Rory McIlroy regained the world number one ranking on Sunday — 10 years after he first rose to the top — with a one-stroke victory in the US PGA Tour’s CJ Cup.
Three late birdies helped the Northern Ireland star hold off American Kurt Kitayama and return to the top of the rankings for the ninth time, and for the first time since his most recent spell there ended in July of 2020.
He supplanted American Scottie Scheffler, who finished tied for 45th to see his 30-week stint at the summit end.
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Only three golfers have had stints as world No.1 that have stretched over more than 10 years.
Seventeen years split Tiger Woods’ first week as No.1 and his most recent, and 11-and-a-half years were between Norman’s first and last.
It’s fitting that McIlroy should be in an exclusive group that features LIV Golf chief Norman, who the Northern Irishman has a running feud with due to the Saudi-backed breakaway league.
Earlier this year, McIlroy went past Norman’s total of 20 wins on the US PGA Tour and, in victory, said: “One more than someone else and that gave me some extra incentive to get it done.”
Norman on his new ‘legacy’ in golf | 01:57
In reply, Norman said: “I take it as a compliment that Rory wanted to beat my 20 PGA Tour wins.
“His next goal should be to win more than 91 tournaments globally or to maintain No.1 in the world for more than 331 weeks.”
Last week prior to the CJ Cup, McIlroy took another shot at Norman, saying that he intends to surpass his number of weeks spent at world No.1 too.
McIlroy is starting his 107th week as world No.1 and has a long way to catch the Australian, who spent 331 weeks at the top.
Asked if he is aiming for a specific total, McIlroy told reporters: “332. I don’t know if I can, but that’s a number in my head.”
McIlroy has remained the pin-up boy of the PGA Tour and hasn’t held back in his criticism of both Norman and LIV Golf, which has torn golf apart at the seams this year.
Meanwhile, McIlroy also reflected on the difficulty of being world No.1, as proven by the small number of players to have had lengthy runs at the top.
“I guess that’s where I say like the cool thing about it is you get to No. 1, and it feels great in the moment,” McIlroy said last week. “The bad thing is you almost (have) to … maybe work harder to stay there.
“I think, when you’re striving toward something, not that it’s easier to get there, but like once you get there, it’s great. But I think the hard work is actually staying there.
“I think if I get back to No. 1 this week, it’s like my ninth time getting back. It sort of illustrates you can have your runs and you can stay there, but I think the cool part is the journey and the journey getting back there.
“It’s sort of like a heavyweight boxer losing a world title and it’s a journey to get that title back. I feel like that’s the cool part of it and that’s the journey that I’ve sort of been through over the past 12 months.”
