All about the Rolex Rankings and the UL International Crown (October 4-7) Incheon, Korea.
I believe that all women golfers (players and fans) should understand the terms used in following women's golf. So here's a short explanation of the very important official "Rolex Rankings" [yes, branded by the famous watch company Rolex] that are used for final season awards AND for who will play in the UL International Crown (one of my favorite formats) in October in Incheon, Korea (on the north-western coast of Korea very near Seoul).
What are the Rolex Rankings? The Rolex Rankings assign point-values to women golfers based on how well they play (over a two year period) in nine women's competitive golf tours. Some tours are more competitive than others and the Rolex Rankings take that into account in assigning point values. The tours used for the Rolex Rankings are: ALPG (Australia), CLPGA (China), KLPGA (Korea), JLPGA (Japan), LET (Ladies European Tour), LETAS (developmental tour of the LET), LPGA, Symetra Tour (developmental tour of the LPGA), TLPGA (Taiwan). When you visit the website, check in at the FAQ tab (frequently asked questions) -- for a great review.
When you click on the website the current rankings will appear. The format of the page has been modified and a bit more complicated.
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How to search the new Rolex Rankings website:
Here's my step by step guide to using the new Rolex Rankings Chart to understand who has a chance of being one of the four players for each country-team ini the UL International Crown -- and how close the competition is for those spots. (The Rolex Rankings are also used for determining what two players from 60 countries will compete the Olympics Golf Competition -- summer in Tokyo 2020.)
The Rolex Rankings website is using a new format, which is tricky to use. For those with patience and determination, here are instructions on how to use it. Once you get used to it... it gets easier to use and then you will have fun keeping track of who will make the teams.
1. go to https://www.rolexrankings.com/rankings home page -- and keep access to this post. (print it out if helpful)
2. Hit "RANKINGS" at top of page below Rolex logo and all players will now be listed in order of their current rankings.
3. Hit the top of the third column "Country" and the list will sort itself into countries in alphabetical order. Next....
4. Go to center of page to small box "Search Player/Country"
5. Click that small box and then hit "Country" (make sure green dot moves to "country") and the list should sort by country --alphabetical order: ARGentina is first.
But -- we want to see the 8 countries that will be in the UL Crown and what 4 players are likely to be on the team.
6. In the that search box in the center where you were, type in the country abbreviation for one of the 8 countries: KOR, USA, JPN, ENG, AUS, TPE, SWE, THA.
7. For example: type in "THA" (abbreviation for Thailand) and look at the order of players. The rankings go by "average points" -- which measures how well the players did in the tournaments they played in (that means that players who play in lots of tournaments don't automatically hit the top of the list.) Notice how competitive the third and fourth positions are for Thailand's team.
8. Congratulations if you got this far. Now have fun and keep track of players in all 8 countries. On Monday, after the completion of the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer, the rankings will be updated to reflect how players did in the tournament.
On my webpage www.nancyberkley.com, I have a "Complimentary Help Line"... use it if you need help understanding the Rankings for the UL International Crown. This is a great tournament. I will be writing more about the unique format. Most unique is that there are no designated captains for each of the eight teams. (unlike the Solheim Cup Captains). This was a feature that Commissioner Mike Whan "invented" for this tournament. I love "team philosophy" -- every player is mutually accountable for the team's result. No one can blame a captain!
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What's great about the site is that you can search by PLAYER and by COUNTRY. Those searches are very important because this 2018 season, the LPGA Tour features the UL International Crown tournament -- the top 8 countries with top four players with the most Rolex Points will be able to compete for the Crown. The eight countries that will compete for the UL Crown were finalized at the end of the US Women's Open on Monday, June 4..
The eight countries in the 2018 UL International Crown are: Korea, U.S., England, Sweden, Thailand, Australia, Korea, Chinese Taipei.
TEAM STANDINGS FOR UL INTERNATIONAL CROWN STOP: See what four players from the 8 teams are currently the top four on their team. http://www.lpga.com/tournaments/2018-ul-international-crown-team-standings.
