A golf tour included in the OWGR System will be regarded as an Eligible Golf Tour and its tournaments which meet the criteria set out below under Eligible Tournaments will qualify for Ranking Points in accordance with the OWGR regulations.

There are currently 24 Eligible Golf Tours:

• Abema TV Tour
• All Thailand Golf Tour
• Alps Tour Golf
• Asian Development Tour
• Asian Tour
• Big Easy Tour
• Challenge Tour
• China Tour
• ClutchPro Tour
• DP World Tour
• Gira de Golf Professional Mexicana
• Japan Golf Tour
• Korn Ferry Tour
• Korean PGA Tour
• MENA Tour
• Nordic Golf League
• PGA TOUR Americas
• PGA Tour of Taiwan - Chinese Taipei
• PGA TOUR
• PGA Tour of Australasia
• Pro Golf Tour
• Sunshine Tour
• Tartan Pro Tour
• Professional Golf Tour of India

The Tournament Eligibility requirements are that:

• The tournament is organised and/or sanctioned by an Eligible Golf Tour.
• The tournament is published on the Eligible Golf Tour’s official tournament schedule.
• The tournament counts towards the Eligible Golf Tour's end of season ranking list.
• The tournament has a minimum field size of 30 players who are qualified to play in that tournament in accordance with that tournament's eligibility criteria.
• The tournament utilises an Eligible Format, as set out below in Eligible Formats.

Joint Sanctioned Tournaments

OWGR will regard a tournament as a Joint Sanctioned Tournament provided the following criteria are met:

• The tournament is organised and/or sanctioned by more than one Eligible Golf Tour and meets all relevant and applicable Tour Eligibility Criteria set out in Section F (Eligible Golf Tours);
• Each Eligible Tour must contribute at least 30 of the players participating;
• The tournament must count towards each Eligible Golf Tour's end-of-season ranking list;
• The tournament meets the criteria specified for the Eligible Formats set out in Section H (Eligible Formats) or the format for the tournament is otherwise approved by the Governing Board in accordance with Section H (Eligible Formats); and
• The tournament is on each Eligible Golf Tour’s official tournament schedule.

Standalone Eligible Tournaments

The Major Championships, World Golf Championships, Olympic Games and the World Cup of Golf (individual element only) are also Eligible Tournaments.

If an Eligible Golf Tour wishes to introduce a tournament which does not meet the Tournament Eligibility Requirements above or if the Eligible Golf Tour wishes to obtain confirmation that a tournament will be treated as an Eligible Tournament, the Eligible Golf Tour may apply for a review of that tournament by the Technical Committee and approval for inclusion by the Governing Board by applying in writing to the Chair of the Governing Board. 

The inclusion of a tournament which does not meet all of the Tournament Eligibility Requirements shall be at the entire and sole discretion of the Governing Board. 

Limited Field Tournaments

If a tournament has a field size of less than 30 players who are qualified to play in that tournament in accordance with that tournament's eligibility criteria, the Governing Board may approve it for inclusion as a Limited Field Tournament.

Special Field Tournaments

If a tournament does not count towards the Eligible Golf Tour's end of season ranking list, the Governing Board may approve it for inclusion as a Special Field Tournament.

All of the formats below have been approved by the Governing Board for inclusion in the OWGR System and are Eligible Formats.

• STROKE PLAY

Standard formats: scheduled 72 holes or scheduled 54 holes – may consist of rounds of less than 18 holes.

Tournaments scheduled to be played over less than 54 holes will not be an Eligible Format.

• MATCH PLAY

Straight knock-out incorporating any Play-offs for final position e.g. 3rd/4th

Pools followed by Straight Knock-out incorporating any Play-offs for final position e.g. 3rd/4th

• STROKE PLAY QUALIFIER FOLLOWED BY MATCH PLAY OR STROKE PLAY ELIMINATION

Stroke Play Qualifier – followed by straight Match Play elimination incorporating any Play-offs for final positions e.g. 3rd/4th

Stroke Play Qualifier – followed by Stroke Play head-to-head elimination (groups of 2 or more players)

• The elimination element must be over a round which may be less than 18 holes but must be at least 6 holes.
• A round can be extended to include additional holes for Play-off purposes. These additional holes must have a minimum length of 75 meters.

• ALLOWABLE TIE-BREAKERS FOR THE ELIMINATION ELEMENT:
  • Fixed number of extra holes followed by Sudden Death
  • Sudden Death
  • Card Play-Off*

*Card Play-offs will not be used to separate players tied on the same score when allocating Ranking Points in stroke play tournaments.

• MODIFIED STABLEFORD
  • Albatross (Double Eagle): 8 points
  • Eagle: 5 points
  • Birdie: 2 points
  • Par: 0 points
  • Bogey: -1 point
  • Double Bogey or more: -3 points

• STABLEFORD
  • Albatross (Double Eagle): 5 points
  • Eagle: 4 points
  • Birdie: 3 points
  • Par: 2 points
  • Bogey: 1 point

• STAGGERED START TOURNAMENTS

In the event of an Eligible Tournament which is a Staggered Start Tournament, only the actual stroke-play scores will be recognized and included in the OWGR System.

• TEAM EVENTS

Team events are not eligible for inclusion.

Where a tournament includes an individual element with an approved format and a team element (where two competitions run concurrently), the individual element of that tournament will be regarded as an Eligible Format.

If an Eligible Golf Tour wishes to introduce a tournament which incorporates a format which is not an Eligible Format or if the Eligible Golf Tour wishes to obtain confirmation that a format will be treated as an Eligible Format, the Eligible Golf Tour may apply for a review of that format by the Technical Committee and approval for inclusion by the Governing Board by applying in writing to the Chair of the Governing Board. The inclusion of a format shall be at the entire and sole discretion of the Governing Board.

Field Rating

Every player in the Tournament Field contributes Performance Points.

The Field Rating for each Eligible Tournament is determined by the sum of Performance Points for all players in the Tournament Field. The number of Performance Points for each player is determined by that player's Strokes Gained World Rating.

Projected Field Rating

OWGR shall provide a projected Field Rating for an Eligible Tournament following the submission of the Starting Field Data by the Eligible Golf Tour.

Confirmed Field Rating

OWGR shall confirm the Field Rating for the Eligible Tournament once all players have teed off and any updates to the Starting Field Data have been provided by the Eligible Golf Tour and processed by OWGR.

A player’s Strokes Gained World Rating is based on a player’s actual scores in Eligible Tournaments from completed rounds of 18-hole stroke-play, adjusted for the relative difficulty of each round played over the relevant Ranking Period. 

Scores from completed 18-hole round stroke-play events in Eligible Tournaments are eligible for inclusion in the Strokes Gained World Rating.

There is a minimum Strokes Gained World Rating which a player can have of -14.6466 and a maximum Strokes Gained World Rating of 2.8981.

Each Strokes Gained World Rating has a corresponding value of Performance Points determined by the Performance Curve.

Players with 10 or fewer recorded scores in Eligible Tournaments in the relevant Ranking Period are assigned a value of 0.01 Performance Points.

Players with fewer than 50 recorded scores in Eligible Tournaments in the relevant Ranking Period can each contribute a maximum of 10% of the relevant Eligible Tournament's Field Rating

The Performance Curve is the mechanism used to determine the value of Performance Points per Strokes Gained World Rating, which will then equal the number of Performance Points each eligible player contributes to an Eligible Tournament's Field Rating.

Each player's scores from stroke-play events in Eligible Tournaments over the relevant Ranking Period are used in a series of simulated events to determine the average Ranking Points expected per each Strokes Gained World Rating, which are then plotted to create the Performance Curve.

The Performance Curve shall be updated once per year following the publication of the Year End Ranking (expected to be Ranking Week 52/53 of that year) and prior to Ranking Week 1 of the following year.

The Ranking Points Distribution Curve is the mechanism which is used to determine the number of Ranking Points per finishing position for each Eligible Tournament.

The Ranking Points Distribution Curve used to determine the Ranking Points Distribution depends on the Points per Player Value and the field size and type of Eligible Tournament, as set out in the table below:

The Ranking Points Distribution is derived from each Eligible Tournament's Field Rating.

Ranking Points are awarded to all players in the Tournament Field who complete the relevant Eligible Tournament (or, where the Eligible Tournament features more than one cut, all players who make the primary cut), up to a maximum of 125^th place. 

Ranking Points are awarded subject to:

• a player's finishing position in that Eligible Tournament; and
• the Ranking Points Distribution Curve that applies to that Eligible Tournament;

Ranking Points awarded may be fractionally greater than the Field Rating when more than the projected number of players make the cut and complete the Eligible Tournament or to account for ties.

Ranking Points awarded may be fractionally less than the Field Rating when players who have made the cut are disqualified, retire or withdraw from the later rounds causing the number of players completing the Eligible Tournament to be less than the projected number of players to make the cut.

First Place Points

• Major Championships: The four Major Championships: the Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open Championship and the Open Championship are rated separately and awarded 100 First Place Points.
• The Players Championship: The Players Championship is rated separately and awarded 80 First Place Points.
• Maximum First Place Points: Other than the Major Championships, the maximum number of First Place Points that can be awarded for an Eligible Tournament shall be 80.

No Cut Tournaments

If a Tournament does not operate any cut then unless the No Cut Tournament Exception below applies, the value of Ranking Points awarded to the bottom 15% of players who complete all scheduled rounds shall be zero.

The above shall not apply to No Cut Tournaments where such events are final season-ending events and / or events that are part of a playoff series leading to a final season-ending event (the No Cut  Tournament Exception). 

Projected Ranking Points Distribution

OWGR shall provide a projected Ranking Points Distribution for an Eligible Tournament following the submission of the Starting Field Data by the Eligible Golf Tour.

Final Ranking Points Distribution

OWGR shall provide an actual or "final" Ranking Points Distribution for the Eligible Tournament once the Results Data file has been provided by the Eligible Golf Tour and processed by OWGR.

For Eligible Tournaments which are curtailed because of a Curtailment Event, at least 36 holes must be completed in order to be eligible for Ranking Points. 

Where an Eligible Tournament is curtailed because of a Curtailment event and at least 36 holes are completed, the Ranking Points Distribution may be amended from the originally calculated Ranking Points Distribution for that Eligible Tournament for each finishing position, as set out in the table below:

Players who achieve two or more Outright Wins in Eligible Tournaments within a 52-week period shall be eligible for multi win bonuses as follows:

• Second Win Bonus: Bonus Ranking Points with a value equal to 60% of the First Place Points awarded in respect of that second win, capped at a maximum of 4 points; and
• Three or more Win Bonus: Bonus Ranking Points with a value equal to 70% of the First Place Points awarded in respect of that third or subsequent win (as applicable), capped at a maximum of 4 points for each win.

The OWGR System is administered over a two year rolling period from the Ranking Date and to the date falling 104 weeks before the relevant Ranking Date (each a Ranking Period).

Each player is ranked according to their average Ranking Points (and any Bonus Ranking Points awarded to that player), which is determined by dividing a player's Total Points by the number of Eligible Tournaments they have played during the relevant Ranking Period.

There is a minimum divisor of 40 Eligible Tournaments over the Ranking Period, with no more than the most recent 52 Eligible Tournaments that the player concerned has played in during the relevant Ranking Period counting towards a player's position in the Official World Golf Ranking.

The Ranking Points and any Bonus Ranking Points earned by a player will remain at the Original Ranking Points value for 13 weeks from the Ranking Date on which they were awarded.

Original Ranking Points will then be reduced by 1/92 of the Original Ranking Points’ value each week for the remaining 91 weeks of the relevant Ranking Period.

The following shall be issued and published every Monday morning (GMT) or as soon as possible following the completion of the final Eligible Tournament of the preceding Ranking Week, if that is later:

1. The Official World Golf Ranking
2. Strokes Gained World Rating
3. Federation Ranking List

In the event of delays to the conclusion of Eligible Tournaments, the revised Official World Golf Ranking shall be published following the completion of the last Eligible Tournament in each Ranking Week.