Rory McIlroy On Returning To World No.1 - "Only A Matter Of Time"

The four-time Major winner is targeting a return to the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking

Rory McIlroy On Returning To World No.1

The four-time Major winner is targeting a return to the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking

Rory McIlroy On Returning To World No.1 - "Only A Matter Of Time"

Rory McIlroy is back up to second in the Official World Golf Ranking but hopes it is "only a matter of time" before he returns to the top.

At second in the world, the four-time Major winner is up to his highest position since June 2017 after winning the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup.

"I feel like when I'm playing my best, I'm the best player in the world. And I'd like to get back there," McIlroy said.

"It's been a goal of mine for a while.

"I haven't experienced that summit for the last four years.

"So I feel like with the work that I'm putting in, and the consistent golf that I'm playing, hopefully it's only a matter of time."

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He hasn't been World No.1 since September 2015 and has seen Jordan Spieth, Jason day, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Justin Rose and Brooks Koepka hold the top position since then.

The 30-year-old has plenty of big tournaments ahead of him for the remainder of 2019 with the BMW PGA Championship, the PGA Tour's Asian Swing, the European Tour Finals and the WGC-HSBC Champions.

"Wentworth is obviously big for world ranking points, and there's a WGC coming up as well, so there's still a lot to play for," he said.

"But that's my focus for the rest of the year, getting closer to that No 1 spot."

It could well be argued that McIlroy is the best player in the world now after his FedEx Cup victory.

He was 1st in Strokes Gained Total, Driving and Off the tee for the 2018/19 PGA Tour season and also led in Scoring Average too.

However, one big omission this year has been his failure to contend in a Major with his best finish a T8th at the USPGA Championship.

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Elliott Heath
News Editor

Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!


Elliott is currently playing:


Driver: Titleist TSR4

3 wood: Titleist TSi2

Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1

Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW

Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5

Ball: Srixon Z Star XV