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How Many Players Have Reached the World No. 1 Ranking in Golf?

Published 02/08/2022, 11:59 AM EST

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USA Today via Reuters

Everybody would want to be the best in their profession. However, not everyone can be. Sport is a profession where being at the top is the goal of every other player. So, let’s find out how many golfers have managed to fulfill their goal and reached the World No.1 Ranking. 

The Sony Ranking, renamed in 1997 as the Official World Golf Ranking, was enacted in 1986. The first person to reach the top of the table was Bernhard Langer. Since Langer, there have been only 23 others who had the opportunity to be in the top position until now. Although the number might be shocking, it is the truth! 

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Record creators of the OWGR

Tiger Woods was one of the 24 golfers who became the World no.1 in golf. Although it is a known fact, it would be best to talk about the elephant in the room first. So, Woods had not only acquired the position multiple times, but he had done it in style. He had created many records while being at the top; the youngest to become one, one of the two to claim the position for most times, the record for the most consecutive weeks at number one, and many more. 

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While, Tiger is the youngest to become the world’s best golfer, Vijay Singh is the oldest to do it. Tiger was 21 years and 167 days old, and Singh was 41 years, 6 months, and 2 weeks old. 

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Other than Tiger Woods, only Greg Norman had been able to create a similar record in the World Rankings. He is tied with Tiger to claim the position for the most time; Norman and Woods have done it 11 times. He is also the second to become the first for most consecutive weeks. Norman held the position for 331 weeks, whereas Tiger did it for 683 weeks. 

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Woods, Norman, Nick Faldo, Rory McIlroy, and Jon Rahm are the only golfers to hold the first position for over a year. 

Complete list of the golfers who have reached the World No.1 Ranking in Golf

Here is the list of the golfers who have reached the World No.1 Ranking in the OWGR. They are listed in descending order of the most consecutive weeks they spend in the 1st place.

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Sl. No.NameWeeks
1Tiger Woods683
2Greg Norman331
3Dustin Johnson135
4Rory McIlroy106
5Nick Faldo97
6Severiano Ballesteros61
7Luke Donald56
8Jason Day51
9Ian Woosnam50
10Brooks Koepka47
11Nick Price44
12Jon Rahm37
13Vijay Singh33
14Jordan Spieth26
15Lee Westwood22
16Fred Couples16
17David Duval15
18Justin Rose13
19Adam Scott11
20Ernie Els9
21Martin Kaymer8
22Justin Thomas5
23Bernhard Langer3
24Tom Lehman1

Jon Rahm is the current world no.1 in the OWGR.

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Written by:

Anjana Prabhakaran

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Anjana Prabhakaran is a Golf content writer at EssentiallySports. She has completed her Master's degree in Public Administration and considers researching as one of her hobbies. As her family is interested in sports, Anjana grew up watching every sport on television.
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