Golf OWGR board announces 2 updates to the ranking system

The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) organization did not want to be left behind in the trend of marking the end of the year with shocking news. On Thursday, December 21, the OWGR announced two decisions that could have historic proportions.

Beginning with the first week of the 2024 season, the OWGR will implement an updated points awarding system. The two updates are related to the field size of each tournament, and the multi-winners of each season.

The OWGR announced the decisions in a post on X (formerly Twitter):

"OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING GOVERNING BOARD ANNOUNCES UPDATES TO THE RANKING SYSTEM"

Basically, the OWGR will stop distributing points to the worst performing players in tournaments with field sizes of 80 players or less (except for those who make cuts). In addition, the OWGR will be awarding additional bonus points to players with multiple wins.

The press release to announce the decision states the following (via www.owgr.org):

"The Points Distribution Curve in fields of 80 players or less has been made more steep to better reflect the performance required to finish in the top of these events. Ranking Points will no longer be distributed to players in the bottom 15% of the final standings for fields of 80 players or less, with noted exceptions for those events that do have a cut."

"Additionally, for Match Play format events, Ranking Points will no longer be distributed to those players who lose their first match or in pool play format, do not win any matches in their respective pool."

"Winners of a second OWGR eligible event within a 52-week period will receive a 60% bonus in winner’s points capped at a maximum of 4 points. Winners of a third (or more) OWGR Eligible Tournament within a 52-week period will receive a 70% bonus in winner’s points capped at a maximum of 4 points."

Many fans immediately associated the modification regarding fields of less than 80 players with LIV Golf, which currently does not receive points for the OWGR. However, these modifications are only for "eligible" tournaments, a condition that LIV events do not yet have.

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What are the implications of these OWGR decisions?

The modifications announced by the world golf ranking body seek to further increase competitiveness in professional golf. According to the institution itself, the updates will also reduce the bias between the best placed in the ranking and the rest.

Small-field, no-cut tournaments have historically been criticized for "guaranteeing" a result to participating players, which can reduce interest in finishing in the top positions. By not awarding points to the lowest-placed players, the OWGR seeks to increase the bidding for top places.

The OWGR did clarify that there are exceptions in which points will be awarded to the entire field even if it has less than 80 players. The system update establishes that eligible circuits may nominate tournaments to receive points for all participating players.

Likewise, it has already been announced that season-ending tournaments such as the TOUR Championship or the DP World Tour Championship will distribute points to the entire field.

As for the multi-winner bonuses, the main distinguishing feature is that they work for 52 consecutive tournaments, whether or not they are in the same season. For example, if Ludvig Aberg wins a tournament before October 17, 2024, he will receive his bonus as a multi-winner (of two tournaments) for having won the RSM Classic in the previous season.