Rolex Rankings to relaunch with modified approach to deprecating points
Ladies European Tour LPGA Tour

Rolex Rankings to relaunch with modified approach to deprecating points

A photo of golfer Jin Young Ko
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The Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings is resuming their ranking, albeit with temporary measures to assure players don't unfairly lose standing because of the still-evolving global women's pro golf schedule for the remainder of 2020 and perhaps beyond.

Under the temporary plan, a player's ranking can only change on the weeks that they play in ranking tournaments rated by the ranking board. A player will be able to earn points for the event in which they're competing, and the existing points they have earned will age another week. A player's tournament divisor will also change, reflecting the number of tournaments they've played in the rolling two-year measurement window.

In weeks that an individual player does not compete in a ranking event, their points and divisors will not change. However, their standing in the ranking could change based on the performance of players who are competing.

The approach will be taken retroactively to the week of May 11, with a player's rolling 104-week period being based on their playing schedule instead of the calendar.

The decision was made in light of the staggered resumption of global women's pro golf. Since restarting on May 11, the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association has completed seven WWGR tournaments, with the Ladies Professional Golf Association of Japan (JLPGA) completing one. The LPGA, Symetra Tour and Ladies European Tour are among the other sanctioning tours that have held zero.

“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. 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.” said Executive Director of the WWGR Board, Heather Daly-Donofrio.

“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.”

In time, the ranking will revert to its regular formula, but that date is still to be determined and is based on several factors not yet known.

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Ryan Ballengee

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