No one doubted Annika Sorenstam was the No. 1 player in women's golf.

Now it's official.

The Women's World Golf Ranking finally made its debut today with Sorenstam far atop the list based on her 21 victories worldwide and three major championships over the past two years. Such is her dominance that Sorenstam's lead was nearly double that of Paula Creamer at No. 2.

The only surprise was Michelle Wie.

The 16-year-old from Honolulu, who turned pro in October, checked in at No. 3 and could move ahead of Creamer depending on what happens in the Fields Open in Hawai'i this week on the LPGA Tour.

The women's ranking, sponsored by Rolex, will be published every Tuesday and used as criteria for getting into tournaments such as the LPGA Championship, the Women's British Open and the HSBC Women's World Match Play.

The system is similar to the men's ranking. It measures performance over two years, with emphasis placed on the most recent 13-week period. Points are assigned based on the strength of field, then divided by the number of tournaments played.

But there are two major differences.

Professionals and amateurs can appear in the women's world ranking because anyone can earn points by competing in official events on the LPGA, European, Japan, Korean and Australian women's tours, along with the developmental Futures Tour in the United States.

And while the men have a minimum divisor of 40 tournaments over two years, the women's divisor is only 15.

That explains why Wie, who plays sparingly while attending high school in Honolulu, started out ranked so high.

She has played 15 events on the LPGA since 2004 with six top-10 finishes — three in majors. She was fourth in the Kraft Nabisco Championship in '04, and last year was second at the LPGA Championship and tied for third in the Women's British Open.

MERCEDES, KAPALUA RENEW DEAL FOR 4 YEARS

The Mercedes Championships will be back at Kapalua for the next four years.

"It's great that the PGA will start its season once again at Kapalua. We can't be any happier," said Gary Planos, Kapalua Resort vice president and tournament chair.

An official announcement is expected today.

This was the last year of a four-year commitment among Mercedes-Benz USA, Kapalua Land Company, the PGA Tour and ESPN.

Organizers announced in January that the tournament would be staying.

Mercedes has been the title sponsor since 1994.

The tournament moved to Kapalua's Plantation Course in 1999.

THROUGH YESTERDAY

1. ANNIKA SORENSTAM, SWEDEN 18.47

2. PAULA CREAMER, UNITED STATES 9.65

3. MICHELLE WIE, UNITED STATES 9.24

4. YURI FUDOH, JAPAN 7.37

5. CRISTIE KERR, UNITED STATES 6.94

6. AI MIYAZATO, JAPAN 6.58

7. LORENA OCHOA, MEXICO 6.10

8. JEONG JANG, SOUTH KOREA 4.91

9. HEE-WON HAN, SOUTH KOREA 4.49

10. JULI INKSTER, UNITED STATES 4.11

11. GRACE PARK, SOUTH KOREA 3.89

12. KARRIE WEBB, AUSTRALIA 3.69

13. SAKURA YOKOMINE, JAPAN 3.59

14. SHIHO OHYAMA, JAPAN 3.46

15. PAT HURST, UNITED STATES 3.44

16. ROSIE JONES, UNITED STATES 3.40

17. KASUMI FUJII, JAPAN 3.39

18. NATALIE GULBIS, UNITED STATES 3.38

19. CATRIONA MATTHEW, SCOTLAND 3.38

20. SOO-YUN KANG, SOUTH KOREA 3.30

21. JU-MI KIM, SOUTH KOREA 3.29

22. CANDIE KUNG, TAIWAN 3.10

23. LISELOTTE NEUMANN, SWEDEN 3.06

24 JENNIFER ROSALES, PHILIPPINES 3.01

25. CARIN KOCH, SWEDEN 2.97

26. HYUN-JU SHIN, SOUTH KOREA 2.94

27. MI HYUN KIM, SOUTH KOREA 2.93

28 CHRISTINA KIM, UNITED STATES 2.86

29. MICHELE REDMAN, UNITED STATES 2.84

30. GLORIA PARK, SOUTH KOREA 2.83

31. MIDORI YONEYAMA, JAPAN 2.78

32. MICHIKO HATTORI, JAPAN 2.77

33. KAREN STUPPLES, ENGLAND 2.71

34. SHI HYUN AHN, SOUTH KOREA 2.68

35. HEATHER YOUNG, UNITED STATES 2.66

36. JUNKO OMOTE, JAPAN 2.65

37. AKIKO FUKUSHIMA, JAPAN 2.63

38. KARINE ICHER, FRANCE 2.61

39. WENDY WARD, UNITED STATES 2.59

40. YOUNG KIM, SOUTH KOREA 2.53

41. MEG MALLON, UNITED STATES 2.41

42. HEE-YOUNG PARK, SOUTH KOREA 2.39

43. SOPHIE GUSTAFSON, SWEDEN 2.36

44. LORIE KANE, CANADA 2.32

45. SHINOBU MOROMIZATO, JAPAN 2.31

46. MARISA BAENA, COLOMBIA 2.28

47. LAURA DAVIES, ENGLAND 2.23

48. JI-HEE LEE, SOUTH KOREA 2.22

49. MEENA LEE, SOUTH KOREA 2.21

50. RACHEL HETHERINGTON, AUSTRALIA 2.19

51. BIRDIE KIM, SOUTH KOREA 2.17

52. KAORI HIGO, JAPAN 2.14

53. NICOLE PERROT, CHILE 2.12

54. BETH DANIEL, UNITED STATES 2.05

55. MICHIE OHBA, JAPAN 1.98

56. LAURA DIAZ, UNITED STATES 1.97

57. MI-JEONG JEON, SOUTH KOREA 1.94

58. MIHO KOGA, JAPAN 1.93

59. NA-YEON CHOI, SOUTH KOREA 1.84

60. EUN-HYE LEE, SOUTH KOREA 1.82

61. BO-BAE SONG, SOUTH KOREA 1.82

62. STACY PRAMMANASUDH, UNITED STATES 1.80

63. NIKKI CAMPBELL, AUSTRALIA 1.77

64. HIROKO YAMAGUCHI, JAPAN 1.76

65. KIM SAIKI, UNITED STATES 1.76

66. MARIA HJORTH, SWEDEN 1.70

67. AKANE IIJIMA, J APAN 1.69

68. LETA LINDLEY, UNITED STATES 1.64

69. YUN-JYE WEI, TAIWAN 1.63

70. HIROMI MOGI, JAPAN 1.62

71. WENDY DOOLAN, AUSTRALIA 1.61

72. TOSHIMI KIMURA, JAPAN 1.55

73. MIKIYO NISHIZUKA, JAPAN 1.55

74. JULIE LU, TAIWAN 1.53

75. JILL MCGILL, UNITED STATES 1.48