The following is a list of golfers who have been top of the Official World Golf Ranking (originally known as the Sony Ranking), since the rankings started on April 6, 1986. As of August 18, 2024, Scottie Scheffler is the number one ranked golfer.
The rankings are calculated each week based on finishing positions in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling" two-year period with a maximum of 52 tournaments and a minimum divisor of 40 events. During 2018, nearly 400 tournaments on 20 tours were covered by the ranking system. All players competing in these tournaments are included in the rankings. In 2023, 24 tours factored into the world rankings.
A total of 25 different golfers from ten countries spanning four continents have been ranked world number one. Five countries; the United States, England, Australia, Spain and Germany have had multiple world number ones. The United States has had nine golfers ranked number one, the most of any country.
Tiger Woods has spent the most consecutive weeks (281) and most total weeks (683) at the top of the rankings, and Tom Lehman the fewest total weeks, having spent just a single week at the top in April 1997. Three golfers have spent an entire calendar year atop the rankings: Nick Faldo (1993), Greg Norman (1996), and Woods (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009). Lee Westwood and Luke Donald are the only world number one golfers to have not won a major championship.
* | Current number one player as of August 18, 2024 |
# | Country | Player | Start date | End date | Number of weeks | Cumulative total weeks | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | Bernhard Langer | April 6, 1986 | April 26, 1986 | 3 | 3 | [1] |
2 | ![]() | Seve Ballesteros | April 27, 1986 | September 13, 1986 | 20 | 20 | |
3 | ![]() | Greg Norman | September 14, 1986 | November 21, 1987 | 62 | 62 | |
![]() | Seve Ballesteros (2) | November 22, 1987 | November 28, 1987 | 1 | 21 | [2] | |
![]() | Greg Norman (2) | November 29, 1987 | October 29, 1988 | 48 | 110 | [3] | |
![]() | Seve Ballesteros (3) | October 30, 1988 | November 5, 1988 | 1 | 22 | [4] | |
![]() | Greg Norman (3) | November 6, 1988 | November 12, 1988 | 1 | 111 | [5] | |
![]() | Seve Ballesteros (4) | November 13, 1988 | March 25, 1989 | 19 | 41 | [6] | |
![]() | Greg Norman (4) | March 26, 1989 | April 1, 1989 | 1 | 112 | [7] | |
![]() | Seve Ballesteros (5) | April 2, 1989 | August 19, 1989 | 20 | 61 | [8] | |
![]() | Greg Norman (5) | August 20, 1989 | September 1, 1990 | 54 | 166 | [9] | |
4 | ![]() | Nick Faldo | September 2, 1990 | October 13, 1990 | 6 | 6 | [10] |
![]() | Greg Norman (6) | October 14, 1990 | February 2, 1991 | 16 | 182 | [11] | |
![]() | Nick Faldo (2) | February 3, 1991 | April 6, 1991 | 9 | 15 | ||
5 | ![]() | Ian Woosnam | April 7, 1991 | March 21, 1992 | 50 | 50 | |
6 | ![]() | Fred Couples | March 22, 1992 | March 28, 1992 | 1 | 1 | |
![]() | Nick Faldo (3) | March 29, 1992 | April 4, 1992 | 1 | 16 | ||
![]() | Fred Couples (2) | April 5, 1992 | July 18, 1992 | 15 | 16 | ||
![]() | Nick Faldo (4) | July 19, 1992 | February 5, 1994 | 81 | 97 | ||
![]() | Greg Norman (7) | February 6, 1994 | August 13, 1994 | 27 | 209 | ||
7 | ![]() | Nick Price | August 14, 1994 | June 17, 1995 | 44 | 44 | |
![]() | Greg Norman (8) | June 18, 1995 | April 19, 1997 | 96 | 305 | ||
8 | ![]() | Tom Lehman | April 20, 1997 | April 26, 1997 | 1 | 1 | |
![]() | Greg Norman (9) | April 27, 1997 | June 14, 1997 | 7 | 312 | ||
9 | ![]() | Tiger Woods | June 15, 1997 | June 21, 1997 | 1 | 1 | |
10 | ![]() | Ernie Els | June 22, 1997 | June 28, 1997 | 1 | 1 | |
![]() | Greg Norman (10) | June 29, 1997 | July 5, 1997 | 1 | 313 | ||
![]() | Tiger Woods (2) | July 6, 1997 | September 6, 1997 | 9 | 10 | ||
![]() | Greg Norman (11) | September 7, 1997 | January 10, 1998 | 18 | 331 | ||
![]() | Tiger Woods (3) | January 11, 1998 | April 11, 1998 | 13 | 23 | ||
![]() | Ernie Els (2) | April 12, 1998 | May 9, 1998 | 4 | 5 | ||
![]() | Tiger Woods (4) | May 10, 1998 | May 16, 1998 | 1 | 24 | ||
![]() | Ernie Els (3) | May 17, 1998 | June 13, 1998 | 4 | 9 | ||
![]() | Tiger Woods (5) | June 14, 1998 | March 27, 1999 | 41 | 65 | ||
11 | ![]() | David Duval | March 28, 1999 | July 3, 1999 | 14 | 14 | |
![]() | Tiger Woods (6) | July 4, 1999 | August 7, 1999 | 5 | 70 | ||
![]() | David Duval (2) | August 8, 1999 | August 14, 1999 | 1 | 15 | ||
![]() | Tiger Woods (7) | August 15, 1999 | September 4, 2004 | 264 | 334 | ||
12 | ![]() | Vijay Singh | September 5, 2004 | March 5, 2005 | 26 | 26 | |
![]() | Tiger Woods (8) | March 6, 2005 | March 19, 2005 | 2 | 336 | ||
![]() | Vijay Singh (2) | March 20, 2005 | April 9, 2005 | 3 | 29 | ||
![]() | Tiger Woods (9) | April 10, 2005 | May 21, 2005 | 6 | 342 | ||
![]() | Vijay Singh (3) | May 22, 2005 | June 11, 2005 | 3 | 32 | ||
![]() | Tiger Woods (10) | June 12, 2005 | October 30, 2010 | 281 (record) | 623 | ||
13 | ![]() | Lee Westwood | October 31, 2010 | February 26, 2011 | 17 | 17 | [12] [13] |
14 | ![]() | Martin Kaymer | February 27, 2011 | April 23, 2011 | 8 | 8 | |
![]() | Lee Westwood (2) | April 24, 2011 | May 28, 2011 | 5 | 22 | ||
15 | ![]() | Luke Donald | May 29, 2011 | March 3, 2012 | 40 | 40 | |
16 | ![]() | Rory McIlroy | March 4, 2012 | March 17, 2012 | 2 | 2 | [14] |
![]() | Luke Donald (2) | March 18, 2012 | April 14, 2012 | 4 | 44 | [15] | |
![]() | Rory McIlroy (2) | April 15, 2012 | April 28, 2012 | 2 | 4 | [16] | |
![]() | Luke Donald (3) | April 29, 2012 | May 5, 2012 | 1 | 45 | [17] | |
![]() | Rory McIlroy (3) | May 6, 2012 | May 26, 2012 | 3 | 7 | [18] | |
![]() | Luke Donald (4) | May 27, 2012 | August 11, 2012 | 11 | 56 | [19] | |
![]() | Rory McIlroy (4) | August 12, 2012 | March 24, 2013 | 32 | 39 | ||
![]() | Tiger Woods (11) | March 25, 2013 | May 17, 2014 | 60 | 683 (record) | ||
17 | ![]() | Adam Scott | May 18, 2014 | August 2, 2014 | 11 | 11 | |
![]() | Rory McIlroy (5) | August 3, 2014 | August 15, 2015 | 54 | 93 | ||
18 | ![]() | Jordan Spieth | August 16, 2015 | August 29, 2015 | 2 | 2 | |
![]() | Rory McIlroy (6) | August 30, 2015 | September 5, 2015 | 1 | 94 | ||
![]() | Jordan Spieth (2) | September 6, 2015 | September 12, 2015 | 1 | 3 | ||
![]() | Rory McIlroy (7) | September 13, 2015 | September 19, 2015 | 1 | 95 | ||
19 | ![]() | Jason Day | September 20, 2015 | September 26, 2015 | 1 | 1 | |
![]() | Jordan Spieth (3) | September 27, 2015 | October 17, 2015 | 3 | 6 | ||
![]() | Jason Day (2) | October 18, 2015 | November 7, 2015 | 3 | 4 | ||
![]() | Jordan Spieth (4) | November 8, 2015 | March 26, 2016 | 20 | 26 | ||
![]() | Jason Day (3) | March 27, 2016 | February 18, 2017 | 47 | 51 | ||
20 | ![]() | Dustin Johnson | February 19, 2017 | May 12, 2018 | 64 | 64 | |
21 | ![]() | Justin Thomas | May 13, 2018 | June 9, 2018 | 4 | 4 | |
![]() | Dustin Johnson (2) | June 10, 2018 | September 9, 2018 | 13 | 77 | ||
22 | ![]() | Justin Rose | September 10, 2018 | September 22, 2018 | 2 | 2 | |
![]() | Dustin Johnson (3) | September 23, 2018 | October 20, 2018 | 4 | 81 | ||
23 | ![]() | Brooks Koepka | October 21, 2018 | November 3, 2018 | 2 | 2 | |
![]() | Justin Rose (2) | November 4, 2018 | November 10, 2018 | 1 | 3 | ||
![]() | Brooks Koepka (2) | November 11, 2018 | November 17, 2018 | 1 | 3 | ||
![]() | Justin Rose (3) | November 18, 2018 | November 24, 2018 | 1 | 4 | ||
![]() | Brooks Koepka (3) | November 25, 2018 | January 5, 2019 | 6 | 9 | ||
![]() | Justin Rose (4) | January 6, 2019 | March 2, 2019 | 8 | 12 | ||
![]() | Dustin Johnson (4) | March 3, 2019 | April 6, 2019 | 5 | 86 | ||
![]() | Justin Rose (5) | April 7, 2019 | April 13, 2019 | 1 | 13 | ||
![]() | Dustin Johnson (5) | April 14, 2019 | May 18, 2019 | 5 | 91 | ||
![]() | Brooks Koepka (4) | May 19, 2019 | February 8, 2020 | 38 | 47 | ||
![]() | Rory McIlroy (8) | February 9, 2020 | July 18, 2020 | 11 [lower-alpha 1] | 106 [lower-alpha 1] | ||
24 | ![]() | Jon Rahm | July 19, 2020 | August 1, 2020 | 2 | 2 | |
![]() | Justin Thomas (2) | August 2, 2020 | August 8, 2020 | 1 | 5 | ||
![]() | Jon Rahm (2) | August 9, 2020 | August 22, 2020 | 2 | 4 | ||
![]() | Dustin Johnson (6) | August 23, 2020 | June 19, 2021 | 43 | 134 | ||
![]() | Jon Rahm (3) | June 20, 2021 | July 10, 2021 | 3 | 7 | ||
![]() | Dustin Johnson (7) | July 11, 2021 | July 17, 2021 | 1 | 135 | ||
![]() | Jon Rahm (4) | July 18, 2021 | March 26, 2022 | 36 | 43 | ||
25 | ![]() | Scottie Scheffler | March 27, 2022 | October 22, 2022 | 30 | 30 | [20] |
![]() | Rory McIlroy (9) | October 23, 2022 | February 11, 2023 | 16 | 122 | ||
![]() | Scottie Scheffler (2) | February 12, 2023 | February 18, 2023 | 1 | 31 | ||
![]() | Jon Rahm (5) | February 19, 2023 | March 11, 2023 | 3 | 46 | ||
![]() | Scottie Scheffler (3) | March 12, 2023 | April 8, 2023 | 4 | 35 | ||
![]() | Jon Rahm (6) | April 9, 2023 | May 20, 2023 | 6 | 52 | ||
![]() | Scottie Scheffler (4)* | May 21, 2023 | Present | 66 | 101 |
* | Current number one player as of August 18, 2024 |
Rank | Player | Weeks | Order | Majors |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | 683 | 9 | 15 |
2 | ![]() | 331 | 3 | 2 |
3 | ![]() | 135 | 20 | 2 |
4 | ![]() | 122 [lower-alpha 1] | 16 | 4 |
5 | ![]() | 101 | 25 | 2 |
6 | ![]() | 97 | 4 | 6 |
7 | ![]() | 61 | 2 | 5 |
8 | ![]() | 56 | 15 | 0 |
9 | ![]() | 52 | 24 | 2 |
10 | ![]() | 51 | 19 | 1 |
11 | ![]() | 50 | 5 | 1 |
12 | ![]() | 47 | 23 | 5 |
13 | ![]() | 44 | 7 | 3 |
14 | ![]() | 32 | 12 | 3 |
15 | ![]() | 26 | 18 | 3 |
16 | ![]() | 22 | 13 | 0 |
17 | ![]() | 16 | 6 | 1 |
18 | ![]() | 15 | 11 | 1 |
19 | ![]() | 13 | 22 | 1 |
20 | ![]() | 11 | 17 | 1 |
21 | ![]() | 9 | 10 | 4 |
22 | ![]() | 8 | 14 | 2 |
23 | ![]() | 5 | 21 | 2 |
24 | ![]() | 3 | 1 | 2 |
25 | ![]() | 1 | 8 | 1 |
Order – indicates the sequence in which the players first reached number 1.
Majors – number of major championships each player has won throughout his golfing career.
* | Country with the current number one player as of August 18, 2024 |
Rank | Country | Weeks | Order | Majors | Players | Top player | First player | Latest player |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | 1,029 | 6 | 32 | 9 | Tiger Woods | Fred Couples | Scottie Scheffler |
2 | ![]() | 393 | 3 | 4 | 3 | Greg Norman | Greg Norman | Jason Day |
3 | ![]() | 188 | 4 | 7 | 4 | Nick Faldo | Nick Faldo | Justin Rose |
4 | ![]() | 122 [lower-alpha 1] | 10 | 4 | 1 | Rory McIlroy | ||
5 | ![]() | 113 | 2 | 7 | 2 | Seve Ballesteros | Seve Ballesteros | Jon Rahm |
6 | ![]() | 50 | 5 | 1 | 1 | Ian Woosnam | ||
7 | ![]() | 44 | 7 | 3 | 1 | Nick Price | ||
8 | ![]() | 32 | 9 | 3 | 1 | Vijay Singh | ||
9 | ![]() | 11 | 1 | 4 | 2 | Martin Kaymer | Bernhard Langer | Martin Kaymer |
10 | ![]() | 9 | 8 | 4 | 1 | Ernie Els |
Order – indicates the sequence in which the country first had a number 1 player.
Majors – number of major championships the country's world-ranked number 1 players have won throughout their golfing careers.
Players – number of players from that country who have been world-ranked number 1.
Top player – the player from that country who has spent most weeks as the world-ranked number 1 player.
First player – the player from that country who was first to be world-ranked number 1 player, left blank if that country has only one such player.
Latest player – the player from that country who was most recently world-ranked number 1 player, left blank if that country has only one such player.
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