The ‘Rolex Ranking’, the women’s golf world ranking. This ranking is recognized by 10 women’s professional golf organizations, including the US Women’s Professional Golf Association (LPGA), Korea Women’s Professional Golf Association (KLPGA), and Japan Women’s Professional Golf Association (JLPGA). In addition, the British Royal Golf Association (R&A), which oversees the AIG Women’s Open, and the United States Golf Association (USGA), which runs the US Women’s Open, will also join.
However, most of the players at the top of the Rolex rankings are on the LPGA Tour. Looking at the rankings as of February 6, 28 of the top 30 players are active on the LPGA Tour. The remaining two spots are Park Min-ji of the KLPGA Tour (16th)스포츠토토 and Yamashita Miyu of the JLPGA Tour (22nd in Japan). Park Min-ji won 6 wins last year and Yamashita won 5 wins, sweeping each tour, so he was able to rank at the top.
Minji Park (left) and Miyu Yamashita. [Photo KLPGA, Gettyimages]
Why can I rank higher if I play on the LPGA tour? The answer lies in the way Rolex Ranking is calculated. The Rolex Ranking ranks players by dividing the sum of points awarded according to their performance in competitions over two years (104 weeks) by the number of competitions they have participated in. Of these, the results of the most recent 13 weeks are of great importance.
Ranking points are set differently according to ‘field level’. The field level is determined by the tournament ranking on the home tour (last season’s prize money ranking) and the Rolex ranking. For example, the LPGA Tour measures field level by evaluating how many players within the top 400 of the Rolex Rankings and the top 30 players on the money list last season participated.
All tournaments in the LPGA, KLPGA and JLPGA award a minimum of 50 Field Level Points (SOF). Players participating in each tour competition receive SOF up to a certain rank. Separately, the five major women’s golf tournaments (Chevron Championship, US Women’s Open, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Evian Championship, and AIG Women’s Open) will receive fixed points, such as 100 points for the championship, 60 points for second place, and 30 points for third place. .
Kim Hyo-joo is congratulated by her teammates after winning the LPGA Tour Lotte Championship last year. [Photo by Gettyimages]
Because of this method, the field level naturally varies depending on the competitiveness of each competition. Andrea Lee (USA), who won the LPGA Tour Amazingly Portland Classic last September, scored 24 points. In Korea during the same period, Park Min-ji won the KB Financial Star Championship and scored 19 points. Although the Portland Classic did not feature many top ranked players, and the KB Financial Star Championship is one of the KLPGA Tour major tournaments, the LPGA Tour scored higher.
The difference is even greater when comparing the final matches of the LPGA, KLPGA, and JLPGA last season. Lydia Ko (New Zealand) scored 62 points to win the CME Group Tour Championship on the final round of the LPGA Tour. On the other hand, Park Min-ji, the winner of the SK Shielders/SK Telecom Championship in the final round of the KLPGA Tour, and Yamashita, the winner of the Ricoh Cup of the JLPGA Tour Championship in the final round of the JLPGA Tour, only scored 19 points.
It is not easy to rise to the top of the Rolex Rankings without being active on the LPGA Tour. Since Annika Sorenstam (Sweden) became the first in 2006, she has never achieved a top spot on another tour. Shin Ji-ae also took the LPGA tour as her main stage in 2010, when she was ranked number one in the world. Players who dream of becoming the best in the world have plenty of reasons to head to the LPGA Tour.