The Official World Golf Rankings finally had some movement after being stagnant for the past 2-3 months.
Dustin Johnson remained locked in at No. 1 despite a missed cut at Carnoustie.
Justin Thomas‘ miss at The Open, coupled with a T2 by Justin Rose, forced a swapping of positions, as the Englishman moved to No. 2 and the American took the third spot. Rose has been in top form the past three months while Thomas has cooled off considerably since a hot stretch in March, highlighted by a win at the Honda and a playoff loss in Mexico.
Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm stood still at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively.
Meanwhile, Jordan Spieth, who started the season at No. 2, keeps falling, and now sits at No. 8 (from 6th) as Francesco Molinari, the newly minted Champion Golfer of the Year, slides into the sixth spot.
The 8th ranking is Spieth’s worst since early in 2015, before his historic season kicked into gear with a win at the Valspar. On the flip side, Molinari’s best career ranking was 15th.
Despite coming up short in another major, Rory McIlroy moved to No. 7 after a T2, while Rickie Fowler fell to No. 9. Jason Day dropped a spot from 9th to 10th, while Tommy Fleetwood got knocked out of the top 10.
Finally, with a T6 finish in Carnoustie, Scotland, Tiger Woods moved to No. 50, and qualified for next month’s Bridgestone event. The long-running WGC stop in Ohio will be contested for the final time at historic Firestone Country Club.
Starting next season, the tournament will be merged with the FedEx St Jude event in Memphis, and renamed the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational, with TPC Southwind playing host. Woods is an eight-time(!) winner of the WGC-Bridgestone event.
OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKINGS: TOP 15
RANK-PLAYER (LAST WEEK)
1. Dustin Johnson (1)
2. Justin Rose (3)
3. Justin Thomas (2)
4. Brooks Koepka (4)
5. Jon Rahm (5)
6. Francesco Molinari (15)
7. Rory McIlroy (9)
8. Jordan Spieth (6)
9. Rickie Fowler (7)
10. Jason Day (9)
11. Tommy Fleetwood (10)
12. Alex Noren (11)
13. Patrick Reed (12)
14. Bubba Watson (13)
15. Paul Casey (14)
50. Tiger Woods (67)