Who Will End 2023 as World Number 1 in the Men’s World Golf Rankings?

Written by: HOG Staff | Wednesday, May 10th, 2023
Categories: (British) Open ChampionshipEuropean TourFedEx CupJordan SpiethPGA TourPro GolfRory McIloryThe MastersTiger WoodsU.S. OPEN
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The men’s golf scene is as competitive as it’s ever been, with a number of talented players battling to become the world’s top-ranked player. Who is likely to end 2023 as the number one golfer according to the official rankings?

John Rahm – The Current Number One 

This Spanish golfer was the number one amateur player for a record 60 weeks before turning pro, and he quickly became the top professional golfer too. He reached the top spot for the first time in mid-2020 and has recently claimed it back from Scottie Scheffler.

With the 2021 US Open and 2023 Masters to his name, Rahm has already shown that he has the mentality and talent to win major tournaments. Only the second golfer from Spain to be world number one, after Seve Ballesteros, Rahm became the fourth Spaniard to win the Masters but the first European to claim both the Masters and the US Open.

That Masters victory that catapulted him back into the number one spot came when he was forced to play 30 holes on the final day after bad weather had caused a backlog. He eventually won the title by four strokes, with a final round of 69 putting him four strokes ahead of Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson.  

Scottie Scheffler

New Jersey-born Scheffler was ranked the number one men’s golfer for 35 weeks over three different spells, with the last one ending with Rahm’s victory in the 2023 Masters. He took the top spot for the first time in March 2022, and it wouldn’t be a major surprise to see him take back the title at some point before 2023 ends.

His sole major championship wins to date came in the 2022 Masters, when he finished with a final round of 71 to win by a total of three strokes from Rory McIlroy. His other biggest win came in the 2023 Players Championship.

A golfer since the age of three, Scheffler was hugely successful at youth level before playing at collegiate level with the University of Texas. He was Rookie of the Year in his first season on the PGA Tour, with highlights including a round of 59 at The Northern Trust tournament and finishing fourth at the 2020 PGA Championship

He moved up to world number one after starting 2022 with three tournament wins before claiming the Masters. Scheffler became only the fifth golfer in history to win the Masters while being the number one in the rankings.

Rory McIlroy

Born in Northern Ireland, Rory McIlroy burst onto the pro scene by winning €10 million in prize money by the age of 22. He was quickly ranked alongside global superstars in other sports as one of the most marketable players on the planet as he won numerous tournaments.

In terms of the number one sport, McIlroy has now spent over 100 weeks at the top of the list. His last period at the top of the sport came between October 2022 and February 2023, before he was overtaken by Scheffler.

McIlroy has collected four major championships in his career to date, starting with the US Open in 2011 and ending with the 2014 PGA Championship, all of which he won at the age of 25. That final major win came by a single stroke over Phil Mickelson, with a par on the final hole enough to confirm his win, and it could be argued that he should have won more majors during this golden spell in his career.

If he reaches number one in the rankings it will be the tenth time in his career, although some of those occasions have seen him stay at the top for only a brief period. Right now, he sits in third place. Despite winning majors in recent years, he’s collected a total of 36 wins in his pro career, the last coming in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at the start of this year.

Patrick Cantlay

Currently in fourth place on the rankings, Patrick Cantlay spent 55 consecutive weeks as the top-ranked amateur golfer in the world, which is still a record, but the Californian has yet to achieve the same feat as a pro. He turned pro in 2012 and has won eight times on the PGA Tour since then.

His first win as a pro came in 2013 at the Colombia Championship. As for his first PGA title, this came at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open after a playoff. So far in 2023, Cantlay has been challenging strongly but has been in the news headlines for slow play.

If you think Patrick Cantlay or any of the other golfers on this list are likely to win an upcoming tournament, you can find the latest golf odds online. You can either check out the next tournament on the tour or else look further ahead and see what the odds are for the next majors on the list.

All four of these golfers have the talent to reach the top spot during the rest of 2023 and it wouldn’t be a big surprise to find that the number one position on the world golf rankings varies between two or more of them as the year progresses.


Spieth Tops Latest Golf World Rankings – Woods Drops to 286th

Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, August 17th, 2015
Categories: European TourFedEx CupPGA TourPro GolfRory McIloryTiger Woods
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Ranking
8-17-15
Name Events Played
1 Jordan Spieth 56
2 Rory McIlroy 46
3 Jason Day 39
4 Bubba Watson 45
5 Justin Rose 52
6 Jim Furyk 42
7 Dustin Johnson 40
8 Rickie Fowler 53
9 Henrik Stenson 52
10 Sergio Garcia 49
11 Zach Johnson 52
12 Adam Scott 42
13 Louis Oosthuizen 46
14 Jimmy Walker 53
15 Matt Kuchar 54
16 Hideki Matsuyama 53
17 Brooks Koepka 56
18 Patrick Reed 57
19 J.B. Holmes 46
20 Branden Grace 57
21 Martin Kaymer 55
22 Shane Lowry 52
23 Billy Horschel 57
24 Phil Mickelson 44
25 Chris Kirk 51
26 Danny Willett 56
27 Paul Casey 52
28 Brandt Snedeker 52
29 Bernd Wiesberger 59
30 Bill Haas 53
31 Marc Leishman 51
32 Kevin Na 53
33 Robert Streb 51
34 Ian Poulter 48
35 Lee Westwood 54
36 Kevin Kisner 57
37 Ryan Palmer 48
38 Anirban Lahiri 54
39 Gary Woodland 51
40 David Lingmerth 57
41 Thongchai Jaidee 62
42 Jamie Donaldson 55
43 Ryan Moore 48
44 Russell Henley 53
45 Charl Schwartzel 60
46 Charley Hoffman 53
47 Keegan Bradley 54
48 Victor Dubuisson 50
49 Francesco Molinari 60
50 Marc Warren 58
51 Webb Simpson 49
52 Hunter Mahan 53
53 Brendon Todd 57
54 Danny Lee 65
55 Byeong Hun An 54
56 Tommy Fleetwood 61
57 Steven Bowditch 65
58 Joost Luiten 54
59 John Senden 55
60 Andy Sullivan 57
61 Miguel A Jimenez 50
62 George Coetzee 56
63 Graeme McDowell 51
64 Ben Martin 55
65 Luke Donald 52
66 Kiradech Aphibarnrat 59
67 Alexander Levy 59
68 Matt Every 52
69 Scott Piercy 41
70 Matt Jones 53
71 Cameron Tringale 59
72 Soren Kjeldsen 57
73 Stephen Gallacher 57
74 Alexander Noren 19
75 Justin Thomas 54
76 Richie Ramsay 47
77 Brian Harman 59
78 Brendan Steele 52
79 Russell Knox 57
80 Pablo Larrazabal 54
81 Chris Wood 47
82 James Morrison 57
83 Harris English 55
84 Daniel Berger 49
85 Tyrrell Hatton 55
86 Rafael Cabrera Bello 57
87 David Howell 60
88 Tim Clark 40
89 Tony Finau 54
90 Jason Bohn 50
91 Cameron Smith 33
92 Hiroshi Iwata 53
93 Jason Dufner 45
94 Eddie Pepperell 50
95 Shawn Stefani 46
96 George McNeill 48
97 Graham Delaet 49
98 Kevin Streelman 56
99 James Hahn 53
100 Troy Merritt 52
286 Tiger Woods 25

Phil silences the Sergio #1 talk, and plays right handed

Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, March 16th, 2009
Categories: PGA TourTiger Woods
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Lefties hitting right-handed, righties hitting left-handed…

Did anyone see Phil Mickelson’s right-handed shot out of the bushes with his club turned upside down? I rolled that back a few times on my DVR. While I don’t agree that the shot choice he made was a wise decision, it was impressive. The result wasn’t great and could have been a catastrophe if his shot kicked right instead of down. All that said, Phil’s right-handed technique looked picture perfect. It looked better than mine. Of course, all he’d have to do is look better than an 84 year old lady golfing to look better than my swing, but I digress.

That Phil shot reminded me of a similar shot Tiger Woods hit back in the 2004 Masters when he did the same thing from the trees. I’m thinking it was the trees right of #13 but it was a while ago so I may have the hole wrong. As I recall I also rolled that one back a few times on the DVR and marveled at how perfect Tiger’s left-handed technique was.

Do these guys practice hitting these shots or are they just that damn good?

Can we put the Sergio #1 talk to bed now?

So now that Phil won at Doral, he overtook Sergio Garcia for the world’s #2 ranking, and silenced the ridiculous “Sergio #1 in the world” discussion for now.

Phil becomes #1 and Tiger’s caddy Steve Williams makes the switch to Phil…

I’d like to see Phil overtake Tiger, if not for just a few weeks. Then perhaps Steve Williams (Tiger’s caddy), would want to switch over to working for Phil. And maybe hell would freeze over too.


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