The Official World Golf Ranking is a rolling two-year average that weights recent results more heavily than older ones. It is a reasonable system, but like any algorithm, it has blind spots. Players who have been consistently excellent without winning — the ones who finish second and third and fourth — can be undervalued relative to players who win once and then disappear from contention.
The first player who deserves to be higher is a DP World Tour regular who has finished in the top ten in four of the last six majors without winning any of them. His ranking reflects the absence of wins rather than the presence of consistent elite performance. By strokes gained metrics, he is a top-fifteen player in the world. His ranking says otherwise.
The second is a player who spent most of last season recovering from a wrist injury. His ranking dropped during the recovery period and has not fully recovered despite a return to form that has produced three top-five finishes in his last eight starts. The rolling average punishes absence more than it rewards return.
The third is the most interesting case: a player whose best results have come in events that carry less ranking weight than the majors and WGC events. He has won four times in the past eighteen months, but the wins have come in events that the algorithm values less than a runner-up finish at a major. The ranking is technically correct. It is also misleading.
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Canesh Arce
Canesh Arce is the Founder of The Par Report, covering the PGA Tour, major championships, and the business of professional golf.