The PGA Championship is widely acknowledged as having the strongest field in golf, and the 2025 edition at Quail Hollow is set to have a key statistic to back that claim up.
Popular X world rankings guru Nosferatu (@VC606) points out that, as things stand, this year’s edition will become the first event to attain a field rating higher than 500 points since a shake-up of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) system almost three years ago.
🚨NEWSFLASH@PGAChampionship is living up to its reputation of putting together the strongest field in golf. As things stand now, the 2025 #PGAChampionship would become the 1st tournament to reach a field rating (SoF) higher than 500p, since the new #OWGR system was introduced.May 12, 2025
Before the revamp, the OWGR calculated strength of field based on the world rankings of players in the field, particularly the top 200 in each tournament.
However, that all changed in August 2022 when each player in the field began contributing performance points determined by that player’s Strokes Gained World Rating. That rating gives a player’s performance point value at the start of an event, with the sum of the performance points of all players in the field determining the field rating.
So, how would a field rating above 500 compare to other recent Majors and big PGA Tour events? In general, field ratings for Majors typically get close to, or surpass, 400, while PGA Tour signature events are often in the low-300 range.
For example, the field rating for the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla, won by Xander Schauffele, was around 484, while that year’s three other Majors saw a rating of 374 at The Masters, 440 at the US Open and 487 at The Open. The 2025 Masters had a rating of 395, while the latest PGA Tour signature event, the Truist Championship, had a field rating of 310.
There are several reasons the fields at the PGA Championship are generally so strong, including qualifying criteria, where the top 100 in the world rankings are usually eligible. Other ways to qualify that contribute to the strong fields include the winners of recent PGA Tour events and the top 15 and ties from the previous PGA Championship.
It’s an all-professional line-up too, while, unlike the US Open and The Open, there are no qualifiers, leaving less chance for virtual unknowns to appear.
However, even with the considerably stronger field than the other Majors, the PGA Championship still only offers the same number of world ranking points to the winner, 100. Therefore, whoever lifts the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday evening will have certainly earned it.
