Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood Can Move to Number One with a Win This Week

Just how fickle have the world golf rankings become?

Well, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood can each take over the No. 1 spot in the rankings with a win this week at the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Current world No. 1, Luke Donald, has had a mere two bad tournaments, and already, he may be replaced at the top by McIlroy or Westwood.

Just to put that into perspective, back in 2008, Tiger Woods took eight months off from professional golf due to reconstructive ACL surgery, and no one came even close to toppling him from the top spot in the world golf rankings; he was that far ahead of the pack.

Fast-forward to the age of parity, and if a player wins two times in eight months, he may take over the top spot in world golf.

Heck, if a player strings together a number of top-fives or even top-10s, he may very well move to the top of the ranks.

This is a new era in professional golf, where consistency has essentially replaced winning in terms of moving up the rankings and being considered a “great” player.

Perhaps, it’s just that there are so many “great” players out there right now, or perhaps, and more likely, there is simply the absence of a truly great player in professional golf right now.

Either way, the No. 1 spot in the world golf rankings figures to be a revolving door for the foreseeable future.

Note to all sponsors: Remove all world No. 1 bonuses, because your guy might get to that spot without even making it into network television coverage on the weekend.

For more golf news, insight and analysis, check out The Tour Report.