Photo by Benny Hassum on Unsplash The PGA Championship is the second major of the calendar year, typically played in May. Organized by the PGA of America (distinct from the PGA Tour), it carries full major championship weight and a rich history that includes some of the sport's most dramatic finishes. Here's a complete guide to what the PGA Championship rewards, who historically performs best, and what to expect in upcoming editions. The PGA Championship's Unique Identity Among the four major championships, the PGA Championship is sometimes unfairly dismissed as the "fourth" major — the one that follows the Masters, US Open, and Open Championship in prestige. This is an undeserved reputation. The PGA Championship has produced some of the sport's greatest moments and is played at world-class venues on a rotating basis. What makes it distinct is its field composition: unlike the other majors, the PGA Championship traditionally includes the top 20 players from t...
The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) determines who the best professional golfer in the world is at any given moment. It affects major championship eligibility, Ryder Cup team selection, Tour qualifying, and sponsorship contracts. But the formula behind it is surprisingly complicated — and frequently debated within the sport. Here's how it actually works.
The Basic Concept: A Rolling Average
The OWGR is not a simple cumulative points total. It's a rolling average of points earned over the previous 104 weeks (two years), with points from more recent events weighted more heavily than older ones. This rolling window rewards consistent recent performance rather than just historical accomplishment.
The mathematical formula uses a divisor — the greater of 52 or the number of events played — to calculate average points per event. This means players who play more events don't automatically benefit from volume; the system normalizes for activity levels.
Where Do Points Come From?
Points are awarded for performance in approved professional tournaments worldwide. Every major sanctioned tour (PGA Tour, DP World Tour, Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour, etc.) participates in the OWGR system. The number of points available in a given tournament depends on:
Strength of field: Events with stronger fields (higher-ranked players) award more points. This creates a self-reinforcing dynamic: playing against better players is rewarded more
Finishing position: Points decrease as finishing position worsens, following a formula that front-loads the award toward the winner and top finishers
Points allocation scale: Major championships award the most points of any events; smaller developmental tour events award very few
Field Strength Weighting
This is the most complex — and most criticized — element of the OWGR system. The ranking of a tournament's points available is determined by the average world ranking of the players in the field. This means:
A PGA Tour event with 10 top-50 players awards more points than the same event with only 2 top-50 players
Major championships, which attract the world's best fields by definition, have very high points allocations
Smaller tour events with weaker fields award proportionally fewer points even if the winner performs brilliantly
Critics argue this system unfairly penalizes players on smaller tours who dominate but face limited point-scoring opportunities compared to players in strong-field events.
How Points Decay Over Time
Points from events played in the most recent 13 weeks retain their full value. From weeks 14 through 91, points decay by a factor of 0.75 applied from week 14 onward. From weeks 92 through 104, further decay applies. This means a win from 20 months ago is worth significantly less toward your current ranking than the same win achieved last month.
The 52-Division Minimum
Here's the key nuance: if a player has played fewer than 52 events in the rolling 104-week window, the ranking divides their total points by 52 anyway (not by their actual event count). This prevents players from gaming the system by playing very few events — even if they win every one they enter, the denominator remains at least 52.
OWGR and Major Championship Eligibility
The most consequential use of OWGR is major championship field selection. Each major has specific OWGR thresholds that determine automatic exemptions:
The Masters uses a top-50 OWGR cutoff at specific dates
The US Open uses top-60 OWGR cutoffs plus qualification routes
The Open Championship uses similar world ranking exemptions
The PGA Championship has comparable criteria
This is why world ranking points become particularly contentious when new tours (like LIV Golf) launch — if events on those tours don't award ranking points, players who join may gradually lose their OWGR standing and face eligibility challenges for major championships.
The LIV Ranking Controversy
LIV Golf events initially did not award world ranking points, which was a significant competitive disadvantage for defectors. The ongoing dispute about LIV ranking recognition has been one of the central bones of contention between LIV and the major championship organizers. The resolution of that dispute — partial, ongoing as of 2025 — reflects broader tensions about who controls professional golf's governing structures.
Who Manages the Rankings?
The Official World Golf Ranking is administered by the OWGR board, which includes representatives from the six major tours that participate in the system. The formula is reviewed periodically and has been updated several times since the ranking system was established in 1986.
Is the Formula Fair?
Debate continues. The field-strength weighting benefits players on richer, stronger-field tours. The rolling average rewards consistency but can penalize players returning from injury. Alternative ranking methodologies — like DataGolf's own model using strokes-gained-based analytics — often produce different rankings. The OWGR remains the official standard, but it's not the only way to think about who's actually playing the best golf at any given time.
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