Sports Illustrated has launched SI World Golf Rankings (SIWGR), a new ranking system that includes all major men’s professional tours and data-driven player results. The rankings will be continuously updated at SI.com/golf alongside in-depth stories, breaking news, championship coverage, and analysis from SI Golf.
SI Golf’s rankings seek to address a few concerns about the current world rankings system and offer an alternative that:
- Reflects the importance of measuring recent results over the most immediate 12 months, whereas current world rankings include tournament results as far back as two years.
- Leverages data and a proprietary formula that include metrics and player performance, inclusive of the competition across all tours.
“As the benchmark for comprehensive sports coverage, we are thrilled to create the SI World Golf Rankings to give fans an alternative way to analyze players across global tours,” Chris Pirrone, senior vice president and general manager of Sports Illustrated, said in a statement. “We believe the SI Golf rankings are more current, robust, and comprehensive, are a better reflection of the current state of pro golf competition, and provide a more accurate understanding of who the best golfers are right now.”
Partnering with Golf Intelligence, the rankings weigh 12 months of player results along with calculations for strength-of-field and course difficulty. All professional golfers will continue to accrue points in 2023 and LIV golfers receive points for events they played in 2022. While it will initially rank the top 100 players in men’s golf, it will soon expand to be larger and a women’s ranking is slated for release at a later date.
“Golf Intelligence has unique and proprietary data, including on every golf course layout, with artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to refine strength-of-field metrics and continuously inform SI Golf’s new ranking system,” said Jim Stracka, president of Golf Intelligence.
The Arena Group Expands SI's Golf Coverage
The Arena Group first expanded Sports Illustrated’s golf coverage with the addition of Morning Read in 2022. The rankings serve as another investment in the golf space, with a team of leading golf insiders analyzing each Monday’s release of the SI World Golf Rankings.
LA Golf is the presenting sponsor to launch the inaugural SI World Golf Rankings.
“The best players in the world are playing on multiple tours across the globe,” Reed Dickens, LA Golf founder and CEO said. “These rankings represent an elegant solution, and LA Golf is proud to be part of this evolution."
The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. (AREN) is a tech-powered media company home to more than 250 brands, including Sports Illustrated, TheStreet, Parade Media, Men’s Journal, and HubPages operating on a single technology platform and providing consumers with news and features about their favorite sports teams, advice on investing, the inside scoop on personal finance, and the latest on lifestyle essentials.
