Tour News

Scott overtakes Woods for No. 1 spot in the OWGR

Published

12 years ago

May 19, 2014

Adam Scott didn’t play this past weekend at HP Byron Nelson Championship, but he did overtake Tiger Woods to become the No. 1-ranked golfer in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Since the inception of the Official World Golf Rankings, there have been 17 different golfers who have occupied the No. 1 spot. Scott becomes the only Australian to sit at the top of the leaderboard other than Greg Norman, who held the spot for 331 weeks throughout his career. His move to No. 1 also marks the fourth time a golfer has moved into golf’s top spot in a week that he didn’t play. Lee Westwood, Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam welcome him to the club.

Scott hasn’t enjoyed a victory on the PGA Tour since his win at the first round of The Playoffs, The Barclays in August. Before that, he won his first major championship at the Masters. The two victories, however, don’t tell the whole story. Since the start of the 2013, Scott has been the most consistent player in golf, with nine top-10 finishes that include three third-place finishes. That consistent play has allowed him to chip away at Woods’ No. 1 ranking.

“I think No. 1 is a nice feather in the cap, and if I was never world No. 1 when I was this close I’d have been disappointed,” Scott said. “But I’d also much rather win the U.S. Open and not be No. 1 at all this year … There weren’t rankings back in the day, and guys won a lot of majors and that’s how they’re remembered.”

Scott tees it up for the first time in his career as the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world at this week’s Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

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Stephen Staller

Stephen Staller is a Project Assistant at GolfWRX.com.

9 Comments

Trevor

May 20, 2014 at 3:16 am

I am fully aware he won the Barclays.
The point I was making was that the author stated he had won nothing since.
If he had bothered to carry out any research he would have found out that he also won.
The australian masters beating Matt Kucher in the process.
The Australian PGA beating Rickie Fowler
The World Cup paired with Jason Day
And narrowly lost on the last hole in the australian open to Rory.
The author seems to think golf begins and ends with the PGA tour and nothing
else matters

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Booger

May 19, 2014 at 9:35 pm

Thx Adam. Sick of tiger. Hope he retires.

Reply Report comment
- West
  
  May 20, 2014 at 7:55 pm
  
  How dare you!!!
  
  Reply Report comment
Betty Hume

May 19, 2014 at 1:23 pm

Adam has ONLY taken the No1 spot because Tiger isn’t playing at the moment. If Tiger WAS playing, Adam wouldn’t be there. I believe this is why Adam isn’t so vocal about it…..

Reply Report comment
- West
  
  May 20, 2014 at 7:56 pm
  
  Exactly!
  
  Reply Report comment
Trevor

May 19, 2014 at 1:14 pm

No wins since August. what about multiple wins in Australia at end of year. Does it not count unless it happens in America

Reply Report comment
- Derek
  
  May 19, 2014 at 4:56 pm
  
  He won the Barclays.
  
  Reply Report comment
- Gerard
  
  May 20, 2014 at 5:00 am
  
  +1
  
  Reply Report comment
Dave S

May 19, 2014 at 12:47 pm

Has anyone undertaken the task of using past results of historical tournaments to show what the rankings would have been back in the day? I’m sure this is possible, but also, a lot of work. Would be cool to see the OWRs during the Jones/Hagen/Sarazen, Nelson/Hogan/Venturi and Palmer/Player/Nicklaus eras.

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.