List of male golfers who have been in the world top 10
This is a list of golfers who have appeared in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking. The rankings started on 6 April 1986 and are updated each week. 107 golfers have reached the top 10.
Tiger Woods holds the record for the most weeks in the world top 10, with 906. He is followed by Ernie Els with 788 weeks and Phil Mickelson with 775 weeks. Woods had a record run of 736 consecutive weeks in the top 10 from 13 April 1997 to 15 May 2011, had another run of 124 consecutive weeks from 25 March 2012 to 3 August 2014 and 46 further weeks from 14 April 2019 to 23 February 2020. Greg Norman was in the top 10 for 646 consecutive weeks from the start of the rankings in 1986 until 16 August 1998. Sergio García is the youngest player to reach the top 10, a week after his 20th birthday.
Before the start of the OWGR in 1986, world golf rankings were published in Mark McCormack's World of Professional Golf Annual from 1968 to 1985. These end-of-year rankings had Jack Nicklaus as the number one from 1968 to 1977, Tom Watson from 1978 to 1982 and Seve Ballesteros from 1983 to 1985.
Current top 10
The table shows the top 10 ranked golfers and their average ranking points as of 26 July 2020, which is the end of week 30.| Rank | Change | Player | Country | Points | Top 10 since | Weeks |
| 1 | 8.97 | 7 Jul 2019 | ||||
| 2 | 8.51 | 18 Mar 2018 | ||||
| 3 | 7.54 | 13 Aug 2017 | ||||
| 4 | 1 | 6.92 | 2 Feb 2020 | |||
| 5 | 1 | 6.88 | 8 Mar 2015 | |||
| 6 | 6.26 | 27 May 2018 | ||||
| 7 | 6.04 | 28 Jun 2020 | ||||
| 8 | 5.89 | 23 Feb 2020 | ||||
| 9 | 5.67 | 16 Feb 2020 | ||||
| 10 | 5.56 | 2 Jun 2019 |
Change – change in position since the previous week.
Top 10 since – indicates the date at which the player entered or last re-entered the top 10.
Weeks – current number of consecutive weeks in the top 10.
Since the major revision of the rating method in September 2001, the highest points average as well as the largest lead in points average were set by Tiger Woods on September 16, 2007. After winning the BMW Championship and The Tour Championship in consecutive weeks, he had an average of 24.36 and a lead of 14.73 points over Phil Mickelson.
Most weeks in the top 10
As of 26 July 2020, 107 players have reached the world top 10 since the rankings started in April 1986. 24 of these have reached number 1 while a further 13 have reached number 2 but never number 1.Tiger Woods has been in the top 10 for 906 weeks. He has been number 1 for 683 weeks, number 2 for 107 weeks and number 3 for 27 weeks. Phil Mickelson was never number 1 but was number 2 for 270 weeks.
The current top-10 are in bold.
| Player | Country | Weeks | First | Last | Best | FirstB | Refs |
| Tiger Woods | 906 | 13 Apr 1997 | 23 Feb 2020 | 1 | 15 Jun 1997 | ||
| Ernie Els | 788 | 19 Jun 1994 | 16 Jan 2011 | 1 | 22 Jun 1997 | ||
| Phil Mickelson | 775 | 25 Aug 1996 | 7 Sep 2014 | 2 | 11 Feb 2001 | ||
| Greg Norman | 646 | 6 Apr 1986 | 16 Aug 1998 | 1 | 14 Sep 1986 | ||
| Vijay Singh | 544 | 23 Aug 1998 | 12 Jul 2009 | 1 | 5 Sep 2004 | ||
| Rory McIlroy | 525 | 22 Nov 2009 | 26 Jul 2020 | 1 | 4 Mar 2012 | ||
| Nick Faldo | 473 | 31 Jan 1988 | 6 Jul 1997 | 1 | 2 Sep 1990 | ||
| Davis Love III | 465 | 19 Apr 1992 | 20 Feb 2005 | 2 | 19 Jul 1998 | ||
| Sergio García | 453 | 16 Jan 2000 | 22 Apr 2018 | 2 | 9 Nov 2008 | ||
| Adam Scott | 443 | 15 Aug 2004 | 26 Jul 2020 | 1 | 18 May 2014 | ||
| Jim Furyk | 442 | 17 Jan 1999 | 7 Feb 2016 | 2 | 10 Sep 2006 | ||
| Bernhard Langer | 406 | 6 Apr 1986 | 30 Jun 1996 | 1 | 6 Apr 1986 | ||
| Colin Montgomerie | 400 | 15 May 1994 | 15 Jan 2006 | 2 | 17 Mar 1996 | ||
| Nick Price | 386 | 16 Aug 1992 | 6 Jul 2003 | 1 | 14 Aug 1994 | ||
| Justin Rose | 385 | 4 Nov 2007 | 9 Feb 2020 | 1 | 9 Sep 2018 | ||
| Lee Westwood | 354 | 12 Jul 1998 | 28 Jul 2013 | 1 | 31 Oct 2010 | ||
| Ian Woosnam | 338 | 27 Sep 1987 | 12 Jun 1994 | 1 | 7 Apr 1991 | ||
| Henrik Stenson | 338 | 4 Feb 2007 | 21 Jan 2018 | 2 | 25 May 2014 | ||
| Seve Ballesteros | 337 | 6 Apr 1986 | 8 Nov 1992 | 1 | 27 Apr 1986 | ||
| Fred Couples | 322 | 9 Sep 1990 | 4 Apr 1999 | 1 | 22 Mar 1992 | ||
| José María Olazábal | 314 | 30 Apr 1989 | 8 Oct 1995 | 2 | 17 Mar 1991 | ||
| Dustin Johnson | 314 | 5 Jun 2011 | 26 Jul 2020 | 1 | 19 Feb 2017 | ||
| Pádraig Harrington | 304 | 11 Nov 2001 | 4 Apr 2010 | 3 | 20 Jul 2008 | ||
| Paul Azinger | 292 | 20 Mar 1988 | 31 Jul 1994 | 4 | 22 Aug 1993 | ||
| Retief Goosen | 275 | 28 Oct 2001 | 24 Jun 2007 | 3 | 15 Jan 2006 | ||
| Jason Day | 265 | 19 Jun 2011 | 27 Jan 2019 | 1 | 20 Sep 2015 | ||
| Steve Stricker | 254 | 26 Aug 2007 | 19 Jan 2014 | 2 | 6 Sep 2009 | ||
| Payne Stewart | 249 | 1986 | 14 Nov 1999 | 3 | 10 Jun 1990 | ||
| David Duval | 232 | 22 Feb 1998 | 11 Aug 2002 | 1 | 28 Mar 1999 | ||
| Curtis Strange | 223 | 1986 | 12 May 1991 | 3 | 19 Jun 1988 | ||
| Luke Donald | 220 | 12 Mar 2006 | 4 Aug 2013 | 1 | 29 May 2011 | ||
| Jordan Spieth | 216 | 13 Apr 2014 | 14 Oct 2018 | 1 | 16 Aug 2015 | ||
| Rickie Fowler | 206 | 14 Sep 2014 | 26 May 2019 | 4 | 24 Jan 2016 | ||
| Masashi Ozaki | 195 | 8 Oct 1989 | 26 Apr 1998 | 5 | 1 Sep 1996 | ||
| Mark O'Meara | 191 | 6 Apr 1986 | 9 Jan 2000 | 2 | 6 Sep 1998 | ||
| Bubba Watson | 186 | 1 May 2011 | 8 Jan 2017 | 2 | 22 Feb 2015 | ||
| David Toms | 179 | 19 Aug 2001 | 11 Jun 2006 | 5 | 3 Nov 2002 | ||
| Tom Kite | 174 | 12 Mar 1989 | 6 Feb 1994 | 5 | 16 Apr 1989 | ||
| Corey Pavin | 167 | 6 Apr 1986 | 9 Feb 1997 | 2 | 2 Jun 1996 | ||
| Sandy Lyle | 166 | 6 Apr 1986 | 6 Aug 1989 | 2 | 10 Apr 1988 | ||
| Justin Thomas | 158 | 15 Jan 2017 | 26 Jul 2020 | 1 | 13 May 2018 | ||
| Matt Kuchar | 142 | 29 Aug 2010 | 15 Feb 2015 | 4 | 2 Jun 2013 | ||
| Jon Rahm | 139 | 28 May 2017 | 26 Jul 2020 | 1 | 19 Jul 2020 | ||
| Brooks Koepka | 136 | 18 Jun 2017 | 26 Jul 2020 | 1 | 21 Oct 2018 | ||
| Geoff Ogilvy | 123 | 18 Jun 2006 | 17 Jan 2010 | 3 | 29 Jun 2008 | ||
| Tom Lehman | 122 | 28 Jan 1996 | 18 Mar 2001 | 1 | 20 Apr 1997 | ||
| Hal Sutton | 121 | 6 Apr 1986 | 17 Jun 2001 | 4 | 23 Apr 2000 | ||
| Paul Casey | 116 | 5 Apr 2009 | 20 May 2018 | 3 | 24 May 2009 | ||
| Mike Weir | 111 | 24 Jun 2001 | 27 Feb 2005 | 3 | 15 Jun 2003 | ||
| Martin Kaymer | 110 | 24 Jan 2010 | 1 Mar 2015 | 1 | 27 Feb 2011 | ||
| Mark Calcavecchia | 109 | 27 Nov 1988 | 30 Dec 1990 | 5 | 23 Jul 1989 | ||
| Kenny Perry | 103 | 15 Jun 2003 | 3 Jan 2010 | 4 | 28 Jun 2009 | ||
| Lanny Wadkins | 86 | 1986 | 5 May 1991 | 5 | 1 Mar 1987 | ||
| David Frost | 86 | 17 Apr 1988 | 30 Oct 1994 | 6 | 20 Nov 1988 | ||
| Hideki Matsuyama | 86 | 23 Oct 2016 | 10 Jun 2018 | 2 | 18 Jun 2017 | ||
| Tsuneyuki Nakajima | 85 | 6 Apr 1986 | 15 Nov 1987 | 4 | 1986 | ||
| Mark McNulty | 84 | 14 Jun 1987 | 12 Apr 1992 | 6 | 18 Oct 1987 | ||
| Ben Crenshaw | 80 | 16 Aug 1987 | 14 May 1989 | 5 | 22 May 1988 | ||
| Bryson DeChambeau | 65 | 2 Sep 2018 | 26 Jul 2020 | 5 | 4 Nov 2018 | ||
| Brandt Snedeker | 64 | 23 Sep 2012 | 8 Dec 2013 | 4 | 10 Feb 2013 | ||
| Webb Simpson | 64 | 23 Oct 2011 | 26 Jul 2020 | 4 | 5 Jul 2020 | ||
| Chris DiMarco | 60 | 10 Feb 2002 | 2 Apr 2006 | 6 | 8 May 2005 | ||
| Francesco Molinari | 60 | 22 Jul 2018 | 22 Sep 2019 | 5 | 9 Sep 2018 | ||
| Steve Elkington | 58 | 15 Oct 1995 | 15 Feb 1998 | 3 | 20 Apr 1997 | ||
| Patrick Reed | 56 | 6 Dec 2015 | 26 Jul 2020 | 6 | 14 Jun 2020 | ||
| Graeme McDowell | 55 | 31 Oct 2010 | 25 Aug 2013 | 4 | 16 Jan 2011 | ||
| Xander Schauffele | 55 | 30 Dec 2018 | 21 Jun 2020 | 6 | 6 Jan 2019 | ||
| Jason Dufner | 50 | 27 May 2012 | 24 Nov 2013 | 6 | 16 Sep 2012 | ||
| Patrick Cantlay | 49 | 2 Jun 2019 | 26 Jul 2020 | 6 | 6 Oct 2019 | ||
| John Cook | 46 | 23 Aug 1992 | 25 Jul 1993 | 7 | 11 Oct 1992 | ||
| Stewart Cink | 45 | 29 Aug 2004 | 23 Aug 2009 | 5 | 6 Jul 2008 | ||
| Chip Beck | 43 | 24 Apr 1988 | 29 Oct 1989 | 8 | 12 Feb 1989 | ||
| Darren Clarke | 43 | 29 Oct 2000 | 13 Jan 2002 | 8 | 22 Jul 2001 | ||
| K. J. Choi | 40 | 26 Aug 2007 | 29 Jun 2008 | 5 | 9 Mar 2008 | ||
| Jesper Parnevik | 38 | 23 Jan 2000 | 8 Apr 2001 | 7 | 14 May 2000 | ||
| Louis Oosthuizen | 37 | 9 Sep 2012 | 7 Jul 2013 | 4 | 13 Jan 2013 | ||
| Camilo Villegas | 34 | 28 Sep 2008 | 24 May 2009 | 7 | 28 Sep 2008 | ||
| Ian Poulter | 33 | 24 Jan 2010 | 3 Mar 2013 | 5 | 21 Feb 2010 | ||
| Tom Watson | 32 | 6 Apr 1986 | 1986 | 4* | 6 Apr 1986 | ||
| Rodger Davis | 29 | 19 Jul 1987 | 26 Jan 1992 | 7 | 19 Jul 1987 | ||
| Robert Karlsson | 27 | 5 Oct 2008 | 5 Apr 2009 | 6 | 19 Oct 2008 | ||
| Zach Johnson | 27 | 8 Dec 2013 | 22 Nov 2015 | 6 | 12 Jan 2014 | ||
| Danny Willett | 27 | 10 Apr 2016 | 30 Oct 2016 | 9 | 10 Apr 2016 | ||
| Alex Norén | 26 | 13 Nov 2016 | 6 Aug 2017 | 8 | 28 May 2017 | ||
| Bob Tway | 25 | 28 Dec 1986 | 14 Jun 1987 | 5 | 25 Jan 1987 | ||
| Tommy Fleetwood | 25 | 4 Mar 2018 | 15 Mar 2020 | 9 | 18 Nov 2018 | ||
| Justin Leonard | 24 | 29 Mar 1998 | 13 Jun 1999 | 6 | 10 May 1998 | ||
| Anthony Kim | 22 | 14 Sep 2008 | 23 May 2010 | 6 | 28 Sep 2008 | ||
| Rory Sabbatini | 21 | 9 Sep 2007 | 30 Mar 2008 | 8 | 23 Sep 2007 | ||
| Calvin Peete | 20 | 6 Apr 1986 | 1986 | 8* | 1986 | ||
| Charl Schwartzel | 20 | 22 May 2011 | 1 Apr 2012 | 6 | 11 Mar 2012 | ||
| Andy Bean | 19 | 1986 | 1 Mar 1987 | 5* | 1986 | ||
| Hunter Mahan | 19 | 26 Feb 2012 | 15 Jul 2012 | 4 | 1 Apr 2012 | ||
| Isao Aoki | 16 | 8 Mar 1987 | 19 Jul 1987 | 8 | 7 Jun 1987 | ||
| Stuart Appleby | 12 | 22 Feb 2004 | 9 May 2004 | 8 | 21 Mar 2004 | ||
| David Howell | 10 | 28 May 2006 | 13 Aug 2006 | 9 | 11 Jun 2006 | ||
| Hale Irwin | 8 | 19 May 1991 | 11 Aug 1991 | 7 | 19 May 1991 | ||
| Nick Watney | 8 | 3 Jul 2011 | 27 Nov 2011 | 9 | 31 Jul 2011 | ||
| Tony Finau | 8 | 2 Dec 2018 | 20 Jan 2019 | 9 | 2 Dec 2018 | ||
| Larry Mize | 7 | 21 Jun 1987 | 9 Aug 1987 | 10 | 21 Jun 1987 | ||
| Ian Baker-Finch | 6 | 29 Sep 1991 | 24 Nov 1991 | 10 | 29 Sep 1991 | ||
| Branden Grace | 6 | 14 Feb 2016 | 7 Aug 2016 | 10 | 14 Feb 2016 | ||
| Chad Campbell | 4 | 21 Mar 2004 | 6 Jun 2004 | 9 | 23 May 2004 | ||
| Ángel Cabrera | 3 | 25 Sep 2005 | 20 Nov 2005 | 9 | 2 Oct 2005 | ||
| Keegan Bradley | 2 | 24 Mar 2013 | 4 Aug 2013 | 10 | 24 Mar 2013 | ||
| Jimmy Walker | 2 | 29 Mar 2015 | 5 Apr 2015 | 10 | 29 Mar 2015 | ||
| Thomas Bjørn | 1 | 15 Jul 2001 | 15 Jul 2001 | 10 | 15 Jul 2001 |
Weeks – total number of weeks in the top 10. First – date the player first reached the top 10. Last – last week the player was in the top 10. Best– highest position reached by the player. FirstB – date the player was first at this highest position.
- No rankings were produced for the 12 weeks from 22 March 2020 to 7 June 2020 inclusive.
* The available data for 1986 is incomplete and this number may be incorrect. The number given is the player's highest known position.- Payne Stewart died on Monday 25 October 1999 at which time he was ranked 8th in the world. He remained on the rankings until 14 November, when he was still ranked 8, at which time he was removed from the rankings.
Youngest and oldest players
| Player | Country | First | Age |
| Sergio García | 16 Jan 2000 | ||
| Rory McIlroy | 22 Nov 2009 | ||
| Jordan Spieth | 13 Apr 2014 | ||
| Tiger Woods | 13 Apr 1997 | ||
| Jon Rahm | 28 May 2017 |
| Player | Country | Last | Age |
| Masashi Ozaki | 26 Apr 1998 | ||
| Kenny Perry | 3 Jan 2010 | ||
| Steve Stricker | 19 Jan 2014 | ||
| Nick Price | 6 Jul 2003 | ||
| Vijay Singh | 12 Jul 2009 |
The following table lists the youngest to reach a specific position in the top 10.
| Player | Country | Pos | First | Age |
| Sergio García | 10 | 16 Jan 2000 | ||
| Rory McIlroy | 9 | 13 Dec 2009 | ||
| Jordan Spieth | 8 | 11 May 2014 | ||
| Jordan Spieth | 7 | 20 Apr 2014 | ||
| Sergio García | 6 | 15 Jul 2001 | ||
| Tiger Woods | 5 | 20 Apr 1997 | ||
| Jordan Spieth | 4 | 29 Mar 2015 | ||
| Tiger Woods | 3 | 13 Apr 1997 | ||
| Tiger Woods | 2 | 25 May 1997 | ||
| Tiger Woods | 1 | 15 Jun 1997 |
- Tiger Woods entered the top 10 at number 3, dropped to 5th for four weeks and was then never lower than 3rd for nearly 14 years.
Most consecutive weeks in the top 10
| Player | Country | Weeks | First | Last |
| Tiger Woods | 736 | 13 Apr 1997 | 15 May 2011 | |
| Greg Norman | 646 | 6 Apr 1986 | 16 Aug 1998 | |
| Nick Faldo | 406 | 19 Jun 1988 | 24 Mar 1996 | |
| Phil Mickelson | 402 | 8 Feb 2004 | 16 Oct 2011 | |
| Colin Montgomerie | 374 | 15 May 1994 | 8 Jul 2001 | |
| Vijay Singh | 356 | 12 Nov 2000 | 2 Sep 2007 | |
| Ernie Els | 301 | 19 Jun 1994 | 19 Mar 2000 | |
| Dustin Johnson | 270 | 8 Mar 2015 | 26 Jul 2020 | |
| Bernhard Langer | 267 | 26 May 1991 | 30 Jun 1996 | |
| Ian Woosnam | 265 | 21 May 1989 | 12 Jun 1994 | |
| Seve Ballesteros | 260 | 6 Apr 1986 | 24 Mar 1991 | |
| Davis Love III | 243 | 17 Aug 1997 | 7 Apr 2002 | |
| Fred Couples | 239 | 30 Jun 1991 | 21 Jan 1996 | |
| José María Olazábal | 234 | 30 Apr 1989 | 17 Oct 1993 | |
| Henrik Stenson | 233 | 11 Aug 2013 | 21 Jan 2018 | |
| David Duval | 227 | 12 Apr 1998 | 11 Aug 2002 | |
| Nick Price | 206 | 13 Sep 1992 | 18 Aug 1996 | |
| Jordan Spieth | 202 | 7 Dec 2014 | 14 Oct 2018 |
Longest gaps between appearances in the top 10
Number two in the rankings but never number one
13 players have reached world No. 2 in the official rankings, but have never risen to world No. 1.| Player | Country | First | Weeks |
| 10 Apr 1988 | 23 | ||
| 17 Mar 1991 | 35 | ||
| 17 Mar 1996 | 24 | ||
| 2 Jun 1996 | 1 | ||
| 19 Jul 1998 | 5 | ||
| 6 Sep 1998 | 15 | ||
| 11 Feb 2001 | 270 | ||
| 10 Sep 2006 | 39 | ||
| 9 Nov 2008 | 18 | ||
| 6 Sep 2009 | 12 | ||
| 25 May 2014 | 24 | ||
| 22 Feb 2015 | 4 | ||
| 18 Jun 2017 | 7 |
First – first week the player reached number 2, Weeks – total weeks at number 2.
Annual totals
The tables below list the number of weeks during each year that players were in the top 10, arranged by decade. In the "First" and "Last" columns, "+2000s" indicates that the player was also in the top 10 in an earlier or later decade.1980s
29 players were in the top 10 from the start of the rankings in April 1986 to the end of 1989.Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman were in the top 10 throughout this period.
| Player | Country | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | Total | First | Last |
| Seve Ballesteros | 39 | 52 | 53 | 52 | 196 | 6 Apr 1986 | +1990s | |
| Greg Norman | 39 | 52 | 53 | 52 | 196 | 6 Apr 1986 | +1990s | |
| Curtis Strange | 35 | 33 | 53 | 52 | 173 | 1986 | +1990s | |
| Sandy Lyle | 37 | 45 | 53 | 31 | 166 | 6 Apr 1986 | 6 Aug 1989 | |
| Bernhard Langer | 39 | 52 | 40 | 131 | 6 Apr 1986 | +1990s | ||
| Ian Woosnam | 14 | 52 | 40 | 106 | 27 Sep 1987 | +1990s | ||
| Payne Stewart | 12 | 52 | 15 | 21 | 100 | 1986 | +1990s | |
| Nick Faldo | 39 | 52 | 91 | 31 Jan 1988 | +1990s | |||
| Tsuneyuki Nakajima | 39 | 46 | 85 | 6 Apr 1986 | 15 Nov 1987 | |||
| Lanny Wadkins | 8 | 42 | 33 | 83 | 1986 | +1990s | ||
| Ben Crenshaw | 9 | 53 | 18 | 80 | 16 Aug 1987 | 14 May 1989 | ||
| Paul Azinger | 35 | 26 | 61 | 20 Mar 1988 | +1990s | |||
| Hal Sutton | 36 | 22 | 58 | 6 Apr 1986 | +2000s | |||
| Mark Calcavecchia | 6 | 51 | 57 | 27 Nov 1988 | +1990s | |||
| Chip Beck | 10 | 33 | 43 | 24 Apr 1988 | 29 Oct 1989 | |||
| Tom Kite | 43 | 43 | 12 Mar 1989 | +1990s | ||||
| Mark O'Meara | 39 | 1 | 40 | 6 Apr 1986 | +2000s | |||
| José María Olazábal | 36 | 36 | 30 Apr 1989 | +1990s | ||||
| David Frost | 23 | 11 | 34 | 17 Apr 1988 | +1990s | |||
| Tom Watson | 32 | 32 | 6 Apr 1986 | 1986 | ||||
| Mark McNulty | 18 | 10 | 28 | 14 Jun 1987 | +1990s | |||
| Bob Tway | 1 | 24 | 25 | 28 Dec 1986 | 14 Jun 1987 | |||
| Calvin Peete | 20 | 20 | 6 Apr 1986 | 1986 | ||||
| Andy Bean | 10 | 9 | 19 | 1986 | 1 Mar 1987 | |||
| Corey Pavin | 4 | 14 | 18 | 6 Apr 1986 | +1990s | |||
| Rodger Davis | 12 | 5 | 17 | 19 Jul 1987 | +1990s | |||
| Isao Aoki | 16 | 16 | 8 Mar 1987 | 19 Jul 1987 | ||||
| Larry Mize | 7 | 7 | 21 Jun 1987 | 2 Aug 1987 | ||||
| Masashi Ozaki | 2 | 2 | 8 Oct 1989 | +1990s |
1990s
36 players were in the top 10 during the 1990s.Greg Norman was in the top 10 for the first 450 weeks of the 1990s.
| Player | Country | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | Total | First | Last |
| Greg Norman | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 53 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 33 | 450 | +1980s | 16 Aug 1998 | ||
| Nick Faldo | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 53 | 52 | 51 | 18 | 382 | +1980s | 6 Jul 1997 | |||
| Nick Price | 19 | 52 | 53 | 52 | 33 | 46 | 50 | 53 | 358 | 16 Aug 1992 | +2000s | |||
| Fred Couples | 5 | 34 | 52 | 52 | 53 | 52 | 43 | 13 | 15 | 3 | 322 | 9 Sep 1990 | 4 Apr 1999 | |
| Colin Montgomerie | 34 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 53 | 295 | 15 May 1994 | +2000s | |||||
| Ernie Els | 29 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 53 | 290 | 19 Jun 1994 | +2010s | |||||
| José María Olazábal | 52 | 52 | 52 | 42 | 40 | 40 | 278 | +1980s | 8 Oct 1995 | |||||
| Bernhard Langer | 40 | 52 | 52 | 53 | 52 | 26 | 275 | +1980s | 30 Jun 1996 | |||||
| Ian Woosnam | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 24 | 232 | +1980s | 12 Jun 1994 | ||||||
| Paul Azinger | 52 | 52 | 50 | 46 | 31 | 231 | +1980s | 31 Jul 1994 | ||||||
| Davis Love III | 29 | 24 | 4 | 13 | 30 | 52 | 53 | 205 | 19 Apr 1992 | +2000s | ||||
| Masashi Ozaki | 8 | 13 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 16 | 193 | +1980s | 26 Apr 1998 | |||||
| Mark O'Meara | 1 | 21 | 50 | 31 | 47 | 150 | +1980s | +2000s | ||||||
| Corey Pavin | 4 | 41 | 52 | 47 | 5 | 149 | +1980s | 9 Feb 1997 | ||||||
| Payne Stewart | 52 | 52 | 23 | 1 | 21 | 149 | +1980s | 14 Nov 1999 | ||||||
| Tiger Woods | 38 | 52 | 53 | 143 | 13 Apr 1997 | +2020s | ||||||||
| Seve Ballesteros | 52 | 46 | 43 | 141 | +1980s | 8 Nov 1992 | ||||||||
| Tom Kite | 52 | 17 | 9 | 47 | 6 | 131 | +1980s | 6 Feb 1994 | ||||||
| Phil Mickelson | 19 | 40 | 48 | 14 | 121 | 25 Aug 1996 | +2010s | |||||||
| Tom Lehman | 35 | 52 | 19 | 106 | 28 Jan 1996 | +2000s | ||||||||
| David Duval | 43 | 53 | 96 | 22 Feb 1998 | +2000s | |||||||||
| Lee Westwood | 25 | 53 | 78 | 12 Jul 1998 | +2010s | |||||||||
| Vijay Singh | 15 | 53 | 68 | 23 Aug 1998 | +2000s | |||||||||
| Steve Elkington | 12 | 24 | 20 | 2 | 58 | 15 Oct 1995 | 15 Feb 1998 | |||||||
| Mark McNulty | 10 | 34 | 12 | 56 | +1980s | 12 Apr 1992 | ||||||||
| Mark Calcavecchia | 52 | 52 | +1980s | 30 Dec 1990 | ||||||||||
| David Frost | 9 | 43 | 52 | +1980s | 30 Oct 1994 | |||||||||
| Curtis Strange | 37 | 12 | 49 | +1980s | 12 May 1991 | |||||||||
| John Cook | 19 | 27 | 46 | 23 Aug 1992 | 25 Jul 1993 | |||||||||
| Justin Leonard | 15 | 9 | 24 | 29 Mar 1998 | 13 Jun 1999 | |||||||||
| Rodger Davis | 8 | 4 | 12 | +1980s | 26 Jan 1992 | |||||||||
| Jim Furyk | 11 | 11 | 17 Jan 1999 | +2010s | ||||||||||
| Hale Irwin | 8 | 8 | 19 May 1991 | 11 Aug 1991 | ||||||||||
| Ian Baker-Finch | 6 | 6 | 29 Sep 1991 | 24 Nov 1991 | ||||||||||
| Lanny Wadkins | 3 | 3 | +1980s | 5 May 1991 | ||||||||||
| Hal Sutton | 1 | 1 | +1980s | +2000s |
2000s
41 players were in the top 10 during the 2000s.Tiger Woods was in the top 10 throughout the 2000s.
| Player | Country | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | Total | First | Last |
| Tiger Woods | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 53 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 521 | +1990s | +2020s | |
| Phil Mickelson | 41 | 52 | 52 | 34 | 47 | 53 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 487 | +1990s | +2010s | |
| Vijay Singh | 50 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 53 | 52 | 44 | 41 | 28 | 476 | +1990s | 12 Jul 2009 | |
| Ernie Els | 50 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 53 | 52 | 52 | 51 | 2 | 468 | +1990s | +2010s | |
| Sergio García | 1 | 33 | 52 | 12 | 21 | 53 | 49 | 12 | 33 | 49 | 315 | 16 Jan 2000 | +2010s | |
| Pádraig Harrington | 7 | 32 | 52 | 45 | 31 | 7 | 43 | 33 | 41 | 291 | 11 Nov 2001 | +2010s | ||
| Jim Furyk | 9 | 5 | 18 | 40 | 36 | 25 | 52 | 52 | 29 | 23 | 289 | +1990s | +2010s | |
| Retief Goosen | 5 | 52 | 39 | 51 | 53 | 52 | 23 | 275 | 28 Oct 2001 | 24 Jun 2007 | ||||
| Davis Love III | 52 | 52 | 44 | 52 | 52 | 8 | 260 | +1990s | 20 Feb 2005 | |||||
| Adam Scott | 9 | 46 | 51 | 52 | 31 | 189 | 15 Aug 2004 | +2020s | ||||||
| David Toms | 20 | 52 | 52 | 9 | 24 | 22 | 179 | 19 Aug 2001 | 11 Jun 2006 | |||||
| David Duval | 52 | 52 | 32 | 136 | +1990s | 11 Aug 2002 | ||||||||
| Geoff Ogilvy | 25 | 33 | 23 | 40 | 121 | 18 Jun 2006 | +2010s | |||||||
| Mike Weir | 3 | 2 | 45 | 52 | 9 | 111 | 24 Jun 2001 | 27 Feb 2005 | ||||||
| Lee Westwood | 50 | 31 | 9 | 17 | 107 | +1990s | +2010s | |||||||
| Kenny Perry | 27 | 11 | 17 | 47 | 102 | 15 Jun 2003 | +2010s | |||||||
| Colin Montgomerie | 52 | 37 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 105 | +1990s | 15 Jan 2006 | |||||
| Henrik Stenson | 29 | 18 | 50 | 97 | 4 Feb 2007 | +2010s | ||||||||
| Steve Stricker | 19 | 38 | 31 | 88 | 26 Aug 2007 | +2010s | ||||||||
| Hal Sutton | 42 | 20 | 62 | +1980s | 17 Jun 2001 | |||||||||
| Chris DiMarco | 14 | 5 | 32 | 9 | 60 | 10 Feb 2002 | 2 Apr 2006 | |||||||
| Luke Donald | 33 | 21 | 54 | 12 Mar 2006 | +2010s | |||||||||
| Stewart Cink | 15 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 45 | 29 Aug 2004 | 23 Aug 2009 | |||||||
| Darren Clarke | 4 | 37 | 2 | 43 | 29 Oct 2000 | 13 Jan 2002 | ||||||||
| K. J. Choi | 17 | 23 | 40 | 26 Aug 2007 | 29 Jun 2008 | |||||||||
| Paul Casey | 39 | 39 | 5 Apr 2009 | +2010s | ||||||||||
| Jesper Parnevik | 37 | 1 | 38 | 23 Jan 2000 | 8 Apr 2001 | |||||||||
| Justin Rose | 9 | 25 | 34 | 4 Nov 2007 | +2020s | |||||||||
| Camilo Villegas | 14 | 20 | 34 | 28 Sep 2008 | 24 May 2009 | |||||||||
| Nick Price | 19 | 5 | 4 | 28 | +1990s | 6 Jul 2003 | ||||||||
| Robert Karlsson | 13 | 14 | 27 | 5 Oct 2008 | 5 Apr 2009 | |||||||||
| Rory Sabbatini | 10 | 11 | 21 | 9 Sep 2007 | 30 Mar 2008 | |||||||||
| Tom Lehman | 8 | 8 | 16 | +1990s | 18 Mar 2001 | |||||||||
| Anthony Kim | 12 | 4 | 16 | 14 Sep 2008 | +2010s | |||||||||
| Stuart Appleby | 12 | 12 | 22 Feb 2004 | 9 May 2004 | ||||||||||
| David Howell | 10 | 10 | 28 May 2006 | 13 Aug 2006 | ||||||||||
| Rory McIlroy | 5 | 5 | 22 Nov 2009 | +2020s | ||||||||||
| Chad Campbell | 4 | 4 | 21 Mar 2004 | 6 Jun 2004 | ||||||||||
| Ángel Cabrera | 3 | 3 | 25 Sep 2005 | 20 Nov 2005 | ||||||||||
| Mark O'Meara | 1 | 1 | +1980s | 9 Jan 2000 | ||||||||||
| Thomas Bjørn | 1 | 1 | 15 Jul 2001 | 15 Jul 2001 |
2010s
50 players were in the top 10 in the 2010s.| Player | Country | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Total | First | Last |
| Rory McIlroy | 42 | 51 | 52 | 52 | 50 | 52 | 53 | 51 | 47 | 52 | 502 | +2000s | +2020s | |
| Justin Rose | 41 | 52 | 50 | 50 | 31 | 17 | 52 | 52 | 345 | +2000s | +2020s | |||
| Dustin Johnson | 27 | 10 | 7 | 43 | 53 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 296 | 5 Jun 2011 | +2020s | |||
| Jason Day | 29 | 11 | 2 | 49 | 52 | 53 | 42 | 26 | 1 | 265 | 19 Jun 2011 | 27 Jan 2019 | ||
| Adam Scott | 22 | 34 | 52 | 52 | 19 | 45 | 18 | 242 | +2000s | +2020s | ||||
| Henrik Stenson | 8 | 21 | 52 | 52 | 53 | 52 | 3 | 241 | +2000s | 21 Jan 2018 | ||||
| Tiger Woods | 52 | 20 | 41 | 52 | 31 | 38 | 234 | +1990s | +2020s | |||||
| Jordan Spieth | 18 | 52 | 53 | 52 | 41 | 216 | 13 Apr 2014 | 14 Oct 2018 | ||||||
| Rickie Fowler | 16 | 37 | 43 | 42 | 51 | 17 | 206 | 14 Sep 2014 | 26 May 2019 | |||||
| Bubba Watson | 1 | 34 | 7 | 38 | 52 | 53 | 1 | 186 | 1 May 2011 | 8 Jan 2017 | ||||
| Lee Westwood | 52 | 53 | 52 | 12 | 169 | +1990s | 28 Jul 2013 | |||||||
| Phil Mickelson | 52 | 42 | 8 | 42 | 23 | 167 | +1990s | 7 Sep 2014 | ||||||
| Luke Donald | 30 | 53 | 52 | 31 | 166 | +2000s | 4 Aug 2013 | |||||||
| Steve Stricker | 52 | 53 | 26 | 32 | 3 | 166 | +2000s | 19 Jan 2014 | ||||||
| Matt Kuchar | 5 | 36 | 13 | 42 | 42 | 4 | 142 | 29 Aug 2010 | 15 Feb 2015 | |||||
| Jim Furyk | 52 | 8 | 24 | 52 | 6 | 142 | +1990s | 7 Feb 2016 | ||||||
| Justin Thomas | 36 | 52 | 52 | 140 | 15 Jan 2017 | +2020s | ||||||||
| Sergio García | 2 | 51 | 38 | 2 | 35 | 10 | 138 | +2000s | 22 Apr 2018 | |||||
| Jon Rahm | 29 | 52 | 40 | 121 | 28 May 2017 | +2020s | ||||||||
| Brooks Koepka | 17 | 49 | 52 | 118 | 18 Jun 2017 | +2020s | ||||||||
| Martin Kaymer | 35 | 53 | 20 | 2 | 110 | 24 Jan 2010 | 1 Mar 2015 | |||||||
| Hideki Matsuyama | 11 | 52 | 23 | 86 | 23 Oct 2016 | 10 Jun 2018 | ||||||||
| Paul Casey | 52 | 24 | 1 | 77 | +2000s | 20 May 2018 | ||||||||
| Brandt Snedeker | 15 | 49 | 64 | 23 Sep 2012 | 8 Dec 2013 | |||||||||
| Bryson DeChambeau | 18 | 42 | 60 | 2 Sep 2018 | 10 Nov 2019 | |||||||||
| Francesco Molinari | 24 | 36 | 22 Jul 2018 | 22 Sep 2019 | - | |||||||||
| Graeme McDowell | 8 | 28 | 19 | 55 | 31 Oct 2010 | 25 Aug 2013 | ||||||||
| Webb Simpson | 11 | 39 | 50 | 23 Oct 2011 | +2020s | |||||||||
| Jason Dufner | 32 | 18 | 50 | 27 May 2012 | 24 Nov 2013 | |||||||||
| Xander Schauffele | 1 | 45 | 46 | 30 Dec 2018 | +2020s | |||||||||
| Patrick Reed | 4 | 33 | 6 | 2 | 45 | 6 Dec 2015 | +2020s | |||||||
| Louis Oosthuizen | 10 | 27 | 37 | 9 Sep 2012 | 7 Jul 2013 | |||||||||
| Ian Poulter | 29 | 2 | 2 | 33 | 24 Jan 2010 | 3 Mar 2013 | ||||||||
| Patrick Cantlay | 31 | 31 | 2 Jun 2019 | +2020s | ||||||||||
| Ernie Els | 29 | 1 | 30 | +1990s | 16 Jan 2011 | |||||||||
| Zach Johnson | 4 | 14 | 9 | 27 | 8 Dec 2013 | 22 Nov 2015 | ||||||||
| Danny Willett | 27 | 27 | 10 Apr 2016 | 30 Oct 2016 | ||||||||||
| Alex Norén | 8 | 18 | 26 | 13 Nov 2016 | 6 Aug 2017 | |||||||||
| Charl Schwartzel | 9 | 11 | 20 | 22 May 2011 | 1 Apr 2012 | |||||||||
| Hunter Mahan | 19 | 19 | 26 Feb 2012 | 15 Jul 2012 | ||||||||||
| Tommy Fleetwood | 11 | 7 | 18 | 4 Mar 2018 | +2020s | |||||||||
| Pádraig Harrington | 13 | 13 | +2000s | 4 Apr 2010 | ||||||||||
| Nick Watney | 8 | 8 | 3 Jul 2011 | 27 Nov 2011 | ||||||||||
| Tony Finau | 5 | 3 | 8 | 2 Dec 2018 | 20 Jan 2019 | |||||||||
| Anthony Kim | 6 | 6 | +2000s | 23 May 2010 | ||||||||||
| Branden Grace | 6 | 6 | 14 Feb 2016 | 7 Aug 2016 | ||||||||||
| Geoff Ogilvy | 2 | 2 | +2000s | 17 Jan 2010 | ||||||||||
| Keegan Bradley | 2 | 2 | 24 Mar 2013 | 4 Aug 2013 | ||||||||||
| Jimmy Walker | 2 | 2 | 29 Mar 2015 | 5 Apr 2015 | ||||||||||
| Kenny Perry | 1 | 1 | +2000s | 3 Jan 2010 |
2020s
14 players have been in the top 10 so far in the 2020s, updated to 26 July 2020.No rankings were produced for the 12 weeks from 22 March 2020 to 7 June 2020 inclusive.
The current top-10 are in bold.
| Player | Country | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | Total | First | Last |
| Brooks Koepka | 18 | 18 | +2010s | 26 Jul 2020 | ||||||||||
| Rory McIlroy | 18 | 18 | +2000s | 26 Jul 2020 | ||||||||||
| Jon Rahm | 18 | 18 | +2010s | 26 Jul 2020 | ||||||||||
| Justin Thomas | 18 | 18 | +2010s | 26 Jul 2020 | ||||||||||
| Dustin Johnson | 18 | 18 | +2010s | 26 Jul 2020 | ||||||||||
| Patrick Cantlay | 18 | 18 | +2010s | 26 Jul 2020 | ||||||||||
| Webb Simpson | 14 | 14 | +2010s | 26 Jul 2020 | ||||||||||
| Adam Scott | 12 | 12 | +2000s | 26 Jul 2020 | ||||||||||
| Patrick Reed | 11 | 11 | +2010s | 26 Jul 2020 | ||||||||||
| Xander Schauffele | 9 | 9 | +2010s | 21 Jun 2020 | ||||||||||
| Tiger Woods | 8 | 8 | +1990s | 23 Feb 2020 | ||||||||||
| Tommy Fleetwood | 7 | 7 | +2010s | 15 Mar 2020 | ||||||||||
| Justin Rose | 6 | 6 | +2000s | 9 Feb 2020 | ||||||||||
| Bryson DeChambeau | 5 | 5 | +2010s | 26 Jul 2020 |
Year-end world top 10 players
A number of different methods have been used to calculate the rankings, so that the ranking points given below are not necessarily comparable between different years. From 1986 to 1988 total ranking points determined the order. Since 1989 average ranking points have been used. Until the end of 1995 a three-year system was used, reduced to two years from 1996. The new system produced much lower averages than the earlier one. There have been many changes even since 1996. The tapering system, whereby points gained in an event are gradually lost over the next two years, has also been changed. A change made during 2001 meant that average points were much lower than previously.Source for 1986: