The World Amateur Golf Ranking for men was introduced by the R&A, the governing body of the sport of golf outside the United States and Mexico, on 23 January 2007. It is based on the results of over 2,600 amateur tournaments per year (and amateurs participating in certain professional events) and is updated each Wednesday. Rankings are based on the players' average performances in counting events over a rolling period. This period was 52 weeks initially but will gradually expand during 2016 to 104 weeks, similar to those of the Official World Golf Ranking.
Like the Official World Golf Ranking for male professional golfers, the amateur ranking was initiated by the R&A to provide a more reliable means of selecting an appropriate field for one of its tournaments. The professional ranking was initially used to help set the field for The Open Championship and the amateur ranking plays a role in selecting the field for The Amateur Championship, which was previously selected mainly on the basis of national handicap systems. Other tournament organisers will be able to use the rankings to select players if they so wish.
The first set of rankings featured over 1,000 players from 46 different countries and was headed by the 2006 U.S. Amateur champion, Richie Ramsay of Scotland.
In February 2011, the United States Golf Association (USGA) endorsed the rankings and announced it would use them for an exemption category in all their men's amateur championships, including the U.S. Amateur, beginning in 2011.
The women's rankings were started in February 2011. Mitsuki Katahira was the first number one.
Only three players have ever held the No. 1-ranking as both an amateur and a professional. The first to do so was Rory McIlroy, who was 17Â years, 9Â months and 2Â days when he became the No. 1 amateur and 22Â years and 10Â months when he first became the world No. 1 professional. Lydia Ko was the second to accomplish this feat, she was only 14Â years and 3Â days and held the ranking for a record 160 consecutive weeks, and she was a mere 17Â years, 9Â months and 9Â days when she first reached the pinnacle of the Rolex Rankings. Jordan Spieth was the most recent person to accomplish this feat, he was 18Â years, 10Â months and 24Â days when he topped the amateur rankings and 22Â years and 20Â days when he reached No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Chronology of Men's World Number Ones
- Key
Chronology of Women's World Number Ones
- Key
Elite events
Events are ranked in eight categories: Elite, A, B, C, D, E, F or G. The Elite events are listed below.
Men
- The Amateur Championship
- European Amateur
- U.S. Amateur
- Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship
- Eisenhower Trophy
- NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships (beginning in 2016)
Women
- NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships
- British Ladies Amateur
- International European Ladies Amateur Championship
- U.S. Women's Amateur
- Espirito Santo Trophy
References
External links
- Official site
