The Biggest Risers in the Official World Golf Rankings in 2015

The much-maligned Official World Golf Ranking is, theoretically at least, a measure of who the best golfer in the game is, or has been recently. And for as much as that subject dominates OWGR-related discussion, there are numerous other areas of ranking-related intrigue, such as who is rising and falling in the list. 

That's what we'll turn our attention to here. 

But first, more about OWGR points, as spelled out on the Official World Golf Ranking website: 

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The World Ranking Points for each player are accumulated over a two year “rolling” period with the points awarded for each event maintained for a 13-week period to place additional emphasis on recent performances.

Ranking points are then reduced in equal decrements for the remaining 91 weeks of the two year Ranking period. Each player is then ranked according to his average points per tournament, which is determined by dividing his total number of points by the tournaments he has played over that two-year period.

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In this rundown, we'll look at top PGA Tour risers in golf's official positional tally. 

Patton Kizzire

Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

OWGR end 2014: 1548

OWGR currently: 75

Breakdown

Patton Kizzire made 18 of 23 cuts on the Web.com Tour last season, winning twice. He finished inside the top 10 nearly half the times he teed it up (12) and led the tour in earnings. He finished second at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open to kick off his 2015-2016 PGA Tour season.

He's currently 17th on tour in strokes gained: tee-to-green and 16th in strokes gained: putting. His huge jump in rankings is the product of quality play in his first season on the Web.com Tour.

Brendan Steele

Stanley Chou/Getty Images

OWGR end 2014: 152

OWGR currently: 76

Breakdown

A second-consecutive year of consistent play saw California native Brendan Steele climb in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Steele recorded four top-10 finishes in 24 starts, including a tie for second at the Humana Challenge. He was 21st on tour in strokes gained: total last season. 

David Lingmerth

Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

OWGR end 2014: 169

OWGR currently: 56

Breakdown

David Lingmerth tallied four top-25 finishes in 26 starts in 2013-2014.

The Swede took a major step forward with his work last season, winning the Memorial Tournament and accumulating a total of four top-10 finishes in 28 starts. 

Daniel Berger

Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images

OWGR end 2014: 301

OWGR currently: 49

Breakdown

After graduating from the Web.com Tour for the 2014-2015 season, Daniel Berger put together an impressive rookie campaign en route to capturing Rookie of the Year honors.

The Floridian tallied 13 top-25 finishes in 31 starts, including a second-place finish at the BMW Championship and a similar finish at the Honda Classic. 

Danny Lee

Lee Jin-man/Associated Press

OWGR end 2014: 220

OWGR currently: 43

Breakdown 

Danny Lee made 24 of 36 cuts along with eight top-10s in the 2014-2015 season. In a breakthrough campaign, Lee won the Greenbrier Classic, and he was 31st on tour in strokes gained: total in 2015. 

The previous year, he made just 13 of 28 cuts with only one top-10 finish. 

Scott Piercy

Joshua Paul/Associated Press

OWGR end 2014: 184

OWGR currently: 46

Breakdown

Scott Piercy had surgery to repair a torn flexor digitorum superficialis in his right arm in February of 2014 after dealing with injury for much of the 2013-2014 season and making just 12 starts.

With the injury behind him, Piercy had a dramatically better 2014-2015 season, with five top-10 finishes and a win in 28 starts. 

Kevin Kisner

Stephen B. Morton/Associated Press

OWGR end 2014: 236

OWGR currently: 17

Breakdown

Kevin Kisner, who just captured his first PGA Tour win at the RSM Classic, tallied just three top-10 finishes in the 2013-14 season.

He did better for himself in 2014-2015, recording three second-place finishes and 10 top-25s in 30 starts. Last season, Kisner was 35th in strokes gained: total. 

All stats via PGATour.com