Rankings are weighted as to the time elapsed over the two years, making the recent results more important.
In addition, players were required to play in a minimum of 15 eligible events over the previous two-year period to be included in the rankings.
[2] Many commentators saw the latter change as directed at Michelle Wie, who at the time was ranked second in the world despite having competed in only 16 women's professional events in the two-year period.
[5] Four of the 12 places in the European Solheim Cup team are allocated on the basis of the rankings.
More specifically, the countries whose top four players have the highest cumulative rankings are invited to compete.
[8] The individual participants from each qualified country are determined by the rankings immediately prior to the ANA Inspiration (known before 2015 as the Kraft Nabisco Championship) in the year of the event.
Notes Annika Sörenstam of Sweden topped the first set of rankings, which was released on Tuesday 21 February 2006.