World Ranking Scenarios this week!

[deasy55]

The BMW PGA Championship has become a World Ranking shoot-out as Lee Westwood, Luke Donald and Martin Kaymer battle for the Number One position.

Donald’s runner-up finish on Sunday moved him to within 0.050 points of Westwood at the top of the Official World Golf Ranking heading into The European Tour’s flagship event at Wentworth Club.

There is barely anything separating the top two but Kaymer is also in the hunt. The German lies in third place and needs to win or claim second place with just one other player to have any chance of regaining the World Number One position he held for eight weeks earlier this year. If Kaymer wins, Westwood or Donald would need to finish second to deny him top spot.

If Kaymer finishes outside the top two though, the contest to be the best player on the planet becomes a fight between the two Englishmen and, provided they finish in the top 56 and therefore pick up points, whoever finishes the highest will be World Number One.

In the event of a tie within the top 45, Westwood retains top spot, but should they tie in a position from 45th to 56th Donald takes over. And should they both have a poor week and finish outside the top 56 and therefore earn no points, Donald also goes top with a better points average.

Now that's what I call close

[BallStriker]

I don't care much about the World Number 1 stuff, but will say this about the upcoming week.....

I am a huge PGA Tour fan, but the BMW Championship is a far more compelling tournament than this week's Byron Nelson tourney......I love the layout of Wentworth and can't wait to watch it this weekend.

BTW, for those in the "know" -- have they made any further revisions to the course after last year (or maybe two year's ago) when they hammered Ernie's remodel (or do I even have the right course?)

[deasy55]

I found this:

Following last year’s Championship, a decision was taken by Wentworth to modify the 18th green and green complex, as well as to adjust the fall on the 8th green. On the 12th the landing area off the tee has been widened and additionally, on the 15th a fairway bunker has been moved.

Over the winter a carefully planned phase of tree clearance was undertaken, with several holes subjected to significant tree surgery to improve air and light into the greens, the green complexes and teeing areas.

Work has also taken place on many of the bunkers on the West Course, with a new blend of sand being used that will reduce the risk of plug lies whilst still ensuring the bunkers are free-draining in wet conditions.

Wentworth Chief Executive Julian Small said: “Throughout this process, we have made brave and bold decisions, so as to ensure the West Course remains a fitting challenge in years to come; but it’s fair to say that after last year’s Championship we felt it necessary to make some more changes.”

It is expected that the new revisions to the 18th hole in particular will mean more players attempting to reach the green in two shots, making for a dramatic finale.

From the tee the landing area has been made wider and flatter to give the player more opportunity to take the green on in two. The swale at the back of the green has been removed and the green itself lowered by 75cm and made more than 25 per cent bigger, increasing the size of the target and creating more pin positions. Additionally, the far right hand side of the green has been raised, with the bunkers effectively becoming shallower as a consequence of the lowered putting surface.

Wentworth legend and course designer Ernie Els said: “To get this absolutely as we all wanted required two bites of the cherry, but this ultimately is the best solution for this iconic finishing hole. That little bit of extra margin for error definitely makes a difference to your shot selection and I believe many more players will take it on in two at this year’s BMW PGA Championship. Hopefully it will help produce an exciting climax, which is what a tournament of this stature deserves.”

Wentworth Club Chairman Richard Caring said: “We’re proud of the work that has taken place over the last few years to enhance the West Course. With such a fabulous field at this year’s BMW PGA Championship, and with the 18th in particular now presenting a more compelling risk and reward challenge, I think we’ll see some great drama at this year’s tournament .

Originally Posted by BallStriker

I don't care much about the World Number 1 stuff, but will say this about the upcoming week.....

I am a huge PGA Tour fan, but the BMW Championship is a far more compelling tournament than this week's Byron Nelson tourney......I love the layout of Wentworth and can't wait to watch it this weekend.

BTW, for those in the "know" -- have they made any further revisions to the course after last year (or maybe two year's ago) when they hammered Ernie's remodel (or do I even have the right course?)

[MEfree]

If the OWGR used a mathematically proper weighted average instead of their unique (and mathematically flawed) unweighted "average" of weighted points, Luke Donald would already by #1, just barely edging out Westwood and would keep the ranking with any finish tied or ahead of Westwood and many scenarios where Westwood beats him by a bit.

While the bias in the rankings due to the OWGR's creative math currently favors Westwood, it will shift in Donald's favor in the coming weeks (but with the way he started today, maybe he won't need the help).

[Shindig]

If the OWGR used a mathematically proper weighted average instead of their unique (and mathematically flawed) unweighted "average" of weighted points, Luke Donald would already by #1, just barely edging out Westwood and would keep the ranking with any finish tied or ahead of Westwood and many scenarios where Westwood beats him by a bit.

While the bias in the rankings due to the OWGR's creative math currently favors Westwood, it will shift in Donald's favor in the coming weeks (but with the way he started today, maybe he won't need the help).

The OWGR method is not unique, nor is it mathematically flawed. Similar models are used to calculate all sorts of things where you want to weight more recent performance over less recent, but still possibly relevant, data. Common methods for estimating the achieved bandwidth of a network link, for example, follow the same pattern of averaging weighted points (instead of taking a weighted average).

[MEfree]

Originally Posted by Shindig

Quote:

Originally Posted by MEfree

If the OWGR used a mathematically proper weighted average instead of their unique (and mathematically flawed) unweighted "average" of weighted points, Luke Donald would already by #1, just barely edging out Westwood and would keep the ranking with any finish tied or ahead of Westwood and many scenarios where Westwood beats him by a bit.

While the bias in the rankings due to the OWGR's creative math currently favors Westwood, it will shift in Donald's favor in the coming weeks (but with the way he started today, maybe he won't need the help).

The OWGR method is not unique, nor is it mathematically flawed. Similar models are used to calculate all sorts of things where you want to weight more recent performance over less recent, but still possibly relevant, data. Common methods for estimating the achieved bandwidth of a network link, for example, follow the same pattern of averaging weighted points (instead of taking a weighted average).

I'd be interested to learn more about this...can you give me a real life example?

FWIW, I don't have an issue with them giving more weight to the recent performances, rather I have issue with the divisor that they use to come up with their "average."  A weighted average can give more weight to the recent performances and is a mathematically sound computation.

Thanks

[Shindig]

I'd be interested to learn more about this...can you give me a real life example?

I sent a PM with more details, but for anyone following this that is interested, check out how round-trip time is computed over TCP. It's a low-memory version of OWGR, without min or max divisors.