Can Rory McIlroy win back the World No. 1 spot this week?

Modified Feb 16, 2023 05:44 GMT

Rory McIlroy has the best opportunity to regain his World No. 1 title. The current World No. 2 lost the title to the 2022 Masters winner, Scottie Scheffler, last week, and now has the perfect opportunity to reclaim it.

McIlroy and Scheffler have been two of the best golfers, securing the top two spots in the world rankings for the past year now.

The American golfer topped the rankings tally after winning the Masters in 2022. He secured the position for a few months before losing to McIlroy in October after the Northern Irish golfer defended his CJ Cup title.

Rory McIlroy was in the lead and has extended it after registering a win at the start of 2023. He won the Dessert Classic but was quickly dethroned by Scottie Scheffler after finishing T32 at the 2023 WM Phoenix Open. Scheffler won the tournament and regained his No. 1 title.

McIlroy can regain the title if Scottie Scheffler finishes below T25 in the 2023 Genesis Invitational and he reserves one of the top three spots, or if Rory wins the tournament.

Rory McIlroy will compete at the 2023 Genesis Invitational, scheduled to start on February 16 and continue until Sunday, February 19. Interestingly, Tiger Woods will also play in the tournament.

"I care about it" - Rory McIlroy opens up about his ranking

Rory McIlroy is hoping to regain his World No. 1 title at the Genesis Invitational. Speaking about the same, McIlroy said:

"Yeah, of course I care about it. I think it's a really cool thing to be ranked No 1 in whatever you do, but I think it just goes to show the level of depth and the level of talent that's out here."

"I literally have one average week, it wasn't even a bad week, just an average week, and there's always someone waiting to overtake you or to come and try to take that mantle from you. I think it's a great thing for the game.

"I've got a chance to get it back this week. You know, hopefully it's a bit of a sort of hot potato thing where me, Scottie and Jon [Rahm] sort of pass it around a little bit because it means we're all playing great golf."

Current Official World Golf Rankings

1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Rory McIlroy
3. Jon Rahm
4. Cameron Smith
5. Patrick Cantlay
6. Xander Schauffele
7. Justin Thomas
8. Will Zalatoris
9. Collin Morikawa
10. Matt Fitzpatrick
11. Victor Hovland
12. Max Homa
13. Tony Finau
14. Sam Burns
15. Tom Kim
16. Jordan Spieth
17. Cameron Young
18. Sungjae Im
19. Billy Horschel
20. Hideki Matsuyama
21. Keegan Bradley
22. Shane Lowry
23. Joaquin Niemann
24. Tyrrell Hatton
25. Brian Harman
26. Tommy Fleetwood
27. Abraham Ancer
28. Seamus Power
29. Ryan Fox
30. Sepp Straka
31. Tom Hoge
32. Russell Henley
33. Sahith Theegala
34. Thomas Pieters
35. Adam Scott
36. Justin Rose
37. Corey Conners
38. Kevin Kisner
39. Kyoung Hoon Lee
40. Aaron Wise
41. Alex Horen
42. Si Woo Kim
43. Talor Gooch
44. Kurt Kutayama
45. Lucas Herbert
46. Guillermo Mito Pereira
47. Min Woo Lee
48. Chris Kirk
49. Harold Varner II
50. JT Poston

Edited by Sabine Algur