04/07/26 12:28:00
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04/07 12:27 CDT The Masters has players from 23 countries. The world ranking is
one reason for the global growth
The Masters has players from 23 countries. The world ranking is one reason for
the global growth
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) --- Bernhard Langer was reminded of his place in history this
week, unrelated to the 68-year-old German looking stately as ever in his
Masters green jacket as a two-time champion.
It was 40 years ago --- April 6, 1986, to be exact --- the "Sony Ranking" was
introduced.
What began as a list in 1968 for IMG founder Mark McCormack's "World of
Professional Golf" annual got the attention of the R&A as it was reviewing
criteria for the British Open. It was officially introduced at the 1986 Masters.
The headline that week proclaimed, "Europeans Top Golf Rankings."
Langer was No. 1 in world, followed by Seve Ballesteros and Sandy Lyle. The
leading American was Tom Watson at No. 4. Jack Nicklaus, considered to be past
his prime at age 46, checked in at No. 33. By the end of the week, Nicklaus
famously won his sixth Masters and 18th professional major.
"It was time to have something like that because international golfers were
excluded from tournaments like the Masters, the U.S. Open and the PGA
Championship," Langer said under the big oak tree next to the Augusta National
clubhouse.
"Only two or three of us got in," he said. "In Europe, I had to win the money
list to get in the Masters. And we had more than one good golfer."
It wasn't perfect then, and probably isn't now. It's nigh impossible to measure
the runner-up of this week's Token Homemate Cup on the Japan Golf Tour against
whoever finishes 15th at Augusta.
But it was a start, and its influence is greater now than anyone might have
imagined.
Every major championship uses the Official World Golf Ranking an an integral
part of its criteria. The Masters and British Open take the top 50, the U.S.
Open takes the top 60. The PGA Championship uses invitations in a bid to have
everyone from the top 100.
The Sony Rankings --- yes, it had a corporate sponsor --- became the Official
World Golf Ranking when the major tours and the four majors formed a board in
1997. Now the OWGR has 25 tours around the world, the most recent addition
being Saudi-funded LIV Golf.
Whether LIV Golf should get more points awarded to more than the top 10 players
is a debate as endless as deciding whether the PGA Tour gets too much weight.
But there is no doubt that OWGR has been critical to opening the borders beyond
American golf.
The U.S. Open had only three foreign-born champions from 1926 through 1993 ---
Gary Player of South Africa, Tony Jacklin of England and David Graham of
Australia. Starting with Ernie Els of South Africa in 1994, 13 of the last 32
champions were international players.
Padraig Harrington in 2008 became the first European in 78 years to win the PGA
Championship when he won at Oakland Hills in 2008.
It wasn't a matter of getting better. It was a matter of getting an
opportunity. That much should have been made clear during the 1980s when Europe
began its dominance in the Ryder Cup.
More than his own three-week reign atop the world ranking, Langer said it
created more paths. Ballesteros, Langer and Lyle combined for six majors in the
seven years before the ranking began in somewhat an official capacity.
"That helped open it up, especially in the majors, to some international
golfers who Americans never heard of or didn't know much about," he said. "It's
different now with the media. But it was an important step in the right
direction. Was it perfect? Maybe not. But it was a good way to get the best
field."
That was mainly for the majors. More hurdles came from the PGA Tour, which
always had the best collection of players. The requirement under former
Commissioner Deane Beman was a minimum of 15 events for membership.
Europe required 11 events. Top players with a global eye often played the
occasional event in Japan and Australia, and the travel and time took a toll.
"We didn't go on boats," Langer said with a smile, "but we didn't go on private
jets."
Langer recalled that 11 top Europeans asked Beman to reduce the PGA Tour
requirement to 12 events and "he wouldn't budge."
So much has changed.
The man behind the math for years was London-based Tony Greer, and his original
plan was to prioritize tournaments into four sections. The four majors received
the most weight, followed by most PGA Tour and top European Tour events, on
down to lesser events around the world.
There have been changes over the years, most notably going from a three-year
rolling period to a two-year system in 1995, and recently expanding the
strength-of-field to include everyone playing, not just the top 200 players.
The 40th year of world ranking has Scottie Scheffler on top --- he has been No.
1 a total of 185 weeks, trailing only Tiger Woods (683 weeks) and Greg Norman
(331). There are five Americans and five Europeans in the top 10. All are on
the PGA Tour.
Perhaps the best measure is the Masters, which has a 91-man field from 23
countries. The week the world ranking began, the 88-man field came from 11
countries.
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On The Fringe analyzes the biggest topics in golf during the season. More AP
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