There is a method in complicated rankings
Source: Agencies |
October 14, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
LEE Westwood's calf injury will not only cause the 37-year-old Briton to miss this week's Portugal Masters but it will lay the world No. 2 low for the rest of the month.
The huge consolation for Westwood, however, is that he could end Tiger Woods' 270-week run atop the official world golf rankings on October 31 without hitting a ball in anger.
Flame-haired Englishman Ian Barker is perhaps best placed to explain how players rise or fall in the rankings. The 47-year-old calculates rankings points won and lost and admits that while the system is complicated there is method in the madness.
"It's true the world ranking system - we're talking nine tours, 11 at the start of next year - is necessarily complicated," said Barker, who has been with the European PGA Tour for nearly 24 years. "But it shouldn't be baffling."
Barker said the world rankings differed from the way the PGA Tour money list and Race to Dubai were calculated.
"Those are very simple in that every player is set to zero at the beginning of each season. The more you win the higher up the list you go and then everything is back to zero for the next season.
Constants
"The world rankings are constant, they never go back to zero. So a system was devised, over a two-year period, where players lose points as well as gain them.
"The amount of points awarded for each event varies - the stronger the field the more points on offer, with a maximum of 100 for a major. So players have those points in the bag. Then over a two-year period they will gradually lose most of them or have them whittled down. For instance, points won two years ago are virtually lost. The highest weighting is points won over the last three months."
Barker said movements in the rankings were determined by players losing more points than others over a two-year period and their current form.
"Tiger has had more to lose over the last two years than anyone else. And then he took his break, of course. If Lee doesn't play for the rest of this month his average points will be higher than Tiger's on October 31. Woods will lose more points than him over the next three weeks."
However, that relatively scenario is under threat thanks to the brilliant recent form of Germany's Martin Kaymer.
"Martin has won more world ranking points than anyone this year. If he finishes in the top two at Andalucia Masters on October 31, his points average will be better than Lee's and he will be No. 1."
The huge consolation for Westwood, however, is that he could end Tiger Woods' 270-week run atop the official world golf rankings on October 31 without hitting a ball in anger.
Flame-haired Englishman Ian Barker is perhaps best placed to explain how players rise or fall in the rankings. The 47-year-old calculates rankings points won and lost and admits that while the system is complicated there is method in the madness.
"It's true the world ranking system - we're talking nine tours, 11 at the start of next year - is necessarily complicated," said Barker, who has been with the European PGA Tour for nearly 24 years. "But it shouldn't be baffling."
Barker said the world rankings differed from the way the PGA Tour money list and Race to Dubai were calculated.
"Those are very simple in that every player is set to zero at the beginning of each season. The more you win the higher up the list you go and then everything is back to zero for the next season.
Constants
"The world rankings are constant, they never go back to zero. So a system was devised, over a two-year period, where players lose points as well as gain them.
"The amount of points awarded for each event varies - the stronger the field the more points on offer, with a maximum of 100 for a major. So players have those points in the bag. Then over a two-year period they will gradually lose most of them or have them whittled down. For instance, points won two years ago are virtually lost. The highest weighting is points won over the last three months."
Barker said movements in the rankings were determined by players losing more points than others over a two-year period and their current form.
"Tiger has had more to lose over the last two years than anyone else. And then he took his break, of course. If Lee doesn't play for the rest of this month his average points will be higher than Tiger's on October 31. Woods will lose more points than him over the next three weeks."
However, that relatively scenario is under threat thanks to the brilliant recent form of Germany's Martin Kaymer.
"Martin has won more world ranking points than anyone this year. If he finishes in the top two at Andalucia Masters on October 31, his points average will be better than Lee's and he will be No. 1."
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