NASSAU, Bahamas – Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge has always been viewed as a world-ranking boondoggle for the lucky few who qualify, but this year’s event won’t be as lucrative as a result of a new ranking formula.
The new “points distribution curve” was implemented this year for events with fields of 80 or fewer competitors to award a higher percentage of ranking points to top finishes.
This week’s champion at Albany will be awarded 31 ranking points compared to 30 last year to Scottie Scheffler. Although that seems insignificant, this year’s Hero World Challenge has a considerably weaker field with a 117-point field rating compared to last year’s 130-point rating.
The new system, which also applied to this year’s signature events, means that the bottom three finishers won’t receive any world ranking points. For example, Woods – who is not competing in this year’s event – finished 18th in the 20-player field last year and received 2.4 points, which jumped him from 1,328th in the world to 898th.
This field rating at Albany is the lowest in recent history with just three of the top 10 players making the trip to the Bahamas. In fact, this week’s PIF Saudi International on the Asian Tour has a higher field rating (123) than the Hero World Challenge.
