# created by Mark Holton  (holtonma@gmail.com)
# copy as much as you want to
# 10-29-2008
# purpose: scrape the official world golf ranking, and present it in a more usable form (TBD: Array of Hashes, maybe)
# using Hpricot, open-uri (later might switch to Nokogiri instead of Hpricot)

...Official Golf World Ranking OGWR... code that grabs the official golf world rankings... use the data as you wish in your own application... released as open source...

code: http://github.com/holtonma/ogwr/tree/master/ogwr_scraper.rb
test: http://github.com/holtonma/ogwr/tree/master/test_ogwr_scraper.rb

enables anyone to take this site...
http://www.officialworldgolfranking.com/rankings/default.sps

grab all the data, and do with it what you wish (store to a database each week, hold in your database to related to players on your website, etc).  Some boogs, but it's decent for a start:

fetcher = Fetcher.new

(1..6).each do |page|
  url = "http://www.officialworldgolfranking.com/rankings/default.sps?region=world&PageCount=#{page}"
  players = fetcher.friendly_structure(fetcher.fetch_via_noko(url, page))
  players.each do |p|
    puts "#{p.rank} :: #{p.fname} #{p.lname} #{p.avg_pts} #{p.tot_pts}"
  end
end

# example output from the above code! 
 1  ::  Tiger Woods,   13.79   551.48 
 2  ::  Sergio Garcia,   8.59   446.55 
 3  ::  Phil Mickelson,   7.95   389.52 
 4  ::  Padraig Harrington,   7.51   390.56 
 5  ::  Vijay Singh,   7.44   409.09 
 6  ::  Robert Karlsson,   5.27   273.84 
 7  ::  Camilo Villegas,   5.25   262.35 
 8  ::  Ernie Els,   5.01   275.76 
 9  ::  Anthony Kim,   4.84   246.88 
 10  ::  Lee Westwood,   4.83   256.21 
 11  ::  Henrik Stenson,   4.78   234.40 
 12  ::  Jim Furyk,   4.77   238.37 
 13  ::  Steve Stricker,   4.45   200.03 
 14  ::  Geoff Ogilvy,   4.36   205.00 
 15  ::  Stewart Cink,   4.32   211.68 
 16  ::  K.J. Choi,   4.25   221.18 
 17  ::  Adam Scott,   4.24   194.96 
 18  ::  Justin Rose,   4.10   184.34 
 19  ::  Kenny Perry,   3.90   195.15 
 20  ::  Miguel A  3.76   195.71 
 21  ::  Mike Weir,   3.67   187.10 
 22  ::  Trevor Immelman,   3.60   190.83 
 23  ::  Justin Leonard,   3.56   192.27 
 24  ::  Ben Curtis,   3.39   159.45 
 25  ::  Ian Poulter,   3.39   179.80 
 26  ::  Martin Kaymer,   3.31   182.04 
 27  ::  Luke Donald,   3.23   129.02 
 28  ::  Rory Sabbatini,   3.13   156.37 
 29  ::  Aaron Baddeley,   3.09   151.40 
 30  ::  Robert Allenby,   3.08   184.78 
 31  ::  Andres Romero,   3.03   157.51 
 32  ::  Stephen Ames,   3.02   141.74 
 33  ::  Graeme McDowell,   3.01   168.78 
 34  ::  Ross Fisher,   3.00   162.24 
 35  ::  Stuart Appleby,   2.97   166.06 
 36  ::  Shingo Katayama,   2.94   161.62 
 37  ::  Angel Cabrera,   2.82   143.64 
 38  ::  Paul Casey,   2.78   138.89 
 39  ::  Zach Johnson,   2.75   132.13 
 40  ::  Hunter Mahan,   2.75   151.22 
 41  ::  Boo Weekley,   2.70   145.62 
 42  ::  Oliver Wilson,   2.64   145.28 
 43  ::  Tim Clark,   2.64   126.55 
 44  ::  Soren Hansen,   2.61   138.50 
 45  ::  Retief Goosen,   2.60   143.11 
 46  ::  Jeev Milkha  2.56   189.15 
 47  ::  Kevin Sutherland,   2.47   126.07 
 48  ::  Soren Kjeldsen,   2.47   140.88 
 49  ::  Woody Austin,   2.40   139.20 
 50  ::  Peter Hanson,   2.39   129.03 
 51  ::  Sean O'Hair,   2.37   128.14 
 52  ::  Dudley Hart,   2.34   93.54 
 53  ::  Scott Verplank,   2.31   110.74 
 54  ::  Carl Pettersson,   2.26   135.49 
 55  ::  Brandt Snedeker,   2.20   129.92 
 56  ::  Chad Campbell,   2.16   120.91 
 57  ::  Fredrik Jacobson,   2.15   94.51 
 58  ::  Ryuji Imada,   2.15   126.58 
 59  ::  Richard Green,   2.14   96.21 
 60  ::  Brendan Jones,   2.13   93.90 
 61  ::  Darren Clarke,   2.05   112.79 
 62  ::  Rocco Mediate,   2.02   98.87 
 63  ::  Rory McIlroy,   1.97   78.73 
 64  ::  Charl Schwartzel,   1.97   112.02 
 65  ::  J.B. Holmes,   1.95   101.48 
 66  ::  D.J. Trahan,   1.93   112.18 
 67  ::  Rod Pampling,   1.89   109.57 
 68  ::  James Kingston,   1.87   103.00 
 69  ::  Pat Perez,   1.83   98.72 
 70  ::  Azuma Yano,   1.82   89.40 
 71  ::  Nick Dougherty,   1.82   98.41 
 72  ::  Prayad Marksaeng,   1.81   112.50 
 73  ::  Ken Duke,   1.81   115.86 
 74  ::  Anders Hansen,   1.80   86.60 
 75  ::  Jeff Quinney,   1.79   101.75 
 76  ::  Bart Bryant,   1.78   85.62 
 77  ::  Davis Love-III,   1.78   78.39 
 78  ::  Hideto Tanihara,   1.74   88.56 
 79  ::  Alvaro Quiros,   1.74   74.63 
 80  ::  Peter Hedblom,   1.71   83.81 
 81  ::  Billy Mayfair,   1.68   99.37 
 82  ::  Gonzalo Fdez-Castano,   1.67   86.63 
 83  ::  Mathew Goggin,   1.66   98.22 
 84  ::  Nick O'Hern,   1.66   96.26 
 85  ::  Jerry Kelly,   1.64   98.59 
 86  ::  Niclas Fasth,   1.64   88.54 
 87  ::  Heath Slocum,   1.64   93.36 
 88  ::  Paul Goydos,   1.63   71.55 
 89  ::  Steve Flesch,   1.62   97.09 
 90  ::  Hennie Otto,   1.59   63.73 
 91  ::  Ben Crane,   1.56   62.57 
 92  ::  Lin Wen-Tang,   1.56   62.49 
 93  ::  David Toms,   1.56   65.53 
 94  ::  Paul McGinley,   1.56   81.02 
 95  ::  Toru Taniguchi,   1.55   83.91 
 96  ::  Shintaro Kai,   1.54   61.67 
 97  ::  Peter Lonard,   1.53   94.61 
 98  ::  Gregory Havret,   1.52   86.73 
 99  ::  Francesco Molinari,   1.51   81.68 
 100  ::  John Senden,   1.51   90.54 
 101  ::  Mark Brown,   1.49   74.70 
 102  ::  Arron Oberholser,   1.48   59.13 
 103  ::  Brian Gay,   1.48   93.12 
 104  ::  Stephen Marino,   1.47   92.42 
 105  ::  Steve Webster,   1.46   71.74 
 106  ::  Briny Baird,   1.46   89.24 
 107  ::  Hiroyuki Fujita,   1.46   67.17 
 108  ::  Anthony Wall,   1.45   84.38 
 109  ::  Mark Wilson,   1.45   78.17 
 110  ::  Bubba Watson,   1.44   79.37 
 111  ::  Alexander Noren,   1.44   79.35 
 112  ::  Liang Wen-Chong,   1.44   80.73 
 113  ::  Alastair Forsyth,   1.43   74.26 
 114  ::  Charlie Wi,   1.42   83.98 
 115  ::  Richard Sterne,   1.41   70.62 
 116  ::  Charles Howell-III,   1.40   81.12 
 117  ::  Ryo Ishikawa,   1.40   55.92 
 118  ::  Colin Montgomerie,   1.39   71.11 
 119  ::  Simon Dyson,   1.38   82.71 
 120  ::  Louis Oosthuizen,   1.38   68.81 
 121  ::  Daniel Chopra,   1.37   96.99 
 122  ::  Gregory Bourdy,   1.36   74.66 
 123  ::  Kevin Streelman,   1.35   54.05 
 124  ::  Mark Calcavecchia,   1.34   71.22 
 125  ::  Pablo Larrazabal,   1.33   62.67 
 126  ::  Hur Suk-ho,   1.32   59.39 
 127  ::  David Smail,   1.31   65.49 
 128  ::  Matt Kuchar,   1.30   70.22 
 129  ::  Taco Remkes,   1.29   51.60 
 130  ::  Scott Strange,   1.27   72.34 
 131  ::  Tommy Armour-III,   1.26   61.64 
 132  ::  George McNeill,   1.26   74.18 
 133  ::  Graeme Storm,   1.25   71.24 
 134  ::  Felipe Aguilar,   1.24   59.62 
 135  ::  Markus Brier,   1.24   65.67 
 136  ::  David Horsey,   1.24   49.40 
 137  ::  Johnson Wagner,   1.23   72.70 
 138  ::  Matt Bettencourt,   1.23   50.47 
 139  ::  Jonathan Byrd,   1.23   61.48 
 140  ::  Toshinori Muto,   1.22   55.98 
 141  ::  Ryan Moore,   1.21   65.41 
 142  ::  Richard Finch,   1.20   74.43 
 143  ::  Robert-Jan Derksen,   1.20   67.18 
 144  ::  Jyoti Randhawa,   1.20   62.19 
 145  ::  Dean Wilson,   1.19   71.35 
 146  ::  Lu Wen-Teh,   1.19   47.44 
 147  ::  John Rollins,   1.18   67.53 
 148  ::  Bradley Dredge,   1.18   54.40 
 149  ::  Thongchai Jaidee,   1.18   66.03 
 150  ::  Thomas Levet,   1.18   54.21 
 151  ::  Tomohiro Kondo,   1.18   51.71 
 152  ::  David Lynn,   1.17   62.12 
 153  ::  Nicholas Thompson,   1.17   80.81 
 154  ::  Steve Elkington,   1.16   59.35 
 155  ::  Dustin Johnson,   1.16   46.46 
 156  ::  Richie Ramsay,   1.15   45.90 
 157  ::  Marc Turnesa,   1.15   68.72 
 158  ::  Mikael Lundberg,   1.14   55.74 
 159  ::  Tim Herron,   1.14   62.45 
 160  ::  John Mallinger,   1.13   65.81 
 161  ::  Lucas Glover,   1.13   61.91 
 162  ::  John Bickerton,   1.11   55.69 
 162  ::  John Merrick,   1.11   64.60 
 164  ::  Lee Dong-hwan,   1.11   53.33 
 165  ::  David Howell,   1.10   56.01 
 166  ::  Jason Bohn,   1.09   43.78 
 167  ::  Paul Lawrie,   1.09   59.09 
 168  ::  Tom Lehman,   1.09   43.58 
 169  ::  Thaworn Wiratchant,   1.09   61.92 
 170  ::  Hidemasa Hoshino,   1.08   45.18 
 171  ::  Fred Couples,   1.07   42.85 
 172  ::  Troy Matteson,   1.05   58.98 
 173  ::  Steve Lowery,   1.04   48.69 
 174  ::  Thomas Bjorn,   1.03   46.49 
 175  ::  Nick Watney,   1.03   54.47 
 176  ::  Peter Lawrie,   1.03   61.53 
 177  ::  Hiroshi Iwata,   1.02   49.12 
 178  ::  Damien McGrane,   1.02   63.38 
 179  ::  Michael Allen,   1.02   51.10 
 180  ::  Brett Wetterich,   1.02   40.71 
 181  ::  Tom Pernice-Jr,   1.01   61.72 
 182  ::  Gary Orr,   1.01   40.47 
 183  ::  Noh Seung-yul,   1.00   40.19 
 184  ::  Parker McLachlin,   1.00   55.92 
 185  ::  Greg Chalmers,   1.00   57.71 
 186  ::  Brian Davis,   0.99   63.45 
 187  ::  Katsumasa Miyamoto,   0.99   48.55 
 188  ::  Mikko Ilonen,   0.99   47.46 
 189  ::  Steven Conran,   0.99   42.47 
 190  ::  Michael Campbell,   0.98   49.95 
 191  ::  Ross McGowan,   0.98   55.80 
 192  ::  Arjun Atwal,   0.97   56.07 
 193  ::  Greg Norman,   0.96   38.58 
 194  ::  Scott Piercy,   0.96   38.39 
 195  ::  Cliff Kresge,   0.95   55.33 
 196  ::  Taichi Teshima,   0.95   44.68 
 197  ::  Nathan Green,   0.95   62.66 
 198  ::  Chez Reavie,   0.95   54.01 
 199  ::  Ryan Palmer,   0.94   53.85 
 200  ::  Raphael Jacquelin,   0.94   51.90 
 201  ::  Cameron Beckman,   0.94   54.47 
 202  ::  Gareth Maybin,   0.93   37.31 
 203  ::  Michael Letzig,   0.93   53.97 
 204  ::  Spencer Levin,   0.92   38.51 
 205  ::  Joost Luiten,   0.92   36.60 
 206  ::  Brett Quigley,   0.91   45.35 
 207  ::  Bae Sang-moon,   0.91   36.26 
 208  ::  Brendon de  0.91   53.42 
 209  ::  Alex Cejka,   0.91   49.77 
 210  ::  Scott Hend,   0.90   41.52 
 211  ::  Johan Edfors,   0.90   45.03 
 212  ::  David Gleeson,   0.90   40.52 
 213  ::  Robert Dinwiddie,   0.89   50.96 
 214  ::  Vaughn Taylor,   0.89   53.59 
 215  ::  Jason Day,   0.89   41.96 
 216  ::  Estanislao Goya,   0.89   35.48 
 217  ::  Colt Knost,   0.88   35.24 
 218  ::  Will Mackenzie,   0.87   45.21 
 219  ::  Seve Benson,   0.87   34.67 
 220  ::  Yasuharu Imano,   0.86   39.33 
 221  ::  Charley Hoffman,   0.85   52.01 
 222  ::  Kevin Na,   0.85   47.72 
 223  ::  Chris DiMarco,   0.85   48.51 
 224  ::  Oliver Fisher,   0.84   48.71 
 225  ::  Joe Ogilvie,   0.84   50.17 
 226  ::  Keiichiro Fukabori,   0.83   40.75 
 227  ::  Bo Van  0.83   51.45 
 228  ::  Jeff Klauk,   0.82   46.91 
 229  ::  Greg Kraft,   0.81   39.87 
 230  ::  Bill Lunde,   0.81   32.45 
 231  ::  Bill Haas,   0.80   49.00 
 232  ::  Mark Foster,   0.80   44.00 
 233  ::  Phillip Archer,   0.80   49.59 
 234  ::  Ricardo Gonzalez,   0.80   38.32 
 235  ::  Corey Pavin,   0.80   36.69 
 236  ::  Andrew McLardy,   0.80   42.20 
 237  ::  Jose Manuel  0.80   43.78 
 238  ::  Scott McCarron,   0.79   31.76 
 239  ::  Craig Parry,   0.79   36.52 
 240  ::  Jeff Overton,   0.79   45.89 
 241  ::  Jarrod Lyle,   0.78   47.42 
 242  ::  Wil Besseling,   0.78   31.02 
 243  ::  Greg Owen,   0.77   37.96 
 244  ::  Pelle Edberg,   0.77   44.90 
 245  ::  Marc Leishman,   0.77   32.49 
 246  ::  Jamie Donaldson,   0.77   42.45 
 247  ::  Robert Garrigus,   0.77   43.89 
 248  ::  Simon Khan,   0.77   39.23 
 249  ::  Michael Lorenzo-Vera,   0.76   35.07 
 250  ::  Martin Laird,   0.76   44.21 
 251  ::  Marc Warren,   0.76   40.38 
 252  ::  J.J. Henry,   0.76   45.65 
 253  ::  Chapchai Nirat,   0.76   44.01 
 254  ::  Magnus A  0.76   41.67 
 255  ::  Matthew Jones,   0.76   43.19 
 256  ::  Ignacio Garrido,   0.75   40.71 
 257  ::  Jean-F Lucquin,   0.75   46.66 
 258  ::  Brad Adamonis,   0.75   43.64 
 259  ::  Jay Williamson,   0.75   44.76 
 260  ::  Kenichi Kuboya,   0.74   34.00 
 261  ::  Makoto Inoue,   0.73   31.53 
 262  ::  Koumei Oda,   0.73   34.41 
 263  ::  Chris Wood,   0.73   29.26 
 264  ::  Tim Petrovic,   0.73   46.73 
 265  ::  Brendon Todd,   0.73   29.13 
 266  ::  Tim Wilkinson,   0.73   41.38 
 267  ::  Kaname Yokoo,   0.72   35.46 
 268  ::  Jason Gore,   0.72   44.74 
 269  ::  David Dixon,   0.72   29.56 
 270  ::  Rich Beem,   0.72   41.74 
 271  ::  Bernhard Langer,   0.71   28.59 
 272  ::  Roland Thatcher,   0.71   30.69 
 273  ::  Jesper Parnevik,   0.70   40.76 
 274  ::  D.A. Points,   0.70   40.03 
 275  ::  Toyokazu Fujishima,   0.70   29.46 
 276  ::  Jeppe Huldahl,   0.69   30.54 
 277  ::  Casey Wittenberg,   0.69   27.54 
 278  ::  Paul Waring,   0.69   27.49 
 279  ::  Stephen Gallacher,   0.69   36.40 
 280  ::  David Frost,   0.68   33.23 
 281  ::  Bob Estes,   0.67   37.77 
 282  ::  Takao Nogami,   0.67   30.25 
 283  ::  Joe Durant,   0.67   37.38 
 284  ::  Michael Jonzon,   0.67   26.66 
 285  ::  Juvic Pagunsan,   0.67   26.65 
 286  ::  Kris Blanks,   0.67   27.30 
 287  ::  John Ellis,   0.66   26.56 
 288  ::  Klas Eriksson,   0.66   33.04 
 289  ::  Yusaku Miyazato,   0.66   32.32 
 290  ::  Charles Warren,   0.66   38.24 
 291  ::  Brian Bateman,   0.66   26.22 
 292  ::  Michio Matsumura,   0.65   26.04 
 293  ::  Daniel Vancsik,   0.65   36.43 
 294  ::  David Mathis,   0.65   32.45 
 295  ::  Richard Johnson,   0.65   35.67 
 296  ::  Maarten Lafeber,   0.65   33.60 
 297  ::  Ben Leong,   0.64   25.75 
 298  ::  Steve Allan,   0.64   28.26 
 299  ::  Shane Bertsch,   0.64   25.67 
 300  ::  Antti Ahokas,   0.64   30.75 
....