Holders of the top spot
NOVEMBER 24, 2024: Scottie Scheffler begins his 79th week at the top of the World Ranking, his 113th overall.
Since the creation of the Official World Golf Ranking (known as the Sony Ranking until 1997), and although the top spot has changed hands 96 times since Bernhard Langer first took the position on April 6, 1986, only 25 players in all have held the coveted position of being officially the world’s number one golfer.
Tiger Woods holds the record for the most consecutive weeks at number one (281, from June 12, 2005 to October 30, 2010), as well as the most total weeks in the position at 683. The 25 holders, and the total number of weeks at number one, are as follows:
| Tiger Woods |
683 weeks
|
| Greg Norman |
331 weeks
|
| Dustin Johnson |
139 weeks
|
| Rory McIlroy |
122 weeks
|
| Scottie Scheffler |
113 weeks
|
| Nick Faldo |
97 weeks
|
| Severiano Ballesteros |
61 weeks
|
| Luke Donald |
56 weeks
|
| Jon Rahm | 52 weeks |
| Jason Day |
51 weeks
|
| Ian Woosnam |
50 weeks
|
| Brooks Koepka |
47 weeks
|
| Nick Price |
44 weeks
|
| Vijay Singh |
33 weeks
|
| Jordan Spieth |
26 weeks
|
| Lee Westwood |
22 weeks
|
| Fred Couples |
16 weeks
|
| David Duval |
15 weeks
|
| Justin Rose |
13 weeks
|
| Adam Scott |
11 weeks
|
| Ernie Els |
9 weeks
|
| Martin Kaymer |
8 weeks
|
| Justin Thomas |
5 weeks
|
| Bernhard Langer |
3 weeks
|
| Tom Lehman |
1 week
|
For the full chronological history of the holders of the world number one spot, click here.
MOST TIMES AS NO. 1
As the top spot has alternated between players over the years, Greg Norman reached number one 11 separate times, Tiger Woods also 11 times, Rory McIlroy 9, Dustin Johnson 7, Jon Rahm 6, Seve Ballesteros and Justin Rose 5 times, Nick Faldo, Luke Donald, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler 4 times, with Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Jason Day 3 times each.
SHORTEST TENURE
Although several number ones – including Tiger Woods – have held the position for just one week before being displaced, only Tom Lehman among the nineteen has been world number one for a single week in his career, in 1997.
YOUNGEST
Tiger Woods was 21 years and 167 days old when he first became world number one on June 15, 1997. Rory McIlroy became the second youngest at 22 years and 312 days when he took over the top spot on March 4, 2012.
OLDEST
Vijay Singh was 41 years, 6 months and 2 weeks old when he first became world number one on September 5, 2004, and 42 years, 3 months and 3 weeks old when he last held the position on June 11, 2005.
NATIONALITIES
Nine have been Americans, the position also having been held by four Englishmen, three Australians, two Germans, two Spaniards, a Welshman, a Zimbabwean, a South African, a Fijian and a Northern Irishman.
YEAR LONG HOLDERS
Only six players have held the position for at least 52 successive weeks: Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Scottie Scheffler. The first three players are also the only ones to have been world number one for a full calendar year: Nick Faldo throughout 1993, Greg Norman throughout 1996, and Tiger Woods throughout 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
In 2008, Tiger Woods achieved the remarkable feat of holding onto the number one position all year, despite not competing for more than six months after his June 16 playoff victory for the US Open against Rocco Mediate, as he underwent knee surgery and recuperation. He was still world number one on February 25, 2009, when he resumed tournament golf at the Accenture Match Play Championship.
Tiger Woods is truly a great player, are you a supporter of his? If you like him too, it must be cool to watch his games wearing Custom Patches with a pattern related to him.
HIGHEST POINTS TOTAL
Tiger Woods also holds the record for the highest ever average points total, when he reached 32.44 points (1459.64 points accumulated over 45 tournaments) on June 3, 2001, shortly before the 2001 US Open, at which point he was the first player ever to hold all four professional major championships simultaneously – the so-called ‘Tiger Slam’.
BIGGEST LEAD
Just before that, on May 20, 2001, Tiger Woods had also built the biggest ever lead in the rankings, when his 32.33 average points was 19.40 ahead of the then world number two Phil Mickelson on 12.93 average points.
History of the Official World Golf Ranking Number One position |
||||||||
| (Bracketed figure = number of times at World No. 1) | ||||||||
|
|
Player |
From:
|
To:
|
No. of weeks
|
||||
|
97
|
Scottie Scheffler (4) |
May 21, 2023
|
This week
|
79
|
||||
|
96
|
Jon Rahm (6) |
April 09, 2023
|
May 21, 2023
|
6
|
||||
|
95
|
Scottie Scheffler (3) |
March 12, 2023
|
April 09, 2023
|
4
|
||||
|
94
|
Jon Rahm (5) |
February 19, 2022
|
March 12, 2023
|
3
|
||||
|
93
|
Scottie Scheffler (2) |
February 12, 2022
|
February 19, 2022
|
1
|
||||
|
92
|
Rory McIlroy (9) |
October 23, 2022
|
February 12, 2023
|
16
|
||||
|
91
|
Scottie Scheffler (1) |
March 27, 2022
|
October 23, 2022
|
29
|
||||
|
90
|
Jon Rahm (4) |
July 18, 2021
|
March 27, 2022
|
36
|
||||
|
89
|
Dustin Johnson (7) |
July 11, 2021
|
July 18, 2021
|
1
|
||||
|
88
|
Jon Rahm (3) |
June 20, 2021
|
July 11, 2021
|
3
|
||||
|
87
|
Dustin Johnson (6) |
August 23, 2020
|
June 20, 2021
|
43
|
||||
|
86
|
Jon Rahm (2) |
August 09, 2020
|
August 23, 2020
|
2
|
||||
|
85
|
Justin Thomas (2) |
August 02, 2020
|
August 09, 2020
|
1
|
||||
|
84
|
Jon Rahm (1) |
July 19, 2020
|
August 02, 2020
|
2
|
||||
|
83
|
Rory McIlroy (8) |
February 09, 2020
|
July 19, 2020
|
11
|
||||
|
82
|
Brooks Koepka (4) |
May 19, 2019
|
February 09, 2020
|
38
|
||||
|
81
|
Dustin Johnson (5) |
April 14, 2019
|
May 19, 2019
|
5
|
||||
|
80
|
Justin Rose (5) |
April 07, 2019
|
April 14, 2019
|
1
|
||||
|
79
|
Dustin Johnson (4) |
March 03, 2019
|
April 07, 2019
|
5
|
||||
|
78
|
Justin Rose (4) |
January 06, 2019
|
March 03, 2019
|
8
|
||||
|
77
|
Brooks Koepka (3) |
November 25, 2018
|
January 06, 2019
|
6
|
||||
|
76
|
Justin Rose (3) |
November 18, 2018
|
November 25, 2018
|
1
|
||||
|
75
|
Brooks Koepka (2) |
November 11, 2018
|
November 18, 2018
|
1
|
||||
|
74
|
Justin Rose (2) |
November 04, 2018
|
November 11, 2018
|
1
|
||||
|
73
|
Brooks Koepka (1) |
October 21, 2018
|
November 04, 2018
|
2
|
||||
|
72
|
Dustin Johnson (3) |
September 23, 2018
|
October 21, 2018
|
4
|
||||
|
71
|
Justin Rose (1) |
September 09, 2018
|
September 23, 2018
|
2
|
||||
|
70
|
Dustin Johnson (2) |
June 10, 2018
|
September 09, 2018
|
17
|
||||
|
69
|
Justin Thomas (1) |
May 13, 2018
|
June 10, 2018
|
4
|
||||
|
68
|
Dustin Johnson (1) |
February 19, 2017
|
May 13, 2018
|
64
|
||||
|
67
|
Jason Day (3) |
March 27, 2016
|
February 19, 2017
|
47
|
||||
|
66
|
Jordan Spieth (4) |
Nov. 8, 2015
|
March 26, 2016
|
20
|
||||
|
65
|
Jason Day (2) |
Oct. 18, 2015
|
Nov. 7, 2015
|
3
|
||||
|
64
|
Jordan Spieth (3) |
Sep. 27, 2015
|
Oct. 17, 2015
|
3
|
||||
|
63
|
Jason Day (1) |
Sep. 20, 2015
|
Sep. 26, 2015
|
1
|
||||
|
62
|
Rory McIlroy (7) |
Sep. 13, 2015
|
Sep. 19, 2015
|
1
|
||||
|
61
|
Jordan Spieth (2) |
Sep. 7, 2015
|
Sep. 12, 2015
|
1
|
||||
|
60
|
Rory McIlroy (6) |
Aug. 30, 2015
|
Sep. 6, 2015
|
1
|
||||
|
59
|
Jordan Spieth (1) |
Aug. 16, 2015
|
Aug. 29, 2015
|
2
|
||||
|
58
|
Rory McIlroy (5) |
Aug. 3, 2014
|
Aug. 15, 2015
|
54
|
||||
|
57
|
Adam Scott (1) |
May 18, 2013
|
Aug. 2, 2014
|
11
|
||||
|
56
|
Tiger Woods (11) |
Mar. 25, 2013
|
May 17, 2014
|
60
|
||||
|
55
|
Rory McIlroy (4) |
Aug. 12, 2012
|
Mar. 24, 2013
|
32
|
||||
|
54
|
Luke Donald (4) |
May 27, 2012
|
Aug. 11, 2012
|
11
|
||||
|
53
|
Rory McIlroy (3) |
May 6, 2012
|
May 26, 2012
|
3
|
||||
|
52
|
Luke Donald (3) |
April 29, 2012
|
May 5, 2012
|
1
|
||||
|
51
|
Rory McIlroy (2) |
April 15, 2012
|
April 28, 2012
|
2
|
||||
|
50
|
Luke Donald (2) |
Mar. 18, 2012
|
April 14, 2012
|
4
|
||||
|
49
|
Rory McIlroy (1) |
Mar. 4, 2012
|
Mar. 17, 2012
|
2
|
||||
|
48
|
Luke Donald (1) |
May 29, 2011
|
Mar. 3, 2012
|
40
|
||||
|
47
|
Lee Westwood (2) |
April 24, 2011
|
May 28, 2011
|
5
|
||||
|
46
|
Martin Kaymer (1) |
Feb. 27, 2011
|
April 23, 2011
|
8
|
||||
|
45
|
Lee Westwood (1) |
Oct. 31, 2010
|
Feb. 26, 2011
|
17
|
||||
|
44
|
Tiger Woods (10) |
Jun. 12, 2005
|
Oct. 30, 2010
|
281
|
||||
|
43
|
Vijay Singh (3) |
May 22, 2005
|
Jun. 11, 2005
|
3
|
||||
|
42
|
Tiger Woods (9) |
Apr. 10, 2005
|
May 21, 2005
|
6
|
||||
|
41
|
Vijay Singh(2) |
Mar. 20, 2005
|
Apr. 9, 2005
|
3
|
||||
|
40
|
Tiger Woods (8) |
Mar. 6, 2005
|
Mar. 19, 2005
|
2
|
||||
|
39
|
Vijay Singh (1) |
Sep. 5, 2004
|
Mar. 5, 2005
|
26
|
||||
|
38
|
Tiger Woods (7) |
Aug. 15, 1999
|
Sep. 4, 2004
|
264
|
||||
|
37
|
David Duval (2) |
Aug. 7, 1999
|
Aug. 14, 1999
|
1
|
||||
|
36
|
Tiger Woods (6) |
Jul. 4, 1999
|
Aug. 6, 1999
|
5
|
||||
|
35
|
David Duval (1) |
Mar. 28, 1999
|
Jul. 3, 1999
|
14
|
||||
|
34
|
Tiger Woods (5) |
Jun. 14, 1998
|
Mar. 27, 1999
|
41
|
||||
|
33
|
Ernie Els (3) |
May 17, 1998
|
Jun. 13, 1998
|
4
|
||||
|
32
|
Tiger Woods (4) |
May 10, 1998
|
May 16, 1998
|
1
|
||||
|
31
|
Ernie Els (2) |
Apr. 12, 1998
|
May 9, 1998
|
4
|
||||
|
30
|
Tiger Woods (3) |
Jan. 11, 1998
|
Apr. 11, 1998
|
13
|
||||
|
29
|
Greg Norman (11) |
Sep. 7, 1997
|
Jan. 10, 1998
|
18
|
||||
|
28
|
Tiger Woods (2) |
Jul. 6, 1997
|
Sep. 6, 1997
|
9
|
||||
|
27
|
Greg Norman (10) |
Jun. 29, 1997
|
Jul. 5, 1997
|
1
|
||||
|
26
|
Ernie Els (1) |
Jun. 22, 1997
|
Jun. 28, 1997
|
1
|
||||
|
25
|
Tiger Woods (1) |
Jun. 15, 1997
|
Jun. 21, 1997
|
1
|
||||
|
24
|
Greg Norman (9) |
Apr. 27, 1997
|
Jun. 14, 1997
|
7
|
||||
|
23
|
Tom Lehman (1) |
Apr. 20, 1997
|
Apr. 26, 1997
|
1
|
||||
|
22
|
Greg Norman (8) |
Jun. 18, 1995
|
Apr. 19, 1997
|
96
|
||||
|
21
|
Nick Price (1) |
Aug. 14, 1994
|
Jun. 17, 1995
|
44
|
||||
|
20
|
Greg Norman (7) |
Feb. 6, 1994
|
Aug. 13, 1994
|
27
|
||||
|
19
|
Nick Faldo (4) |
Jul. 19, 1992
|
Feb. 5, 1994
|
81
|
||||
|
18
|
Fred Couples (2) |
Apr. 5, 1992
|
Jul. 18, 1992
|
15
|
||||
|
17
|
Nick Faldo (3) |
Mar. 29, 1992
|
Apr. 4, 1992
|
1
|
||||
|
16
|
Fred Couples (1) |
Mar. 22, 1992
|
Mar. 28, 1992
|
1
|
||||
|
15
|
Ian Woosnam (1) |
Apr. 7, 1991
|
Mar. 21, 1992
|
50
|
||||
|
14
|
Nick Faldo (2) |
Feb. 3, 1991
|
Apr. 6, 1991
|
9
|
||||
|
13
|
Greg Norman (6) |
Oct. 14, 1990
|
Feb. 2, 1991
|
16
|
||||
|
12
|
Nick Faldo (1) |
Sep. 2, 1990
|
Oct. 13, 1990
|
7
|
||||
|
11
|
Greg Norman (5) |
Aug. 20, 1989
|
Sep. 1, 1990
|
54
|
||||
|
10
|
Seve Ballesteros (5) |
Apr. 2, 1989
|
Aug. 19, 1989
|
20
|
||||
|
9
|
Greg Norman (4) |
Mar. 26, 1989
|
Apr. 1, 1989
|
1
|
||||
|
8
|
Seve Ballesteros (4) |
Nov. 13, 1988
|
Mar. 25, 1989
|
19
|
||||
|
7
|
Greg Norman (3) |
Nov. 6, 1988
|
Nov. 12, 1987
|
1
|
||||
|
6
|
Seve Ballesteros (3) |
Oct. 30, 1988
|
Nov. 5, 1987
|
1
|
||||
|
5
|
Greg Norman (2) |
Nov. 29, 1987
|
Oct. 29, 1987
|
49
|
||||
|
4
|
Seve Ballesteros (2) |
Nov. 22, 1987
|
Nov. 28, 1986
|
1
|
||||
|
3
|
Greg Norman (1) |
Sep. 14, 1986
|
Nov. 21, 1986
|
61
|
||||
|
2
|
Seve Ballesteros (1) |
Apr. 27, 1986
|
Sep. 13, 1986
|
20
|
||||
|
1
|
Bernhard Langer (1) |
Apr. 6, 1986
|
Apr. 26, 1986
|
3
|
||||
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