Until this past weekend, 19 players had made it to the summit since the world ranking system was introduced at the 1986 Masters. Six of them were in the Genesis Open field at Riviera (California), led by Jason Day – who had been number one for 47 consecutive weeks.
Not any more. The new top-ranked golfer in the world is 32-year-old South Carolina-born Dustin Johnson, the reining US Open champion who dominated the latest PGA Tour event, winning by five shots.
That propelled him to top spot in the ranking, somewhat to his surprise. “I don’t really understand it,” Johnson said of the world ranking formula, “but I can read the 1, 2, 3. I guess that’s all that matters.”
Winning tournaments is also what matters, and Johnson has shown he knows the formula. This was his 13th career victory, and he has won at least once in each of his 10 seasons on the Tour. Only three other players have achieved that feat of consistency: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
The 20 world number ones (in order since 1986):
Bernhard Langer
Severiano Ballesteros
Greg Norman
Nick Faldo
Ian Woosnam
Fred Couples
Nick Price
Tom Lehman
Tiger Woods
Ernie Els
David Duval
Vijay Singh
Lee Westwood
Martin Kaymer
Luke Donald
Rory McIlroy
Adam Scott
Jordan Spieth
Jason Day
Dustin Johnson
