'First Victory of the New Year' McIlroy, World No.1 for 14 Consecutive Weeks

Retaining Ranking Points with 8.7165
Kim Juhyung, Highest Korean Player at 14th Place

Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), who secured the first victory of the new year at the DP World Tour Dubai Desert Classic, maintained his No. 1 position in the men's golf world rankings for the 14th consecutive week.

Rory McIlroy Photo by Yonhap News

McIlroy defended his top spot with 8.7165 ranking points in the men's golf world rankings announced on the 31st. He claimed the title at the DP World Tour Hero Dubai Desert Classic (total prize money $9 million), held at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), finishing with a 19-under-par 269. He earned a winner's prize of $1.53 million (approximately 1.88 billion KRW).

Patrick Reed (USA), who finished as runner-up just one stroke behind in this tournament, rose from 90th to 57th in the world rankings last week. The top rankings remained unchanged with Scottie Scheffler (USA) in 2nd place, Jon Rahm (Spain) in 3rd, Cameron Smith (Australia) in 4th, and Patrick Cantlay (USA) in 5th.

Among Korean players, Kim Joo-hyung ranked highest at 14th. Im Sung-jae, who entered the top 10 with a tie for 4th place at the PGA Tour Farmers Insurance Open that ended on the 29th, moved up one spot to 18th in the world rankings. Additionally, Lee Kyung-hoon and Kim Si-woo dropped three and one places to 39th and 41st, respectively.