Rory McIlroy is back as No. 1 after a gap after more than four years. The last time he was on the top of the heap was in September, 2015.
McIlroy and Brooks Koepka did not play last week. Yet in a system of 104 rolling weeks McIlroy moved slightly ahead – 9.1870 against Koepka’s 9.1555, which means a difference of just 0.0315 average points.
This week the Genesis Invitational will also see host Tiger Woods make an attempt to get to #83 and break the tie with Sam Snead for most PGA Tour wins. Also, this is where he made his PGA Tour debut back in 1992.
McIlroy overtook Brooks Koepka, who had been on the top since May 19, 2019 for 38 weeks in a row. It was Koepka’s fourth stay as No, 1. He has been at the perch for a total of 47 week.
McIlroy’s latest ascent takes him to 96 weeks and he is now one behind Nick Faldo’s 97 and third on all time list. The top two are Tiger Woods (683 weeks) and Greg Norman (331 weeks).
McIlroy became the World No. 1 for the first in March, 2012 and between then and September, 2015 he held the No. 1 position six other times. So, this is the eighth time he has got to the top.
Interestingly, in eight stints as No, 1, twice he was on the peak for one week each, twice for two weeks and once for three weeks. Between August 12, 2012 to March 24, 2013 he was No, 1 for 32 weeks and between August 3, 2014 to August 15, 2015 he was No.1 for 54 weeks. Now he begins his eighth stint as No. 1.
His last four starts have been fourth or better – he was T3 at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP; he won the WGC-HSBC; finished fourth at the DP World Tour Championship and placed T3 at the Farmers.
Now he comes to 120-man Genesis Invitational as No, 1 and he was T4 last year at the Riviera Country Club.
