Only three players have sat on the world golf throne with a ten-year difference between their first time and their last. In 1997, a very young 21-year-old Tiger Woods became number one just eight months and two weeks after making his professional debut.; his last time at the top, for his part, was in 2014. Between one date and the other, 17 years. A world. The second largest record, aged 11 and a half (between 1986 and 1998), is in the possession of almost as topical Greg Norman as head of LIV Golflike when he reigned
A club reserved for legends of which, starting this week, Rory McIlroy is also a part. The Northern Irishman, after winning the CJ Cup last Sunday, has regained a number one that it had not held since July 2020, when he was unseated by Jon Rahm. A turning point on the circuit that puts an end to 30 weeks of dominance by Scottie Scheffler, badly at the Congaree Golf Club (45th), and that opens the ninth chapter of McIlroy at the top, ten years after the first, in March 2012. From then until September 2015, he added, in various stages, 95 weeks on the throne. Now, and after the eleven achieved in 2020, he starts the 107th.
| Start | Final | weeks in a row | total weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 2012 | March 2012 | two | two |
| April 2012 | April 20122 | two | 4 |
| May 2012 | May 2012 | 3 | 7 |
| August 2012 | March 2013 | 32 | 39 |
| August 2014 | August 2015 | 54 | 93 |
| August 2015 | September 2015 | 1 | 94 |
| September 2015 | September 2015 | 1 | 95 |
| February 2020 | July 2020 | eleven | 106 |
| October 2022 | — | 1 | 107 |
“It means a lot. I have worked very hard for the last twelve months to get back to this place. I feel like I’m enjoying the game as much as before. The bad thing is that you almost (have) to… work harder to stay there,” Rory joked before the final day in Southern California. “If I get back to number one, I think it will be the ninth time I’ve gotten it. In a way, it illustrates that you can stay there, but I think the interesting part is the journey and the journey back there. It’s kind of like a boxer who loses a world title and wants to win it back. I feel like that’s the cool part and that’s the journey I’ve been through in the last 12 months.”
Always on the front line
A journey built on consistency. In these ten years, the one from Holywood has not left the top-15. In the last six seasons, moreover, he has not failed: he has added at least one trophy in all of them. This 2022, in addition, has been the best in statistics, with more than 2.7 shots won per round (Scheffler, the closest, has gotten 2.5). He hasn’t hit any big, but he’s been in the top 10 of all, racking up more than $30 million in earnings. All this, fighting the Saudi circuit in the first line of fire. “332. I don’t know if I can, but it’s a number in my head, ”Rory responded when asked about the weeks he would like to accumulate as number one. Norman has 331. A lifelong number one, in sports and emotionally.
