Rolex Ranking Reeks

The GolfBlogger is once again ascending the Grassy Knoll to address the latest conspiracy in golf: The Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking.

The Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking was released this last week to a great deal of controversy when it was revealed that Michelle Wie is currently the world’s number 3 women’s golfer.

How’s that? Wie has played in only 15 LPGA events over the past two years. Aren’t the rankings based on a player’s last 40 starts (like the men’s)? With only 15 starts, she shouldn’t even be on the list.

But she is. And that’s because in the new Rolex rankings, players are ranked according to their last 15 starts—exactly the number of LPGA starts that Wie had from 2004 to 2005.

Coincidence? I think not. I’m absolutely certain that when they sat down to pick a number, they checked to make sure Wie would fit under the bar. They knew that having Wie on the list would generate interest for the inaugural Rolex rankings.

So that explains why Wie is on the list. But how did she get to number three? Even though Wie played in 15 events, she couldn’t manage to win any of them. Christie Kerr, on the other hand, is in fifth place with five victories. And Ai Miyazato, with 11 victories, is in sixth.

It’s simple: of Wie’s 15 events, six of them were majors and she finished in the top four in three of those. So based on her limited number of starts, Wie was able to vault over more proven players.

We’ll have to see how this thing shakes out over the next couple of months. The rankings place greater emphasis on the most recent 13 weeks. And with Wie’s more limited playing schedule, some analysts are thinking that Wie will fall from her initial lofty position.

But I’m not convinced.

Where’s the Warren Commission on this one?