A golf tour approved by the Governing Board will be regarded as an Eligible Golf Tour and the tournaments it operates (or otherwise sanctions) which meet the requirements set out in Eligible Tournaments will be Eligible Tournaments. Eligible Tournaments will qualify for Ranking Points in accordance with the OWGR regulations.

There are currently 24 Eligible Golf Tours:

• ACN Tour
• All Thailand Golf Tour
• Alps Tour Golf
• Asian Development Tour
• Asian Tour
• Big Easy Tour
• China Tour
• ClutchPro Tour
• DP World Tour
• Gira de Golf Professional Mexicana
• HotelPlanner Tour
• Japan Golf Tour
• Korn Ferry Tour
• Korean PGA Tour
• MENA Tour
• Nordic Golf League
• PGA TOUR Americas
• PGA Tour of Taiwan - Chinese Taipei
• PGA TOUR
• PGA Tour of Australasia
• Pro Golf Tour
• Sunshine Tour
• Tartan Pro Tour
• Professional Golf Tour of India

To obtain and maintain Eligible Golf Tour status a tour must be approved by the Governing Board following:

• Submission of an application by the tour; or
• Invitation by the Governing Board to the tour to submit an application.

Once an application has been received (whether independently or by invitation), the application process typically takes 12 to 18 months to complete.

Where a tour submits an application to be recognised as an Eligible Golf Tour, that application must address all of the Tour Eligibility Standards by both:

• demonstrating the tour's compliance with the relevant Tour Eligibility Standard for a period of at least 1 year prior to the date of the application; and
• where the tour does not comply (partially or fully) with a Tour Eligibility Standard, an explanation of such non-compliance, including any steps the tour has taken to try to comply and/or the steps the tour will take in order to comply in the future.

In determining whether a golf tour is to be, or remain, recognised as an Eligible Golf Tour, the Governing Board shall assess (or shall direct the Operations Committee to assess) that tour's compliance with the Tour Eligibility Standards.

• The Tour Eligibility Standards set out below in Tour Eligibility Standards are guidelines only and the decision to approve a tour as an Eligible Golf Tour shall be at the sole discretion of the Governing Board. The Governing Board reserves the right to:
• approve a tour as an Eligible Golf Tour notwithstanding that the tour may not have fully complied with all of the Tour Eligibility Standards; and
• not approve a tour as an Eligible Golf Tour notwithstanding that the tour may have fully complied with all of the Tour Eligibility Standards.

If the Governing Board approves a tour as an Eligible Golf Tour, regardless of whether that tour does or does not fully comply with any or all of the Tour Eligibility Criteria, the Governing Board shall have discretion to apply adaptations to the OWGR System in respect of that tour in order to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the OWGR System in achieving the objective of OWGR.

Where the Governing Board exercises its discretion as set out above, the Governing Board may request the Operations Committee to research and analyse the potential impact of approving a tour that does not meet the Tour Eligibility Standards on the operation of the OWGR System and the Official World Golf Ranking and/or any proposed adaptations to the OWGR System. The Tour Eligibility Standards may be amended from time to time. Where the Governing Board consider there to have been a material change to the Tour Eligibility Standards, Eligible Tours will be given notice of such changes and, where applicable, the Governing Board will determine an appropriate grace period, at the end of which existing Eligible Tours will be expected to adhere to the revised Tour Eligible Standards (or provide a reasonably justification for any non-adherence).

PATHWAYS

A tour should have clearly structured and sufficient pathways for players to move between the tour and an Eligible Golf Tour by way of either:

• movement from the tour to an Eligible Golf Tour, with corresponding movement from the Eligible Golf Tour to the tour; or
• movement from the Eligible Golf Tour to the tour, with corresponding movement from the tour to the Eligible Golf Tour.

Where, having used all reasonable efforts to create pathways as set out above, a tour is unable to establish sufficient pathway opportunities for players, a tour should collaborate with Eligible Golf Tours to ensure that players on the tour are provided with opportunities to compete against players from Eligible Golf Tours by way of, for example:

• Joint Sanctioned Tournaments; or
• inviting players from an Eligible Golf Tour to play in tournaments held by the tour.

ACCESS

A tour should:

• embrace non-discriminatory practices and not exclude any players based on the grounds of nationality, race, religion, sexual orientation or political beliefs; and
• conduct an open annual Qualifying School and/or an open pre-qualifying event for each tournament and/or otherwise have open access.

MEMBERSHIP, RULES AND REGULATIONS

A tour should:

• have performance-based, meritocratic eligibility criteria;
• have a players’ committee or alternative appropriate processes for members of the tour to raise concerns and express views in respect of the tour;
• have rules and regulations for its members;
• have local rules and conditions of competition for all tournaments;
• have a code of conduct for its players;
• have anti-doping policy in accordance with WADA;
• have conditions of membership;
• be governed by the Rules of Golf established by The R&A and the USGA; and
• comply with (where the tour is a member of the International Golf Federation) or otherwise promote (where the tour is not a member of the International Golf Federation) the requirements of Article 5 (Professional Members) of the Constitution of the International Golf Federation (a copy of which is available from the International Golf Federation or at https://www.igfgolf.org/pdf/official-documents/igf-constitution.pdf).

TOURNAMENTS

Over the course of each season, a tour should:

• conduct a majority of its tournaments in stroke play format with a cut and such tournaments meet the Tournament Eligibility Requirements;
• conduct a minimum of 10 official Order of Merit tournaments;
• have an average field size of at least seventy-five (75) players; and maintain an average purse level of at least $30,000 USD.

TECHNOLOGY

A tour should:

• have a website and publish its schedules and event result data;
• be capable of providing Starting Field Data and Results Data to OWGR in the specified format within the specified timescales;
• ensure the accuracy of its player data and resolve any data errors before the conclusion of its tournament.

Each tour that is approved as an Eligible Golf Tour should be aware that following such approval:

• it will be subject to a probationary period of at least three (3) years;
• it must continue to comply with such Tour Eligibility Standards as it complied with at the time of inclusion after the probation period;
• it must implement any changes to its structure, tournament format or any other matter that it has committed to changing during the application process, within the timescales it has agreed with the Governing Board;
• OWGR will regularly monitor adherence to the relevant Tour Eligibility Standards, with additional monitoring undertaken during the probationary period;
• it may be required to cooperate with OWGR regarding its technical capabilities;
• it may be required to work with OWGR to ensure the accuracy of all player mappings and results data;
• OWGR may request audited financial statements and annual reports; it's Eligible Golf Tour status may be removed  either permanently or temporarily if it repeatedly fails to comply with the relevant Tour Eligibility Standards or fails to implement agreed changes (and results of any of its tournaments during this time will not be included OWGR System).

The Tournament Eligibility requirements are that:

• The tournament is organised and/or sanctioned by an Eligible Golf Tour.
• The tournament is published on the Eligible Golf Tour’s official tournament schedule.
• The tournament counts towards the Eligible Golf Tour's end of season ranking list.
• The tournament has a minimum field size of 30 players who are qualified to play in that tournament in accordance with that tournament's eligibility criteria.
• The tournament utilises an Eligible Format, as set out below in Eligible Formats.

Joint Sanctioned Tournaments

OWGR will regard a tournament as a Joint Sanctioned Tournament provided the following criteria are met:

• The tournament is organised and/or sanctioned by more than one Eligible Golf Tour and meets all relevant and applicable Tour Eligibility Criteria set out in Section F (Eligible Golf Tours);
• Each Eligible Tour must contribute at least 30 of the players participating;
• The tournament must count towards each Eligible Golf Tour's end-of-season ranking list;
• The tournament meets the criteria specified for the Eligible Formats set out in Section H (Eligible Formats) or the format for the tournament is otherwise approved by the Governing Board in accordance with Section H (Eligible Formats); and
• The tournament is on each Eligible Golf Tour’s official tournament schedule.

Standalone Eligible Tournaments

The Governing Board may, in its sole discretion, approve the inclusion of standalone tournaments that do not meet the Tournament Eligibility Requirements. Current and previous examples of standalone tournaments that have been included in the OWGR System as Eligible Tournaments are: The Major Championships, World Golf Championships, Olympic Games and the World Cup of Golf (individual element only).

Other Tournaments

If an Eligible Golf Tour wishes to introduce a tournament that does not meet the Tournament Eligibility Requirements above or if the Eligible Golf Tour wishes to obtain confirmation that a tournament will be treated as an Eligible Tournament, the Eligible Golf Tour may apply for a review of that tournament by the Operations Committee and approval for inclusion by the Governing Board by applying in writing to the Chair of the Governing Board. 

The inclusion of a tournament that does not meet all of the Tournament Eligibility Requirements shall be at the sole discretion of the Governing Board. The Governing Board shall also have discretion to apply adaptations to the OWGR System in respect of that tournament in order to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the OWGR System in achieving the objective of OWGR.

By way of example only:

Limited Field Tournaments

• If a tournament has a field size of less than 30 players who are qualified to play in that tournament in accordance with that tournament's eligibility criteria, the Governing Board may approve it for inclusion as a Limited Field Tournament; or

Special Field Tournaments

• If a tournament does not count towards the Eligible Golf Tour's end of season ranking list, the Governing Board may approve it for inclusion as a Special Tournament; or the Governing Board may apply adaptations to the Ranking Points Distribution of the tournament.

All of the formats below have been approved by the Governing Board for inclusion in the OWGR System and are Eligible Formats.

• STROKE PLAY

Standard formats: scheduled 72 holes or scheduled 54 holes – may consist of rounds of less than 18 holes.

Tournaments scheduled to be played over less than 54 holes will not be an Eligible Format.

• MATCH PLAY

Straight knock-out incorporating any Play-offs for final position e.g. 3rd/4th

Pools followed by Straight Knock-out incorporating any Play-offs for final position e.g. 3rd/4th

• STROKE PLAY QUALIFIER FOLLOWED BY MATCH PLAY OR STROKE PLAY ELIMINATION

Stroke Play Qualifier – followed by straight Match Play elimination incorporating any Play-offs for final positions e.g. 3rd/4th

Stroke Play Qualifier – followed by Stroke Play head-to-head elimination (groups of 2 or more players)

• The elimination element must be over a round which may be less than 18 holes but must be at least 6 holes.
• A round can be extended to include additional holes for Play-off purposes. These additional holes must have a minimum length of 75 meters.

• ALLOWABLE TIE-BREAKERS FOR THE ELIMINATION ELEMENT:
  • Fixed number of extra holes followed by Sudden Death
  • Sudden Death
  • Card Play-Off*

*Card Play-offs will not be used to separate players tied on the same score when allocating Ranking Points in stroke play tournaments.

• MODIFIED STABLEFORD
  • Albatross (Double Eagle): 8 points
  • Eagle: 5 points
  • Birdie: 2 points
  • Par: 0 points
  • Bogey: -1 point
  • Double Bogey or more: -3 points

• STABLEFORD
  • Albatross (Double Eagle): 5 points
  • Eagle: 4 points
  • Birdie: 3 points
  • Par: 2 points
  • Bogey: 1 point

• STAGGERED START TOURNAMENTS

In the event of an Eligible Tournament which is a Staggered Start Tournament, only the actual stroke-play scores will be recognized and included in the OWGR System.

• TEAM EVENTS

Team events are not eligible for inclusion.

Where a tournament includes an individual element with an approved format and a team element (where two competitions run concurrently), the individual element of that tournament will be regarded as an Eligible Format.

If an Eligible Golf Tour wishes to introduce a tournament which incorporates a format which is not an Eligible Format or if the Eligible Golf Tour wishes to obtain confirmation that a format will be treated as an Eligible Format, the Eligible Golf Tour may apply for a review of that format by the Technical Committee and approval for inclusion by the Governing Board by applying in writing to the Chair of the Governing Board. The inclusion of a format shall be at the entire and sole discretion of the Governing Board.

Field Rating

Every player in the Tournament Field contributes Performance Points.

The Field Rating for each Eligible Tournament is determined by the sum of Performance Points for all players in the Tournament Field. The number of Performance Points for each player is determined by that player's Strokes Gained World Rating.

Projected Field Rating

OWGR shall provide a projected Field Rating for an Eligible Tournament following the submission of the Starting Field Data by the Eligible Golf Tour.

Confirmed Field Rating

OWGR shall confirm the Field Rating for the Eligible Tournament once all players have teed off and any updates to the Starting Field Data have been provided by the Eligible Golf Tour and processed by OWGR.

A player’s Strokes Gained World Rating is based on a player’s actual scores in Eligible Tournaments from completed rounds of 18-hole stroke-play, adjusted for the relative difficulty of each round played over the relevant Ranking Period. 

Scores from completed 18-hole round stroke-play events in Eligible Tournaments are eligible for inclusion in the Strokes Gained World Rating.

There are maximum and minimum Strokes Gained World Rating values of 2.8981 and -14.6466 respectively.

Each Strokes Gained World Rating has a corresponding value of Performance Points determined by the Performance Curve.

Players with 10 or fewer recorded scores in Eligible Tournaments in the relevant Ranking Period are assigned a value of 0.01 Performance Points.

Players with fewer than 50 recorded scores in Eligible Tournaments in the relevant Ranking Period can each contribute a maximum of 10% of the relevant Eligible Tournament's Field Rating

The Performance Curve is the mechanism used to determine the value of Performance Points per Strokes Gained World Rating, which will then equal the number of Performance Points each eligible player contributes to an Eligible Tournament's Field Rating.

Each player's scores from stroke-play events in Eligible Tournaments over the relevant Ranking Period are used in a series of simulated events to determine the average Ranking Points expected per each Strokes Gained World Rating, which are then plotted to create the Performance Curve.

The Performance Curve shall be updated once per year following the publication of the Year End Ranking (expected to be Ranking Week 52/53 of that year) and prior to Ranking Week 1 of the following year.

The Ranking Points Distribution Curve is the mechanism which is used to determine the number of Ranking Points per finishing position for each Eligible Tournament.

The Ranking Points Distribution Curve used to determine the Ranking Points Distribution depends on the Points per Player Value and the field size and type of Eligible Tournament, as set out in the table below:

The Ranking Points Distribution is derived from each Eligible Tournament's Field Rating.

Ranking Points are awarded to all players in the Tournament Field who complete the relevant Eligible Tournament (or, where the Eligible Tournament features more than one cut, all players who make the primary cut), up to a maximum of 125^th place. 

Ranking Points are awarded subject to:

• a player's finishing position in that Eligible Tournament; and
• the Ranking Points Distribution Curve that applies to that Eligible Tournament; and
• any applicable Ranking Points Distribution Adjustment.

The Ranking Points Distribution which is received by each Eligible Tournament will be calculated in accordance with the following table:

Ranking Points awarded may be fractionally greater than the Field Rating when more than the projected number of players make the cut and complete the Eligible Tournament or to account for ties.

Ranking Points awarded may be fractionally less than the Field Rating when players who have made the cut are disqualified, retire or withdraw from the later rounds causing the number of players completing the Eligible Tournament to be less than the projected number of players to make the cut.

First Place Points

• Major Championships: The four Major Championships: the Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open Championship and the Open Championship are rated separately and awarded 100 First Place Points.
• The Players Championship: The Players Championship is rated separately and awarded 80 First Place Points.
• Maximum First Place Points: Other than the Major Championships, the maximum number of First Place Points that can be awarded for an Eligible Tournament shall be 80.

No Cut Tournaments

If a Tournament does not operate any cut then unless the No Cut Tournament Exception below applies, the value of Ranking Points awarded to the bottom 15% of players who complete all scheduled rounds shall be zero.

The above shall not apply to No Cut Tournaments where such events are final season-ending events and / or events that are part of a playoff series leading to a final season-ending event (the No Cut  Tournament Exception). 

Projected Ranking Points Distribution

OWGR shall provide a projected Ranking Points Distribution for an Eligible Tournament following the submission of the Starting Field Data by the Eligible Golf Tour.

Final Ranking Points Distribution

OWGR shall provide an actual or "final" Ranking Points Distribution for the Eligible Tournament once the Results Data file has been provided by the Eligible Golf Tour and processed by OWGR.

For Eligible Tournaments which are curtailed because of a Curtailment Event, at least 36 holes must be completed in order to be eligible for Ranking Points. 

Where an Eligible Tournament is curtailed because of a Curtailment event and at least 36 holes are completed, the Ranking Points Distribution may be amended from the originally calculated Ranking Points Distribution for that Eligible Tournament for each finishing position, as set out in the table below:

Players who achieve two or more Outright Wins in Eligible Tournaments within a 52-week period shall be eligible for multi win bonuses as follows:

• Second Win Bonus: Bonus Ranking Points with a value equal to 60% of the First Place Points awarded in respect of that second win, capped at a maximum of 4 points; and
• Three or more Win Bonus: Bonus Ranking Points with a value equal to 70% of the First Place Points awarded in respect of that third or subsequent win (as applicable), capped at a maximum of 4 points for each win.

The OWGR System is administered over a two year rolling period from the Ranking Date and to the date falling 104 weeks before the relevant Ranking Date (each a Ranking Period).

Each player is ranked according to their average Ranking Points (and any Bonus Ranking Points awarded to that player), which is determined by dividing a player's Total Points by the number of Eligible Tournaments they have played during the relevant Ranking Period.

There is a minimum divisor of 40 Eligible Tournaments over the Ranking Period, with no more than the most recent 52 Eligible Tournaments that the player concerned has played in during the relevant Ranking Period counting towards a player's position in the Official World Golf Ranking.

The Ranking Points and any Bonus Ranking Points earned by a player will remain at the Original Ranking Points value for 13 weeks from the Ranking Date on which they were awarded.

Original Ranking Points will then be reduced by 1/92 of the Original Ranking Points’ value each week for the remaining 91 weeks of the relevant Ranking Period.

The following shall be issued and published every Monday morning (GMT) or as soon as possible following the completion of the final Eligible Tournament of the preceding Ranking Week, if that is later:

1. The Official World Golf Ranking
2. Strokes Gained World Rating
3. Federation Ranking List

In the event of delays to the conclusion of Eligible Tournaments, the revised Official World Golf Ranking shall be published following the completion of the last Eligible Tournament in each Ranking Week.