Rory McIlroy reclaims world No. 1 for the ninth time, a decade after debuting at the top

There’s a new No. 1 golfer in the world who has matched an old No. 1 golfer in the world. With a win at the 2022 CJ Cup on Sunday afternoon, Rory McIlroy has returned to the top of the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time since July 2020 and for the ninth time in his career.

In knocking out Kurt Kitayama and KH Lee, McIlroy overtook Scottie Scheffler, ending the 30-week run of the 2022 Masters champion in No.

What’s even more remarkable than McIlroy’s return to the No. 1 spot is that he’s maintained a great run of form over the past decade. This marks McIlroy’s ninth distinction at No. 1 just over 10 years after making his debut in March 2012 shortly after he turned professional.

A lot has happened in the past decade, but McIlroy still hadn’t fallen out of the top 15 in the world at the time. He is one of three golfers with a 10-year gap between their first world No. 1 and their most recent. The other two are Tiger Woods (17 years old) and Greg Norman (11,5). None other than a 3.5 year gap between appearances.

“I guess that’s where I say like the cool thing about it is you’re going to be number one, and it feels great in the moment,” McIlroy said earlier this week. “The bad thing is that you almost [have] to … can work harder to stay there. I think, when you’re striving to achieve something, it’s not that it’s easier for you to get there, but more like once you get there, it’s great. But I think the real hard work is still there.

“I think if I go back to No. 1 this week, it’s like my ninth time back. That illustrates that you can run and you can stay there, but I think the fun part is the behavior. It’s like a heavyweight boxer losing a world title and it’s a journey to getting that title back. I feel like that’s part of the fun of it. And that’s the journey I’ve been on for the past 12 months.”

McIlroy has truly played one of the best golf of his career over the past year. In his last 15 appearances worldwide, he has 12 top 10, 10 best, 3 wins and just 1 miss. Since the beginning of 2022, he has consistently been the best player in the world with over 2.7 strokes per round. The next closest in the CJ Cup this week is Scheffler (2.5).

In a year in which McIlroy disappointingly failed to win a major championship – even though he was in the top 10 in all four – it was a pity that he had basically accomplished everything else: a win. FedEx Cup, three PGA wins Traveling, nearly $30 million in earnings on the course (including FedEx Cup bonuses) and a return trip to the top of the OWGR table. It is a remarkable program.

Here are all nine times McIlroy became the No. 1 player in the world.