Houston, Texas … Happy 30th Birthday to golf’s Official World Rankings.
It was on this day and at the 1986 Masters, Mark McCormack’s vision has seen rankings issued over a period of 1,565 weeks, with European Tour stalwart Bernhard Langer occupying top spot on the very first of those weeks and with it becoming golf’s original World Number One.
Overall, 19 players have had the privilege of being World Number One, from ten different countries.
Germany’s Bernhard Langer in the record books as the first official World No. 1.
Unsurprisingly, Tiger Woods has occupied the top spot for the longest period of time overall, at a gargantuan 683 total weeks spent ranked as the best player on the globe.
The 14-time Major winner also holds the record for spending the most consecutive time at the summit, thanks to the astonishing run of 281 weeks which the American put together between June 2005 and October 2010.
The first issue of the top-1o on the World Rankings.
Lee Westwood, who leads The European Tour’s all-time money list, was the man who took Woods’ spot as Number One, with Martin Kaymer, Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy all getting a taste of the accolade over the following two-year period.
The coveted top spot has changed hands 68 times overall, with European Tour legends Seve Ballesteros, Sir Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam and Ernie Els having also enjoyed their time at the top of the game, while Australia’s Greg Norman and Woods have both moved to the top of the rankings on 11 different occasions.
In fact, Norman was World No. 1 for 331 weeks before Woods broke that mark to be atop of the rankings for a consecutive run of 281 weeks and a phenomenal 683 weeks in total.
Aussie Greg Norman was atop of the World Rankings for an incredible 331 weeks.
Woods also has the honour of being the youngest Number One, a feat he achieved at the tender age of 21 years and 24 weeks, while Vijay Singh holds the record for becoming the oldest at 41 years and 28 weeks.
Impressively, Phil Mickelson spent more than 20 consecutive years inside the top 25 between September 1995 and November of last year.
Tiger Woods ruled the golf world for an unbroken run of 281 weeks and a total of 683 weeks
The current battle for World Number One is fiercer than ever and in 2015 the top spot changed hands eight times – more than in any other year of the World Ranking – with Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and McIlroy, the trio who currently occupy the top three places, all spending various amounts of time at the summit.
Fittingly, on this anniversary, the man who realised McCormack’s dream by devising the initial system for the first Official World Golf Ranking 30 years ago, Tony Greer, is retiring this week. Happy retirement sir!
- Special thanks to www.europearntour.com for this article
