The World Ranking (OWGR) has just celebrated 40 full years of existence. It was first published in 1986, specifically in the month of April. Since then, it has been the most reliable method for measuring a golfer’s performance in the long term. It perfectly gauges the consistency of the world’s best players. Except for what has happened in recent years with the disruption caused by LIV Golf, nothing has generated more consensus when pointing out who and why certain players stand out.
On the occasion of this milestone anniversary, at Ten Golf we have delved into a thorough but interesting investigation. The aim was to identify the best golfers on the planet over the past 40 years according to their ranking in the World Ranking. To do this, we analysed the top 10 of each week since 1986 and assigned a score to each position. It’s akin to analysing more than 2,000 Formula One races. These are the weeks that have passed since the creation of this ranking to the present day.
The criteria we used is to award 10 points for each week at Number One in the world and so on:
Number 2: 6 points
Number 3: 5 points
Number 4: 4 points
Number 5: 3.5 points
Number 6: 3 points
Number 7: 2.5 points
Number 8: 2 points
Number 9: 1.5 points
Number 10: 1 point
With the rules established, let’s move on to the results. What will surprise the least, without a doubt, is the name of the player who has won this SÚPERranking Mundial created by Ten Golf. Of course, Tiger Woods. If it were not so, it would simply mean we were doing something very wrong. After all, the not-so-young Californian has been Number One in the world for 683 weeks, which is quite a bit more than a quarter of the weeks the World Ranking has been in existence.
Tiger not only leads the SÚPERranking, but he also accumulates almost double the points of the second-place player. It’s logical. First, we present the SÚPERranking of the top 58, with the total points obtained according to their positions each week in the world top 10, and then we explain some curious details. We can reveal that there is a Spaniard in the top 10, three in the top 20, and four in the top 25. Quite impressive.
SÚPERRANKING MUNDIAL DE TEN GOLF
1.- Tiger Woods: 7,859
2.- Greg Norman: 4,617.6
3.- Rory McIlroy: 4,003
4.- Ernie Els: 3,375
5.- Phil Mickelson: 3,272.5
6.- Nick Faldo: 2,608
7.- Dustin Johnson: 2,372.5
8.- Vijay Singh: 2,012.5
9.- Scottie Scheffler: 1,888
10.- Jon Rahm: 1,770.5
11.- Nick Price: 1,585
12.- Adam Scott: 1,492
13.- Lee Westwood: 1,408.5
14.- Davis Love III: 1,395
15.- Jim Furyk: 1,309
16.- Justin Rose: 1,292.5
17.- Colin Montgomerie: 1,291
18.- Justin Thomas: 1,264
19.- Sergio García: 1,224.5
20.- Seve Ballesteros: 1,180.5
21.- Ian Woosnam: 1,180
22.- Jason Day: 1,128.5
22.- David Duval: 1,128.5
24.- Fred Couples: 1,124.5
25.- José María Olazábal: 1,116.5
26.- Henrik Stenson: 1,104.5
27.- Xander Schauffele: 1,102.5
28.- Luke Donald: 1,061.5
29.- Bernhard Langer: 1,060
30.- Jordan Spieth: 1,053.5
31.- Retief Goosen: 867.5
32.- Steve Stricker: 852
33.- Brooks Koepka: 846.5
34.- Colin Morikawa: 736.5
35.- Patrick Cantlay: 731.5
36.- Padraig Harrington: 669.5
37.- Bubba Watson: 629
38.- Paul Azinger: 562
39.- Martin Kaymer: 468
40.- Payne Stewart: 452
41.- Hideki Matsuyama: 433
42.- Rickie Fowler: 430.5
43.- Viktor Hovland: 421
44.- Mark O’Meara: 397.5
45.- David Toms: 395
46.- Tom Kite: 375
47.- Tom Lehman: 367
48.- Curtis Strange: 351
49.- Jumbo Ozaki: 345
50.- Paul Casey: 319.5
51.- Mike Weir: 310
52.- Corey Pavin: 309
53.- Matt Kuchar: 308.5
54.- Geoff Ogilvy: 277.5
55.- Bryson DeChambeau: 266
56.- Webb Simpson: 243.5
57.- Mark Calcavecchia: 241.5
58.- Kenny Perry: 204
– These top 58 players in this particular SÚPERranking by Ten Golf are the only ones in the history of the World Ranking, so far, who have been in the world top 10 for more than 100 weeks. In total, there are 127 players who have entered the world’s top ten at some point, so less than half have been in this select group for more than 100 weeks.
– When it came into effect in 1986, obviously those who were already performing very well in previous years, when there was no system to measure performances globally across different circuits, are disadvantaged in this ranking. These are the examples, of course, of Seve Ballesteros, Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, or Arnold Palmer, to name just a few. But that’s how it is. The tool comes into effect when it does, and calculations can only be made from 1986 onwards. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for the World Ranking to strive to find a way to score players from 1860 to 1986 retroactively. It’s a complex task, but by no means impossible. It’s about wanting to do it. It wouldn’t be a bad idea at all.
– In those same clarifications, we must include the players who went to LIV. Some more than others, of course. Jon Rahm takes the cake. He occupies a sensational tenth place, but it’s possible that if LIV hadn’t existed, he would now be even higher on the table. We’ll never know, but it seemed likely. In any case, as has always been said, they knew what they were getting into.
– Spain fares very well in this SÚPERranking. Jon Rahm’s 10th place is highly commendable considering he turned professional in 2016 and went to LIV in 2024, so he has only been scoring for eight years with continuity. Additionally, it’s interesting that Sergio García is just one place ahead of Seve Ballesteros, both very close, within the top 20. Finally, José María Olazábal has maintained his consistency to reach 25th place. Sensational.
– Rory McIlroy has slipped into third place on the podium, and it doesn’t seem far-fetched to think he can catch Greg Norman. They are separated by just over 600 points. This would mean a little over 60 weeks at Number One in the world, just over a year, or more than 100 weeks at Number 2, just over two years. It should be a matter of time before he leaves Greg Norman behind.
– The battle for fourth place has been fierce. Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson have fought tooth and nail. The South African takes it by a narrow margin. It’s yet another example of the extraordinary and long career of the giant Easy.
– Scottie Scheffler is ninth. It may be surprising that he isn’t higher, given his absolute dominance of the world ranking in recent years, but the reality is that it took him a while to break into the world top 10. However, since he did, he practically hasn’t dropped from Number One. In fact, it’s curious, Scheffler has never been Number 3, Number 4, Number 7, Number 8, or Number 10 in the world. He has been in the world top 10 for 203 weeks, and of those, he has been Number One for 172. Almost an astounding 85% of the time. You search the Internet for the concept “arrived to stay,” and Scheffler appears. We’ll see where he stands in this same ranking in five years.
This is the ranking by the total number of weeks in the world top 10, regardless of their classification, as long as they are among the top ten:
1.- Tiger Woods: 906 weeks
2.- Ernie Els: 788 weeks
3.- Phil Mickelson: 787 weeks
4.- Rory McIlroy: 783 weeks
5.- Greg Norman: 615 weeks
6.- Vijay Singh: 544 weeks
7.- Davis Love: 466 weeks
8.- Sergio García: 453 weeks
9.- Adam Scott: 446 weeks
10.- Jim Furyk: 443 weeks.
One last curious and almost amusing fact. Which player has been in each of the top ten positions of the ranking for the most weeks since the creation of the World Ranking?
Number One: Tiger Woods (683 weeks, big surprise).
Number Two: Phil Mickelson (270)
Number Three: Ernie Els (224)
Number Four: Ernie Els (126)
Number Five: Ernie Els (148)
Number Six: Colin Montgomerie (95)
Number Seven: Ernie Els (82)
Number Eight: Padraig Harrington (88)
Number Nine: Paul Azinger (74)
Number Ten: Phil Mickelson (75)
