1989 World Golf Rankings: No. 1, Top 50 at End of Year

Who was the No. 1 player in men's golf at the end of 1989? Which golfers finished the year ranked the highest in the Official World Golf Ranking? Below is the year-end list of 1989's top-ranked golfers.

Greg Norman was ranked No. 1 after two wins on the PGA Tour during the year. Norman won The International and the Greater Milwaukee Open. He also made it into a playoff at the 1989 British Open, but lost to Mark Calcavecchia. On the Japan Tour, Norman won The Crowns tournament; and Norman also won the Australian Masters and Australian TPC tournaments.

Men's World Golf Rankings, End of 1989

These were the Top 50 golfers in the final Official World Golf Ranking of the calendar year 1989. For comparison's sake, the Top 10 golfers are listed with their average ranking points earned per tournament.

1. Greg Norman, Australia, 17.76
2. Nick Faldo, England, 16.25
3. Seve Ballesteros, Spain, 15.03
4. Curtis Strange, United States, 13.79
5. Payne Stewart, United States, 12.82
6. Tom Kite, United States, 12.41
7. Jose Maria Olazabal, Spain, 12.00
8. Mark Calcavecchia, United States, 11.81
9. Ian Woosnam, Wales, 11.56
10. Paul Azinger, United States, 10.95
11. Chip Beck, United States
12. Jumbo Ozaki, Japan
13. David Frost, South Africa
14. Sandy Lyle, Scotland
15. Fred Couples, United States
16. Bernhard Langer, Germany
17. Ben Crenshaw, United States
18. Mark McCumber, United States
19. Larry Mize, United States
20. Tom Watson, United States
21. Ronan Rafferty, Northern Ireland
22. Mike Reid, United States
23. Larry Nelson, United States
24. Scott Hoch, United States
25. Lanny Wadkins, United States
26. Peter Senior, Australia
27. Mark O'Meara, United States
28. Steve Jones, United States
29. Craig Parry, Australia
30. Craig Stadler, United States
31. Mark McNulty, Zimbabwe
32. Bruce Lietzke, United States
33. Ken Green, United States
34. Isao Aoki, Japan
35. Tim Simpson, United States
36. Scott Simpson, United States
37. Mark James, England
38. Nick Price, Zimbabwe
39. Don Pooley, United States
40. Bob Tway, United States
41. Steve Pate, United States
42. Wayne Grady, Australia
43. Rodger Davis, Australia
44. Dan Pohl, United States
45. Blaine McCallister, United States
46. Peter Jacobsen, United States
47. Fuzzy Zoeller, United States
48. Joe Ozaki, Japan
49. Jodie Mudd, United States
50. Bill Glasson, United States

Comparing the above end-of-1989 rankings with the end-of-1988 rankings, the biggest jump from outside the Top 50 into the Top 50 from 1988 to 1989 was by Blaine McCallister, who went from No. 161 to No. 45.

The full OWGR at the end of 1989 can be viewed in the OWGR Archives.