Colonial champion Justin Rose moves to No. 1 in World Rankings
Justin Rose may not have been holding the trophy on Monday at the rain-delayed BMW Championship after falling to Keegan Bradley in a playoff, but the 2018 Fort Worth Invitational (since rebranded Charles Schwab Challenge) champion moved up to the top spot in the Official World Golf Rankings by virtue of his runner up finish at Aronimink Golf Club.
“I’m delighted to be world No. 1,” Rose said, following the round. “Boyhood dreams, you know what I mean?”
Rose also moved up to the second spot in the FedEx Cup rankings going into the TOUR Championship in Atlanta.
Rose became the 22nd player to reach the top spot in the world rankings that were established in 1986.
Tiger Woods has the title of being in the No. 1 spot for the longest at 633 weeks followed by Greg Norman at 331 weeks.
Bradley, who win his first PGA Tour title since the 2012 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, moved up 46 spots in the FedEx Cup rankings with the victory.
“A lot has happened to me over these six years,” said Bradley, winner of the 2011 PGA Championship. “I kind of fell off the radar there for a little while. It’s tough to go from being on Ryder Cup teams, being on Presidents Cup teams to being outside the top 100 in the world.”
Tiger Woods made a charge in the final round with a final round 65 that put him in a tie for sixth for the tournament and moved him up to No. 20 in the FedEx Cup standings going into the TOUR Championship.
“I thought I needed to shoot something around 62 today to have a chance and I don’t think that would have been good enough,” Woods said. “To say that I made it back to the Tour Championship after what I’ve been through is a pretty good accomplishment.”
Of note, Jordan Spieth did not qualify for the TOUR Championship as he fell out of the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings. Because he did not add an event that he had not played in the last years and he finishes with playing only 24 events, Spieth is in violation of the PGA Tour’s scheduling policy.
“I obviously accept whatever fine it is and move on and try and add one every year, but it’s kind of tough,” Spieth said, following his final round at the BMW Championship.
Spieth finished in a tie for 55th place which moved him to No. 31 in the FedEx Cup standings. He is the first player to violate this policy, so his punishment is not known.
