AUGUSTA, Ga. – Dustin Johnson’s stay atop the Official World Golf Ranking could come to an end this week.
Justin Thomas could ascend to the top spot if he wins the Masters and Johnson finishes worse than a two-way tie for 21st.
Johnson has held the No. 1 position since his victory at The Northern Trust on Aug. 23. Thomas has been the top-ranked player in the world for just five total weeks, including a one-week stay last summer after his win at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. He recently put himself back into position by winning The Players Championship, which returned him to No. 2.
Johnson recently enjoyed a stretch of 12 consecutive tournaments inside the top 12, but he hasn’t played his best over the past month. He failed to crack the top 25 in the WGC-Workday Championship, The Players and WGC-Dell Match Play – his longest span of starts (three) without a top-20 since summer 2019.
Thomas has improved each year at the Masters since debuting in 2016, including a fourth-place showing at Augusta National last November. Johnson won that Masters with a record-breaking 20-under total, and he’s finished inside the top 10 in five consecutive appearances.