The Rolex Rankings are back – with a significant modification.
While the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, the Women’s World Golf Rankings Board of Directors announced on Monday in a release that points and divisors will only change and age on weeks when an athlete competes.
On weeks when a player does not compete, her individual points, average points and divisors will not change or age, though her ranking could still shift based on the performance of other athletes who are competing.
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This allows for unusual breaks in tournament schedules, travel restrictions and players who aren’t yet comfortable competing, or only want to compete in certain areas of the world.
“The WWGR Board was keen to find a solution that was as fair as possible for the majority of athletes whether competing or not during this unprecedented time,” said Heather Daly-Donofrio, executive director of the board. “As a level of uncertainty around member tours’ tournament schedules continues, focusing on the individual athlete and the weeks she competes made the most sense. While the Board understands there is no perfect solution in these challenging times, we believe we landed on an approach that is reasonable for athletes and also protects the integrity of the ranking system.”
The rankings were put on pause the week of March 16 and no affiliated tours competed for two months as COVID-19 spread. Since May 11, the Korean LPGA has staged seven tournaments and the Japan LPGA has put on one.
The new system begins retroactively with the week of May 11, when the KLPGA restarted. The rankings will continue to be computed on a 104-week rolling period, but the period will differ based on when an athlete chooses to compete.
This board said this is a temporary modification.
Jin Young Ko remains the No. 1 player in the world. She has yet to compete on the LPGA this season.
The LPGA is set to resume next week at the Drive On Championship in Toledo, Ohio.
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