Donald extends his stay

Features

bruced
November 29, 2011

Luke Donald remained No 1 when the latest up-dated, Official World Rankings list was released on Monday.

With 10.22 points,Donald is well clear of Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (7.48) and fellow Englishman Lee Westwood (7.35) on a list top-heavy with Europeans.

With Martin Kaymer in 4th place they easily outshine the Americans who have Dustin Johnson in 5th place, Steve Stricker 6th, Nick Watney 9th and Webb Simpson 10th and the Australians who have Adam Scott and Jason Day in 7th and 8th places.

The super consistent Donald has had his critics, most of whom have pointed to the fact that has still to win a major, but they seemed to have missed the point that he has now been sitting on top of the World for a longer period than half of the 15 golfers who have held the position since the official World Ranking list was introduced 24 years ago.

Tiger Woods, ranked No 51 last week, tops the list of those who have held the coveted No 1 slot for longer than Donald.

Woods, before his well-documented slide into mediocrity, quite rightly sat on top of the Rankings list for a record 623 weeks followed by Australia’s iconic Greg Norman at 331 weeks, England’s Nick Faldo at 97 weeks. Welshman Ian Woosnam at 50 weeks, Zimbabwe’s Durban born Nick Price at 44 weeks and Fiji’s Vijay Singh at 32 weeks.

Then comes Donald at 26 weeks – leading a trail of stars who have held the World No 1 spot for less time than he has.

This list is topped by fellow Englishman Lee Westwood, who enjoyed a reign of 22 weeks before being replaced by Donald, the winner this year of the US Money list and currently the leader in the Race to Dubai.

The others who have held the World No 1 spot, but not for as long as Donald. include Fred Couple (16 weeks), captain of the triumphant Americans at the 9th Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne earlier this month, fellow US golfer David Duval (15 weeks), South Africa’s Ernie Els (9 weeks), Germans Martin Kaymer (8 weeks) and Bernhard Langer (3 weeks) and American Tom Lehmnan (1 week)

All the World No 1s to date
Tiger Woods USA (623 Weeks)
Greg Norman AUS (331 Weeks)
Nick Faldo ENG (97 Weeks)
Seve Ballesteros ESP (61 Weeks
Ian Woosnam WAL(50 Weeks)
Nick Price ZIM (44 Weeks)
Vijay Singh FIJ (32 Weeks)
Luke Donald ENG (26 weeks)
Lee Westwood ENG (22 Weeks)
Fred Couples USA (16 Weeks)
David Duval USA (15 Weeks)
Ernie Els RSA (9 Weeks)
Martin Kaymer GER (8 Weeks)
Bernhard Langer GER (3 Weeks)
Tom Lehman USA (1 Week)

This Week’s Top 20 World Rankings list

1 Luke Donald 10.22pts
2 Rory McIlroy 7.48
3 Lee Westwood 7.35
4 Martin Kaymer 6.91
5 Dustin Johnson 5.69
6 Steve Stricker 5.68
7 Adam Scott 5.60
8 Jason Day 5.41
9 Webb Simpson 5.18
10 Nick Watney 4.97
11 Matt Kuchar 4.96
12 Phil Mickelson 4.88
13 Charl Schwartzel 4.66
14 Graeme McDowell 4.53
15 KJ Choi 4.50
16 Justin Rose 4.18
17 Sergio Garcia 4.04
18 Bubba Watson 3.90
19 Hunter Mahan 3.81
20 David Toms 3.72

Other leading Europeans:
21 Paul Casey
25 Ian Poulter
29 Robert Karlsson
31 Simon Dyson
32 Thomas Bjorn
33 Anders Hansen
34 Fredrik Jacobson
37 Francesco Molinari
38 Darren Clarke
40 Miguel Angel Jimenez
43 Martin Laird
46 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano
50 Alvaro Quiros
53 Peter Hanson
56 Matteo Manassero
62 Edoardo Molinari
64 Alexander Noren
68 Joost Luiten
76 Nicolas Colsaerts
81 Padraig Harrington
84 Jamie Donaldson
85 Pablo Larrazabal
90 Ross Fisher
97 David Lynn
100 Fredrik Andersson Hed.