List of world number one in men's golf
The list of world number one in men's golf lists all the leaders of the Official World Golf Rankings since its introduction on April 7, 1986.
The site first lists all leaders in the ranking in chronological order. In further tables the world number one at the end of the year and the individual players who occupied the number 1 position are shown, sorted by their number of weeks at the top of the ranking list.
Since the rating was introduced, a total of 24 players have topped the golf world rankings. The first world leader was the German Bernhard Langer , the current leader is the American Dustin Johnson . American Tiger Woods holds the records for most of the seasons that ended in number 1 (12) and for most weeks at the top of the world rankings, both absolute (683) and consecutive (281) .
The youngest leader in the ranking was also Tiger Woods (21 years old, June 16, 1997), the oldest Greg Norman (42 years old, January 11, 1998).
World number one in the course of the year
Player : Indicates the name of the player. The number in brackets behind the player name indicates how many athletes were at the top of the world ranking.
From : Indicates the day that the player reached the No. 1 position.
to : Indicates the day on which the player was last leader of the world rankings within the respective series.
Weeks : Indicates the number of weeks that the player topped the world rankings within the respective series.
player | from | to | Weeks |
---|---|---|---|
Bernhard Langer (1) | April 7, 1986 | April 27, 1986 | 3 |
Severiano Ballesteros (2) | April 28, 1986 | September 14, 1986 | 20th |
Greg Norman (3) | September 15, 1986 | November 22, 1987 | 62 |
Severiano Ballesteros | November 23, 1987 | November 29, 1987 | 1 |
Greg Norman | November 30, 1987 | October 30, 1988 | 48 |
Severiano Ballesteros | October 31, 1988 | November 6, 1988 | 1 |
Greg Norman | November 7, 1988 | November 13, 1988 | 1 |
Severiano Ballesteros | November 14, 1988 | March 26, 1989 | 19th |
Greg Norman | March 27, 1989 | April 2, 1989 | 1 |
Severiano Ballesteros | April 3, 1989 | August 20, 1989 | 20th |
Greg Norman | August 21, 1989 | 2nd September 1990 | 54 |
Nick Faldo (4) | 3rd September 1990 | October 14, 1990 | 6th |
Greg Norman | October 15, 1990 | 3rd February 1991 | 16 |
Nick Faldo | 4th February 1991 | April 7, 1991 | 9 |
Ian Woosnam (5) | April 8, 1991 | March 22, 1992 | 50 |
Fred Couples (6) | March 23, 1992 | March 29, 1992 | 1 |
Nick Faldo | March 30, 1992 | April 5, 1992 | 1 |
Fred Couples | April 6, 1992 | July 19, 1992 | 15th |
Nick Faldo | July 20, 1992 | February 6, 1994 | 81 |
Greg Norman | February 7, 1994 | August 14, 1994 | 27 |
Nick Price (7) | August 15, 1994 | June 18, 1995 | 44 |
Greg Norman | June 19, 1995 | April 20, 1997 | 96 |
Tom Lehman (8) | April 21, 1997 | April 27, 1997 | 1 |
Greg Norman | April 28, 1997 | June 15, 1997 | 7th |
Tiger Woods (9) | June 16, 1997 | June 22, 1997 | 1 |
Ernie Els (10) | June 23, 1997 | June 29, 1997 | 1 |
Greg Norman | June 30, 1997 | July 6, 1997 | 1 |
Tiger Woods | July 7, 1997 | September 7, 1997 | 9 |
Greg Norman | September 8, 1997 | January 11, 1998 | 18th |
Tiger Woods | January 12, 1998 | April 12, 1998 | 13 |
Ernie Els | April 13, 1998 | May 10, 1998 | 4th |
Tiger Woods | May 11, 1998 | May 17, 1998 | 1 |
Ernie Els | May 18, 1998 | June 14, 1998 | 4th |
Tiger Woods | June 15, 1998 | March 28, 1999 | 41 |
David Duval (11) | March 29, 1999 | 4th July 1999 | 14th |
Tiger Woods | July 5, 1999 | August 8, 1999 | 5 |
David Duval | August 9, 1999 | August 15, 1999 | 1 |
Tiger Woods | August 16, 1999 | September 5, 2004 | 264 |
Vijay Singh (12) | September 6, 2004 | March 6, 2005 | 26th |
Tiger Woods | March 7, 2005 | March 20, 2005 | 2 |
Vijay Singh | March 21, 2005 | April 10, 2005 | 3 |
Tiger Woods | April 11, 2005 | May 22, 2005 | 6th |
Vijay Singh | May 23, 2005 | June 12, 2005 | 3 |
Tiger Woods | June 13, 2005 | October 31, 2010 | 281 |
Lee Westwood (13) | November 1, 2010 | February 27, 2011 | 17th |
Martin Kaymer (14) | February 28, 2011 | April 24, 2011 | 8th |
Lee Westwood | April 25, 2011 | May 29, 2011 | 5 |
Luke Donald (15) | May 30, 2011 | March 4, 2012 | 40 |
Rory McIlroy (16) | March 5, 2012 | March 18, 2012 | 2 |
Luke Donald | March 19, 2012 | April 15, 2012 | 4th |
Rory McIlroy | April 16, 2012 | April 29, 2012 | 2 |
Luke Donald | April 30, 2012 | May 6, 2012 | 1 |
Rory McIlroy | May 7, 2012 | May 27, 2012 | 3 |
Luke Donald | May 28, 2012 | August 12, 2012 | 11 |
Rory McIlroy | August 13, 2012 | March 24, 2013 | 32 |
Tiger Woods | March 25.2013 | May 18, 2014 | 60 |
Adam Scott (17) | 19th May 2014 | 3rd August 2014 | 11 |
Rory McIlroy | 4th August 2014 | August 16, 2015 | 54 |
Jordan Spieth (18) | 17th August 2015 | August 30, 2015 | 2 |
Rory McIlroy | August 31, 2015 | September 6, 2015 | 1 |
Jordan Spieth | September 7, 2015 | 13th September 2015 | 1 |
Rory McIlroy | September 14, 2015 | 20th September 2015 | 1 |
Jason Day (19) | September 21, 2015 | September 27, 2015 | 1 |
Jordan Spieth | September 28, 2015 | October 18, 2015 | 3 |
Jason Day | 19th October 2015 | November 8, 2015 | 3 |
Jordan Spieth | November 9, 2015 | March 27, 2016 | 20th |
Jason Day | March 28, 2016 | 19th February 2017 | 46 |
Dustin Johnson (20) | 20th February 2017 | May 13, 2018 | 64 |
Justin Thomas (21) | May 14, 2018 | June 10, 2018 | 4th |
Dustin Johnson | June 11, 2018 | September 9, 2018 | 13 |
Justin Rose (22) | September 10, 2018 | 23rd September 2018 | 2 |
Dustin Johnson | September 24, 2018 | October 21, 2018 | 4th |
Brooks Koepka (23) | October 22, 2018 | 4th November 2018 | 2 |
Justin Rose | 5th November 2018 | November 11, 2018 | 1 |
Brooks Koepka | November 12, 2018 | 18th November 2018 | 1 |
Justin Rose | 19th November 2018 | November 25, 2018 | 1 |
Brooks Koepka | November 26, 2018 | January 6, 2019 | 6th |
Justin Rose | January 7, 2019 | 3rd March 2019 | 8th |
Dustin Johnson | 4th March 2019 | April 7, 2019 | 5 |
Justin Rose | April 8, 2019 | April 14, 2019 | 1 |
Dustin Johnson | April 15, 2019 | 19th May 2019 | 5 |
Brooks Koepka | 20th May 2019 | February 9, 2020 | 38 |
Rory McIlroy | February 10, 2020 | 19th July 2020 | 11 |
Jon Rahm (24) | 20th July 2020 | 2nd August 2020 | 2 |
Justin Thomas | August 3, 2020 | August 9, 2020 | 1 |
Jon Rahm | August 10, 2020 | 23 August 2020 | 2 |
Dustin Johnson | August 24, 2020 | current | 2 |
As of August 31, 2020
World number one at the end of the year
Note: The number in brackets behind the player name indicates the number of times the player was able to finish a season at the top of the world rankings at any given time.
year | player | year | player | year | player |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1986 | Greg Norman | 2001 | Tiger Woods (4) | 2016 | Jason Day |
1987 | Greg Norman (2) | 2002 | Tiger Woods (5) | 2017 | Dustin Johnson |
1988 | Severiano Ballesteros | 2003 | Tiger Woods (6) | 2018 | Brooks Koepka |
1989 | Greg Norman (3) | 2004 | Vijay Singh | 2019 | Brooks Koepka (2) |
1990 | Greg Norman (4) | 2005 | Tiger Woods (7) | ||
1991 | Ian Woosnam | 2006 | Tiger Woods (8) | ||
1992 | Nick Faldo | 2007 | Tiger Woods (9) | ||
1993 | Nick Faldo (2) | 2008 | Tiger Woods (10) | ||
1994 | Nick Price | 2009 | Tiger Woods (11) | ||
1995 | Greg Norman (5) | 2010 | Lee Westwood | ||
1996 | Greg Norman (6) | 2011 | Luke Donald | ||
1997 | Greg Norman (7) | 2012 | Rory McIlroy | ||
1998 | Tiger Woods | 2013 | Tiger Woods (12) | ||
1999 | Tiger Woods (2) | 2014 | Rory McIlroy (2) | ||
2000 | Tiger Woods (3) | 2015 | Jordan Spieth |
Player at the top of the world rankings after weeks
Player : Indicates the name of the player. The current leader is highlighted in bold.
First time on : Indicates the date on which the player was at the top of the world rankings for the first time.
Weeks : Indicates the total number of weeks that the player was at the top of the world rankings. The position in the table is also based on this value.
Streak : The number of consecutive weeks the player has been at the top of the world rankings during their longest streak.
player | first on | Weeks | series | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Tiger Woods | June 16, 1997 | 683 | 281 |
2. | Greg Norman | September 15, 1986 | 331 | 96 |
3. | Rory McIlroy | March 5, 2012 | 106 | 54 |
4th | Nick Faldo | 3rd September 1990 | 97 | 81 |
5. | Dustin Johnson | 20th February 2017 | 93 | 64 |
6th | Severiano Ballesteros | April 28, 1986 | 61 | 20th |
7th | Luke Donald | May 30, 2011 | 56 | 40 |
8th. | Jason Day | September 21, 2015 | 51 | 46 |
9. | Ian Woosnam | April 8, 1991 | 50 | 50 |
10. | Brooks Koepka | October 22, 2018 | 47 | 38 |
11. | Nick Price | August 15, 1994 | 44 | 44 |
12. | Vijay Singh | September 6, 2004 | 32 | 26th |
13. | Jordan Spieth | 17th August 2015 | 26th | 20th |
14th | Lee Westwood | November 1, 2010 | 22nd | 17th |
15th | Fred Couples | March 23, 1992 | 16 | 15th |
16. | David Duval | March 29, 1999 | 15th | 14th |
17th | Justin Rose | September 10, 2018 | 13 | 8th |
18th | Adam Scott | 19th May 2014 | 11 | 11 |
19th | Ernie Els | June 23, 1997 | 9 | 4th |
20th | Martin Kaymer | February 28, 2011 | 8th | 8th |
21st | Justin Thomas | May 14, 2018 | 5 | 4th |
22nd | Jon Rahm | 20th July 2020 | 4th | 2 |
23. | Bernhard Langer | April 7, 1986 | 3 | 3 |
24. | Tom Lehman | April 21, 1997 | 1 | 1 |
As of August 31, 2020