OneAsia propels rookie Fowler up World Rankings
Singapore, 17 October 2011 - "All American Boy" Rickie Fowler soared up the world rankings to No. 24 after a peerless performance at the Kolon Korea Open on OneAsia.
He climbed 12 places thanks to his first career victory in front of a big gallery at the Woo Jeong Hills Country Club in Cheonan, fighting off the likes of world number three Rory McIlroy, Asia's first Major winner Y.E. Yang (38) and Japan Tour star Kim Kyung-tae (22), amongst other stars from across the region.
The Kolon Korea Open offered 26 ranking points to the winner, making it more lucrative in ranking terms in the same week than the Frys.com Open on the PGA Tour (24 points), the Canon Open on the Japan Golf Tour (20 points) and the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship on the Asian Tour (14 points) - all of which received minimum points guaranteed by the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) system.
McIlroy, who placed second, also benefited from the points on offer at the event as he closed the gap on world number two Lee Westwood on the rankings this week to .23 of a point.
A total of 34 players picked up world ranking points at the Kolon Korea Open compared to 21 in the US$300,000 Yeangder Tournament Players Championship, a tournament that is guaranteed a minimum 14 points under the current OWGR System.
Australia’s Andre Stolz continued his amazing comeback with a 10th place finish in Korea, tightening his grip on OneAsia’s Order of Merit trophy with winnings of US$449,074 from playing just seven events. His performance on OneAsia alone this season has lifted his world rankings status to within the top 250 in the world.
Since its inception, all events on OneAsia have been recognised by the OWGR Committee and allocated points have been generally based on strength of field, rather than the expanded minimum points afforded to other Tours. As such, OneAsia champions in 2011 have scored an average of 13.25 points per event.
And these World Ranking Points on offer on OneAsia will grow even further as the Tour heads Down Under for the Australian Open and the PGA Championship.
Already, seven of the world's Top 20 players and 13 of the world's Top 50 players have confirmed their participation in the Australian Open, translating into not just the strongest line up ever for the historic event, but also world ranking points north of 44 for the winner based on current entries. This number could rise even further with more star confirmations to come.
As the world's newest elite Tour, the amount of minimum points allocated to OneAsia is currently under review, and the timing could not be better, says Ben Sellenger, Chief Executive of OneAsia.
"Since our launch in 2009, we have continually seen our fields become stronger and stronger, and on sheer OWGR numbers alone our fields at present are by far the strongest for full field events in the Asia-Pacific region.
"The recent Kolon Korean Open was a fantastic example of this, and the Australian Open and the PGA Championship will provide a great springboard for us to continue our discussions with the Official World Golf Rankings committee to see this success recognised by appropriate world ranking points.”
The Kolon Korea Open was the ninth event on OneAsia’s schedule for the 2011 season.
The next stop on OneAsia will be the 2011 Australian Open at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney from 10 – 13 November, featuring Dustin Johnson (5), Jason Day (7), Adam Scott (8), Matt Kuchar (9), Nick Watney (11), Bubba Watson (16), Hunter Mahan (19), Geoff Ogilvy (37), Tiger Woods (52), John Senden (59), Robert Allenby (60), Greg Norman and Fred Couples, amongst others.
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