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Scottie Scheffler was just replaced as the World No. 1 in golf. Rory McIlroy took the spot for the ninth time in his career after a stellar finish at the CJ Cup Final, in which he was victorious. The win propelled him past Scheffler.
However, the former top golfer was on top for a long time. Scheffler was No. 1 for 30 weeks, from March 28 to October 23. That's a long time, but it's not the longest ever. Tiger Woods once held the spot for an astonishing 281 weeks.
Scheffler is one of the best golfers playing today and will be back on top or at least challenging for the top spot in no time.
Rory McIlroy takes top spot on golf leaderboard from Scottie Scheffler
According to CBS Sports, McIlroy was feeling a bit of pressure ahead of being officially named the world's top golfer. He could see it coming and is worried about what comes after:
"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. 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."
Becoming the top-ranked golfer is one thing, but McIlroy believes it takes a lot of work to stay atop the list for as long as someone like Scheffler did. He added:
"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."
Much like McIlroy enjoyed runs of dominance throughout his career that resulted in the top spot on the leaderboard, the former leader will do the same. He's too good of a golfer to take this stumble and never recover from it.
How does one become the World No. 1 golfer?
The criteria for becoming the top golfer is simple. It's not subjective and doesn't require voting or committees.
The World Ranking is determined simply by a bit of math. Instead of subjective opinions, the formula divides the number of total points by the number of events played.
Whoever has the best average among qualifying competitors is the top-ranked golfer. Thanks to his exceptional last performance, McIlroy now edges out Scheffler in that regard, but it can change any time the leader stumbles or his counterparts do extremely well.
