What does OWGR mean in golf?

OWGR stands for "Official World Golf Rankings" in golf, which is used to determine the rank of the players. It depicts the level of performance of all professional golfers.

To register their name on the ranking sheet, a golfer should have played a minimum of 40 tournaments over the two-year ranking period. However, the new system requires golfers to have played one of the leading professional tournaments to receive the World Golf Rankings.

The process is pretty simple. A golfer's rank is calculated by dividing their points by the number of matches they played. This gives an average, which is used to determine the rank of the player. However, there are many technicalities involved in the process of calculating the rank with more accuracy.

A new modern system was implemented in August 2022, adding modern statistical techniques to determine the rank.

Major championships, such as the Masters and World Championships, add more points to the ranking system. Additionally, players with PGA Tour and European Tour victories will have more chances to top the leaderboard. However, team event points are not added while calculating the average.

Points awarded for each tournament are maintained for 13 weeks and then renewed again. New rankings are produced every week.

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Bernhard Langer topped OWGR for the first time

The first golfer to top the Official World Golf Rankings list was Bernhard Langer, the No. 1 golfer in 1986. It has been 36 years since the ranking system started, and only 24 golfers have topped the chart so far.

American golfer Tiger Woods ( Image via Getty)

Tiger Woods has set a record for holding the position for the longest time and the most consecutive weeks. Woods has had a phenomenal career and is also the youngest player to become World No. 1, while Vijay Singh is the oldest, having become World No. 1 at the age of 42 years and 93 days. Sergio Garcia is the youngest player to enter the top ten list.

The current World No.1 Rory Mcilroy (Image via Golf Digest)

Tom Lehman, who has spent just one week at the top, holds the record for the lowest time. Nick Faldo, Greg Norman, and Tiger Woods are the only golfers who have secured their top positions for the entire year.

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Current Top 10 Golfers as per OWGR

1. Rory McIlroy

• Average Points: 9.5072

2. Scottie Scheffler

• Average Points: 9.1244

3. Cameron Smith

• Average Points: 8.1173

4. Patrick Cantlay

• Average Points: 8.0843

5. Jon Rahm

• Average Points: 7.0303

6. Xander Schauffele

• Average Points: 6.8795

7. Will Zalatoris

• Average Points: 6.2951

8. Justin Thomas

• Average Points: 5.9392

9. Matt Fitzpatrick

• Average Points: 5.6802

10. Collin Morikawa

• Average Points: 5.5752

11. Viktor Hovland

• Average Points: 5.2862

12. Tony Finau

• Average Points: 5.2604

13. Jordan Spieth

• Average Points: 5.1072

14. Sam Burns

• Average Points: 5.0939

15. Tom Kim

• Average Points: 4.6116

16. Max Homa

• Average Points: 4.2788

17. Billy Horschel

• Average Points:4.1964

18. Cameron Young

• Average Points: 4.1384

19. Hideki Matsuyama

• Average Points: 4.0084

20. Shane Lowry

• Average Points: 3.881