McIlroy overtakes Koepka as world's No. 1-ranked golfer
Rory McIlroy is back on top.
The Northern Irishman surpassed Brooks Koepka as the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world on Monday even though neither player was in action last week at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, according to the Official World Golf Rankings.
| Rank | Golfer | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rory McIlroy | ▲ |
| 2 | Brooks Koepka | ▼ |
| 3 | John Rahm | |
| 4 | Justin Thomas | |
| 5 | Dustin Johnson | |
| 6 | Patrick Cantlay | ▲ |
| 7 | Webb Simpson | |
| 8 | Tiger Woods | ▼ |
| 9 | Xander Schauffele | |
| 10 | Justin Rose |
It's McIlroy's eighth time in the No. 1 spot, but his first since 2015, according to Golf Digest's Joel Beall.
Koepka had held the top rank since winning the 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage Black in May - a 38-week span.
Prior to the CJ Cup in October, Koepka dismissed the notion of a budding rivalry between the two stars.
"I've been out here for, what, five years. Rory hasn't won a major since I've been on the PGA Tour. So I just don't view it as a rivalry," he said at the time.
McIlroy later admitted he was motivated by Koepka's comments.
"His remarks did fire me up a bit," McIlroy said in November. "But hey, we're out here for a long time and Brooks and I get on well. There was no point in retaliating to a Koepka comment, which just might, like one of my own, have slipped out unthinkingly. We all do it."
Koepka won the U.S. Open in 2017 and 2018, and the PGA Championship in 2018 and 2019. McIlroy hasn't won a major since 2014, when he claimed both the PGA Championship and The Open.
However, McIlroy edged Koepka to win the 2018-19 PGA Tour Player of the Year award. He was victorious at the Players Championship, the Canadian Open, and the Tour Championship last season, and he also took home the FedEx Cup.