf Ranking has always been a big part of my life and professional career. Growing up in South Africa and falling in love with the game at a young age, the ranking system was how I followed my favourite players and understood who the best players in the world were.”
Immelman will thus become the third Chairman of the OWGR since 2004, the year when the ownership and management of the ranking system established by IMG in 1986 was transferred to a newly formed company, the OWGR.
Sir Michael Bonallack held the position for 12 years from 2004 before being succeeded by Dawson, who is retiring after eight years in the role.
Additionally, the governing body has also announced two other changes. Starting from the first week of 2025, tournaments with a low field rating will use a new points distribution curve, which will award a higher percentage of the available points to the top finishers of those tournaments. Although there are no changes to the total number of points awarded, 50% more points will be given to the winner, with an overall increase of 26% in the points awarded to the top five.
Additionally, the PGA Tour of Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) has been included in the OWGR system starting from the first week of January.
