For a very long time, Scottie Scheffler has been the world number one. Last season, he, Jon Rahm, and Rory McIlroy traded ownership of that OWGR rank before Scheffler took it and never looked back.
His grip on the spot only tightened after a seven-win season. If Scheffler keeps this run up, he will eventually rank as one of the players with the most-ever weeks as number one. Here are the other examples he’s chasing right now.
5 golfers with the most weeks at world number one
5) Nick Faldo
Nick Faldo was the OWGR number one for 97 weeks (Imagn)
Sir Nick Faldo had one of the most decorated golf careers of all time. He won six Majors (the Masters and the Open three times each) and placed as high as second in the other two tournaments.
All of this led to a lot of weeks ranked as the world number one. All told, Faldo outmatched all other golfers for a total of 97 weeks. There’s a 36-week gap between him and Seve Ballesteros for sixth-most all-time.
4) Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy was ranked first in 2023 (Imagn)
A few of Rory McIlroy’s 122 weeks atop the OWGR leaderboard came last year. As it stands, he’s still ranked third.
McIlroy’s roughly three points behind Xander Schauffele and 10 points behind Scottie Scheffler, but he’s the only one on this list who stands a chance of returning to that rank in the future.
3) Dustin Johnson
Dustin Johnson used to be OWGR number one (Imagn)
Dustin Johnson is not as competitive as he used to be as he’s gotten older and transitioned to LIV Golf. However, there was a time when he was as dominant as anyone.
Johnson has won two Majors and spent 135 weeks ranked higher than anyone else on the OWGR.
2) Greg Norman
Greg Norman was ranked number one a lot (Imagn)
There was a time long before Greg Norman was the controversial CEO of LIV Golf when he was one of the world’s best and most notable golfers. Only one player has been ranked world number one more times than Norman, who spent an impressive 331 weeks atop the OWGR.
1) Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods has the most weeks as number one (Imagn)
Tiger Woods, unsurprisingly, is the far-and-away top entry to this list. He spent an astonishing 683 weeks as the world number one.
That’s only two fewer weeks than the rest of this list has combined (685 weeks between Norman, Faldo, McIlroy, and Johnson). Woods also holds the record for most consecutive weeks spent as the world number one – 281 weeks. He also has the second-longest streak at 264.