2018 World Golf Rankings: No. 1, Top 50 at End of Year
Brooks Koepka was ranked No. 1 at the end of 2018 after winning three times on the PGA Tour during the calendar year. Those wins included two majors: the 2018 U.S. Open and 2018 PGA Championship. The CJ Cup at Nine Bridges was his third victory of the year.
Men's World Golf Rankings, End of 2018
These were the Top 50 golfers in the final Official World Golf Ranking of the calendar year 2018 (released on Dec. 30, 2018; the number is the player's average ranking points earned per tournament):
1. Brooks Koepka, United States, 9.6248
2. Justin Rose, England, 9.6096
3. Dustin Johnson, United States, 8.2369
4. Justin Thomas, United States, 7.8747
5. Bryson DeChambeau, United States, 6.9096
6. Jon Rahm, Spain, 6.4513
7. Francesco Molinari, Italy, 5.9963
8. Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland, 5.9690
9. Tony Finau, United States, 5.5427
10. Xander Schauffele, United States, 5.4865
11. Rickie Fowler, United States, 5.4512
12. Tommy Fleetwood, England, 5.3784
13. Tiger Woods, United States, 5.3497
14. Jason Day, Australia, 5.2908
15. Patrick Reed, United States, 4.9876
16. Bubba Watson, United States, 4.6593
17. Jordan Spieth, United States, 4.5922
18. Patrick Cantlay, United States, 4.5258
19. Alex Noren, Sweden, 4.3142
20. Marc Leishman, Australia, 4.3099
21. Webb Simpson, United States, 4.2899
22. Paul Casey, England, 3.9637
23. Tyrrell Hatton, England, 3.6808
24. Sergio Garcia, Spain, 3.6585
25. Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa, 3.6407
26. Henrik Stenson, Sweden, 3.6305
27. Cameron Smith, Australia, 3.5028
28. Hideki Matsuyama, Japan, 3.4934
29. Rafa Cabrera Bello, Spain, 3.4743
30. Keegan Bradley, United States, 3.3786
31. Gary Woodland, United States, 3.3373
32. Phil Mickelson, United States, 3.2631
33. Kyle Stanley, United States, 3.2051
34. Matt Kuchar, United States, 3.1947
35. Eddie Pepperell, England, 3.0103
36. Billy Horschel, United States, 2.9439
37. Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Thailand, 2.9094
38. Kevin Kisner, United States, 2.8625
39. Matthew Fitzpatrick, England, 2.7774
40. Ian Poulter, England, 2.7728
41. Adam Scott, Australia, 2.7629
41. Haotong Li, China, 2.7201
43. Thorbjorn Olesen, Denmark, 2.6679
44. Matt Wallace, England, 2.5292
45. Lucas Bjerregaard, Denmark, 2.4767
46. Satoshi Kodaira, Japan, 2.4261
47. Emiliano Grillo, Argentina, 2.4257
48. Kevin Na, United States, 2.4223
49. Branden Grace, South Africa, 2.3555
50. Brandt Snedeker, United States, 2.3488
Comparing the above end-of-2018 rankings with the end-of-2017 rankings, the biggest jump from outside the Top 50 into the Top 50 from 2017 to 2018 was by Tiger Woods, who jumped from No. 656 to No. 13. (Woods had spent the previous couple years hampered by injuries.) Other big jumps year-over-year were made by Lucas Bjerregaard (No. 188 to 45), Matt Wallace (No. 127 to 44) and Eddie Pepperell (No. 133 to 35).
The biggest year-to-year drop within the Top 50 was by Hideki Matsuyama, who fell from No. 5 at the end of 2017 to No. 27 above. Jordan Spieth fell from No. 2 to 17th. The full OWGR at the end of 2018 can be viewed in the OWGR Archives.
Related article: 2018 Women's World Golf Rankings
