Players from all tours will be awarded SI Golf World Rankings points based on how they finish in their events. The player’s ranking is the average of all points over the past 12 months. A player’s points will be valued based on when the points were earned. Here is a depreciation table of points over time:

• Less than 4 months old - 100% of value

• 4-8 months - 70% of value

• 8-12 months - 40% of value

• The player’s ranking is the sum of all the points divided by the number of the played events

The majors are the defining events of golf. The four majors will be given special and weighted treatment. The ranking points awarded for majors are more than other events. All other events, no matter how strong the field is, are just events and each will be treated equally.

In events with a cut, all players who finish all the rounds will receive ranking points. In no-cut events, only the top 75% of the finishers will receive ranking points.

• Points are allocated by percentage of total points available for the event. The allocation percentage ratio is similar to how players are awarded prize money at Tour events.

  • 17.5% of points available to the winner

  • 10% for second

  • A sliding scale for the remaining players. (See Chart)

Course distance matters. The OWGR doesn’t include distance in their Strokes Gained Total calculations. SI and Golf Intelligence incorporate distance as an important metric to create the SIWGR. DPS, combined with dynamic course adjustments, is an objective calculation that factors in course length and difficulty. Plus, any golfer can understand it.

The SIWGR follows the same methodology as the World Handicap System (WHS) instead of Strokes Gained Total. The WHS is used by about 15 million golfer’s worldwide to maintain a handicap to play in competitive events. WHS uses a percentage of a golfer’s last 20 scores based on differential, a calculation that blends a golfer’s handicap index, course rating, slope rating, and playing conditions adjustment.

The dynamic course adjustment used in the SIWGR uses thousands of historical scores from each course to account for difficulty. SI uses the best of the latest 40 scores, course adjusted, to calculate the player’s DPS for the SIWGR. SI and Golf Intelligence believe DPS is the best way to rank all golfers around the world because it uses the lowest common denominators for every round of golf: distance played and score.

On the surface, distance per shot is simple – it’s a golfer’s total score divided by the course yardage. So, a round of 70 at a 7,000-yard course would be a base DPS score of 100. To account for different degrees of course difficulty, the SIWGR formula also includes a “dynamic course adjustment” because not all rounds of 70 on 7,000-yard courses are created equal. Golf Intelligence has proprietary data on thousands of courses and actual player results that allocate points for better play on more difficult courses. Distance Per Shot is a new data point for the golf ranking community, but it’s a smart way to evaluate play, and as people study it, we think they'll agree.

Distance Per Shot (Player DPS)

• Data collection includes the golf course and the tees played. Professional players usually play from the longest set of tees and amateurs will select tees based on their ability. Associated with each set of tees is the yardage per hole and the total yardage of all 18 holes.

• Once the round is complete, scores are recorded along with the tees (yardage) played.

• Golf Intelligence will use the yardage played divided by the total score to calculate the golfer's DPS.

• How many scores are used?

  • For a golfer to be “current”, the golfer must have 20 scores within the past year.

  • A max of 40 scores will be used within the past year.

  • The best 40% of those scores will be used to calculate the golfer’s DPS

Individual Course DPS

• Each Course’s DPS is calculated for each set of tees and yardage.

• Golf Intelligence has a large database of golf scores and we use the scores to determine the Course DPS for each course and set of tees. So for example, GI will have 3,000 scores that have been played from the “White” tees that measure 6,300 yards. GI will use the best 750 scores and take an average to calculate the Course DPS for play from the White Tees.

Dynamic Course Adjustment

• The dynamic course adjustment is used to adjust DPS values to balance hard and easy courses.

• Golf Intelligence has historical data for each course for each set of tees. Golf Intelligence then uses that data to calculate the Course DPS for each set of tees.

• That Course DPS is then used to compare to all the courses the pros play to calculate the dynamic course adjustment.

• The adjustment is dynamic because it will change as new data becomes available from each course.

Calculation for Adjusted DPS

• This calculation is done for each score

• Player DPS <PLUS> Course Adjustment <MINUS> Course DPS <EQUALS> Adjusted DPS

• GI will then use the best 40% of Adjusted DPS values and average them for the golfer’s Adjusted DPS value that will be used in the ranking

Player DPS: Here’s a specific example: Marty Zecheng won The Ascendant at TPC Colorado in 2022, a Korn Ferry event, with a DPS of over 118. TPC Colorado stretches to 7,995 yards. Marty shot 69, 67, 68, and 67. His DPS for the event was 118 ( (7995x4) / (69 + 67 + 68 + 67) ).

Course Adjustment: TPC Colorado is a long course played at elevation and SIWGR’s Course Adjustment accounts for courses like this. The average DPS for TPC Colorado is 116, but the average Korn Ferry DPS is 106.

Course DPS: All scores for the Korn Ferry event played at TPC Colorado will be Course Adjusted by 10 to 106 (116 - 106).

Adjusted DPS: Marty’s DPS will be Course Adjusted down by 10 to 108 (instead of 118).

With DPS calculations and millions of rounds of scoring data, Golf Intelligence lets the data tell the story. The golf world is ready for an equitable and transparent ranking system. The SIWGR achieves those objectives.

When Top 100 players are playing (PGA, Korn Ferry, and DP Tours)

• Top 25 players get 9 points

• Top 26-50 players get 6 points

• Top 51-100 players get 3.5 points

DPS will be used for SOF when there are no players in the Top 100 in the field

• SIWGR will use the top 50 Current DPS values in the field to determine the SOF

• The DPS SOF will use this table to determine the points available for the event

• This formula can be used for all events:

  • Any professional event with no top 100 player

  • Any female event

  • Any amateur event

As Golf Intelligence continues to collect and refine the calculations, the SIWGR will use AI to refine the SOF using course data and player data. Golf Intelligence has detailed data on every golf course and will use that, combined with player data, to hone and improve our ranking on a continuous basis.

Golf Intelligence has mapped every golf course in the world and measured each feature of every hole.

Player Data: Golf Intelligence has tools to analyze the information about each shot being made to better understand a player’s strengths and weaknesses.

Event Data - Golf Intelligence will collect and analyze situational data from events, such as:

• How does a player perform on a morning tee time?

• How does a player perform on a windy or wet day?

• How does a player perform in a strong field versus a weak field?

• How does a player perform when in contention?