Since the Official World Golf Ranking was introduced in 1986, 24 players have reached the No. 1 ranking in the world.
Jon Rahm became No. 1 in the world for the first time on July 19, 2020, taking over for Rory McIlroy atop the Official World Golf Ranking with a win in the 2020 Memorial Tournament.
Rory McIlroy became world No. 1 again on Feb. 10, 2020, overtaking Brooks Koepka to earn a 96th week atop the Official World Golf Ranking. McIlroy was last world No. 1 on Sept. 19, 2015, meaning there were 1,605 days between his last two stints at the top of the mountain. That’s the longest gap in OWGR history, surpassing the 1,100 days between Greg Norman’s No. 1 stints, with one ending Feb. 2, 1991 and taking back over on Feb. 6, 1994.
Rory has set a record with his return to No. 1 in the world ranking.
It’s been 1,605 days since he last held the top spot. That’s the largest gap between tenures at No. 1 in the history of the OWGR.
Greg Norman held the old mark of 1,100 days. pic.twitter.com/CdFlG0XktK
— Sean Martin (@PGATOURSMartin) February 10, 2020
Brooks Koepka became the 23rd male player to be ranked No. 1 in the world ranking, taking over for Dustin Johnson on Oct. 22, 2018, when he won the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges to jump from third to first, passing both Johnson and Justin Rose, who became the 22nd male player to be ranked No. 1 in the world ranking on Sept. 10, 2018 when he finished second at the BMW Championship. Rose also supplanted Dustin Johnson, who had completed his 77th cumulative week at No. 1.
Justin Thomas became the 21st player to reach the top spot in the world ranking on May 13, 2018, when he ended Dustin Johnson’s 64-week run atop the OWGR. Johnson first took the top spot on Feb. 19, 2017, when he won the 2017 Genesis Open, unseating Jason Day after 47 consecutive weeks at the top of the ranking.
Tiger Woods holds the most weeks at No. 1, having held the top spot for 683 weeks in his career. He spent more than 13 years at No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, including a preposterous 281 weeks from June 12, 2005 to Oct. 30, 2010.
Of the 22 players to hold the No. 1 ranking, only one has held it for one total week: Tom Lehman from Apr. 20-26, 1997.
Let’s take a look at the order in which players have been No. 1 in the world and for how many cumulative weeks each player has held the top spot.
Players who have been ranked No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking
1. Bernhard Langer – 3
2. Seve Ballesteros – 61
3. Greg Norman – 331
4. Nick Faldo – 97
5. Ian Woosnam – 50
6. Fred Couples – 16
7. Nick Price – 44
8. Tom Lehman – 1
9. Tiger Woods – 683
10. Ernie Els – 9
11. David Duval – 15
12. Vijay Singh – 32
13. Lee Westwood – 22
14. Martin Kaymer – 8
15. Luke Donald – 56
16. Rory McIlroy – 106
17. Adam Scott – 11
18. Jordan Spieth – 26
19. Jason Day – 51
20. Dustin Johnson – 91
21. Justin Thomas – 4
22. Justin Rose – 13
23. Brooks Koepka – 47
24. Jon Rahm – 1
By: Golf News Net
Title: Players who have been ranked No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking
Sourced From: thegolfnewsnet.com/golfnewsnetteam/2020/07/19/players-ranked-no-1-official-world-golf-ranking-103223/
Published Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2020 02:41:43 +0000
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