1996 World Golf Rankings: No. 1, Top 50 at End of Year
Greg Norman was ranked No. 1 at the end of the year. Norman won once on the PGA Tour during the year at the Doral Ryder Open. He was runner-up at the 1996 Masters — although that tournament is much more remembered for Norman's collapse — and had Top 10 finishes in the U.S. Open and British Open. He also won twice in Australia at the Ford South Australia Open and the Holden Australian Open.
Men's World Golf Rankings, End of 1996
These were the Top 50 golfers in the final Official World Golf Ranking of the calendar year 1996 (the number is the player's average ranking points earned per tournament):
1. Greg Norman, Australia, 10.78
2. Tom Lehman, United States, 9.74
3. Colin Montgomerie, Scotland, 9.10
4. Ernie Els, South Africa, 8.60
5. Fred Couples, United States, 8.16
6. Nick Faldo, England, 7.98
7. Phil Mickelson, United States, 7.77
8. Jumbo Ozaki, Japan, 7.58
9. Davis Love III, United States, 7.53
10. Mark O'Meara, United States, 7.12
11. Corey Pavin, United States, 6.94
12. Steve Stricker, United States, 6.19
13. Nick Price, Zimbabwe, 6.12
14. Steve Elkington, Australia, 5.84
15. Scott Hoch, United States, 5.44
16. Bernhard Langer, Germany, 5.31
17. Tom Watson, United States, 5.28
18. Mark Brooks, United States, 5.18
19. David Duval, United States, 5.15
20. Vijay Singh, Fiji, 5.03
21. Mark McNulty, Ireland, 4.98
22. Loren Roberts, United States, 4.92
23. Brad Faxon, United States, 4.90
24. Costantino Rocca, Italy, 4.75
25. Kenny Perry, United States, 4.74
26. Ian Woosnam, Wales, 4.58
27. Jeff Maggert, United States, 4.48
28. Steve Jones, United States, 4.33
29. Justin Leonard, United States, 4.15
30. Mark McCumber, United States, 4.10
31. Frank Nobilo, New Zealand, 4.02
32. Lee Janzen, United States, 3.93
33. Tiger Woods, United States, 3.88
34. Payne Stewart, United States, 3.82
35. Bob Tway, United States, 3.75
36. Jay Haas, United States, 3.57
37. Robert Allenby, Australia, 3.56
38. Mark Calcavecchia, United States, 3.51
39. Jesper Parnevik, Sweden, 3.42
40. Sam Torrance, Scotland, 3.39
41. Duffy Waldorf, United States, 3.28
42. Craig Stadler, United States, 3.25
43. Billy Mayfair, United States, 3.21
44. Jim Gallagher Jr., United States, 3.10
45. Peter Jacobsen, United States, 3.09
46. Peter Senior, Australia, 3.08
47. (tie) Tommy Tolles, United States, 3.08
47. (tie) Michael Bradley, United States, 3.08
49. Jim Furyk, United States, 3.07
50. Brian Watts, United States, 3.06
Comparing the above end-of-1996 rankings with the end-of-1995 rankings, the biggest jump from outside the Top 50 into the Top 50 from 1995 to 1996 was by Tiger Woods, who moved up from No. 517 to No. 33. The biggest year-to-year drop within the Top 50 was by Peter Jacobsen, who fell from No. 15 to No. 45. The full OWGR at the end of 1996 can be viewed in the OWGR Archives.
