The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) board announced two major changes on Thursday that will impact how players earn points starting in 2024. The first change relates to no-cut, limited-field events, while the second rewards players who win multiple times in a season.
For fields of 80 players or less that don’t have a cut, the new OWGR policy states “the bottom 15% of finishers will receive no points.” The change comes before the PGA Tour implements several no-cut “signature events” next year, including the Sentry Tournament of Champions, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship and Travelers Championship.
At December’s Hero World Challenge, for example, the bottom three finishers of the 20-person field would not receive world ranking points. That means the host, Tiger Woods himself, who placed 18th this year and earned 2.4 points would not receive those points in the future.
The Officials emphasized, however, that “playoff events” like the FedEx Cup playoffs and DP World Tour Championship will still award points to all competitors.
OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING GOVERNING BOARD ANNOUNCES UPDATES TO THE RANKING SYSTEM
Read more here –https://t.co/uJ2HHlsm3y#OWGR#OfficialWorldGolfRanking pic.twitter.com/jArqVEDa6G
— OWGR (@OWGRltd) December 21, 2023
The second major change involves giving players “a sizable bonus in points distribution” if they win multiple times in a season.
Players who win twice in one season will receive a 60% points bonus, while players who win three or more times will receive a 70% boost.
“Based on extensive analysis following the changes implemented in August 2022, we recognised these two opportunities to further enhance the OWGR and to accurately evaluate performances of the world’s participating players on all eligible Tours,” said Official World Golf Ranking Chairman Peter Dawson. “Adjustments to the Ranking are made after careful consideration, and we are confident that today’s updates will better position the OWGR for the future.”
The approved changes will go into effect on January 1, 2024. OWGR will continue to monitor the operation of both mechanisms through 2024 and will make any further adjustments if deemed necessary.
