Thomas takes over top spot in rankings

Justin Thomas was not able to crack the top 10 on the final leaderboard at The Players Championship on Sunday, but his performance was good enough for him to displace Dustin Johnson as the world’s top-ranked player.

Thomas shot a 6-under 66 in the final round to tie for 11th place at 11-under 277, one stroke ahead of Johnson. That allowed Thomas to snare the top ranking for the first time in his career.

“It means a lot, but it’s something I want to have for a long time, it’s not something I just want to have once,” Thomas said. “To have it for (a lengthy stretch) like D.J. has and like Tiger (Woods) did and other guys who have had it for a long time, that’s more of a goal of mine as opposed to just having it.

Since this week a year ago, Thomas has 11 top-10 finishes, including wins in the PGA Championship, the Dell Technologies Championship, the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges and the Honda Classic, plus runner-up results in the Tour Championship and the WGC-Mexico Championships.

Johnson had been ranked No. 1 on the Official World Golf Ranking list since February 2017. His 64-week stay at the top is fifth-best in the history of the rankings, which began in 1986.

The only long runs were by Woods (281 weeks from June 2005-October 2010), Woods (264 weeks, August 1999-September 2004) Australia’s Greg Norman (96 weeks, June 1995-April 1997) and England’s Nick Faldo (81 weeks, July 1992-February 1994).

Johnson’s total of 64 weeks at No. 1 also ranks fifth all-time, behind only Woods (683 weeks), Norman (331), Faldo (97) and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (95).

Thomas is the 21st player to hold the No. 1 position and the fourth youngest.

Webb Simpson moved up to No. 20 on the latest list by virtue of his victory Sunday. Woods jumped from No. 92 to No. 80 after tying for 11th with Thomas and four others at The Players.

–Field Level Media