Dustin Johnson joins elite company with debut as No. 1

Dustin Johnson. (Christian Palma/AP)

Dustin Johnson is sitting at the summit of the golf world and with his performance this past weekend the American is proving that he’s there to stay.

Johnson, well known in these parts as the husband of Paulina Gretzky, won the Mexico Championship on Sunday in what was his first tournament as the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world.

His feat made Johnson only the fifth player ever to win in his debut atop the world ranking. He achieved the prestigious top rank after his February win at the Genesis Open.

With Johnson joining such select company, here’s a quick look at the other four golfers in the group.

Golfer Tournament Year
Ian Woosnam Masters 1991
David Duval BellSouth Classic 1999
Vijay Singh Canadian Open 2004
Adam Scott Crowne Plaza Invitational 2014
Dustin Johnson WGC-Mexico Championship 2017

Ian Woosnam

Woosnam captured the 1991 Masters, defeating Jose Maria Olazabal by one stroke. To this day the tournament win stands as the only major championship victory by a golfer representing Wales. After reaching No. 1, Woosnam spent a total of 50 weeks in that spot.

David Duval

The American Duval won the BellSouth Classic in April of 1999. To give you an idea of some of the competition he beat out in that tourney, Canadian Mike Weir finished four strokes behind Duval, while Davis Love and Phil Mickelson were five strokes behind. The win marked one of Duval’s 13 career PGA Tour tournament victories.

Vijay Singh

The Big Fijian won the Deutsche Bank Championship on Sept. 6, 2004 to capture the top world rank, ending Tiger Woods’s streak of 264 weeks in the spot. A week later, Singh competed at the Canadian Open in Oakville, Ont., and defeated native son Weir in a playoff.

Adam Scott

You don’t need to look far to find Scott’s accomplishment. The Australian became world No. 1 on May 19, 2014 and one week later beat Jason Dufner in a playoff at the Crowne Plaza Invitational. Scott held on to the No. 1 spot for 11 weeks total.

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.