Rory McIlroy Achieves World Ranking Milestone

The Northern Irishman's runner up finish at the US Open has seen him join an exclusive club of players

Rory McIlroy becomes one of five golfers to surpass 5000 ranking points
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Rory McIlroy has broken yet another milestone in his career, joining a club of illustrious names to become only the fifth golfer to earn 5,000 Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points during his career.

The Northern Irishman finished one shot back from Wyndham Clark at last month's US Open, adding another 60 points to his impressive haul. 

Following that, he earned another 11 points after securing a T7 finish at the Travelers Championship at the end of June. 

It means for the season, the former US Open Champion will have clocked up 196.16 points, despite losing 169.97, keeping his current tally at 423.89. 

But while his place in the rankings will not change, with the 34-year-old staying in third place 185 points behind Scottie Scheffler and 37 points behind Jon Rahm, he'll now join Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh as one of five players to have amassed more than 5,000 ranking points in his career.

Since turning professional, the four-time Major winner has spent 122 weeks at the top of the OWGR, putting him fourth in the list of golfers who have occupied World No.1 for the longest period of time. 

When asked if he had a goal in mind for being World No.1, the 33-year-old’s mischievous response was “332” adding: “I don’t know if I can, but that’s a number in my head.”

This year, while McIlroy has experienced a few ups and downs, notably missing the cut at the Masters, while also just narrowly falling short of his fifth Major at the Los Angeles Country Club

But the FedEx Cup Champion seems to be riding a wave of form right now, having finished inside the top ten in his last five starts on the PGA Tour.

All eyes will now turn to the Open Championship later this July, with McIlroy determined to undo his Major drought and add more pressure on Rahm and Scheffler at the top of the rankings. 

"The last real two chances I've had at majors, I feel like have been pretty similar performances," he said after placing second at the US Open. "I played the way I wanted to play. There were just a couple of shots, two or three shots over the course of the round, that I'd like to have back."

"I'm getting closer," he aded. "The more I keep putting myself in these positions, sooner or later it's going to happen for me."

"I would go through 100 Sundays like this to get my hands on another major championship.

"When I do finally win this next major, it's going to be really, really sweet."

Players to have amassed 5,000 Official Golf World Rankings Points 

  • Tiger Woods
  • Phil Mickelson
  • Ernie Els 
  • Vijay Singh
  • Rory McIlroy
Ed Carruthers
Writer

Ed has been playing golf for as long as he can remember and is obsessive about the sport. He is regularly sought after by family members and friends for advice on what equipment to buy and uses his background, having written extensively on golf in the past, to produce equipment orientated content for Golf Monthly.  

Having obtained a Masters in Law with Medicine from the University of Liverpool, Ed has recently changed paths into journalism and just last year achieved his NCTJ Sports Journalism Diploma with the Press Association. 

He has written for a variety of media outlets over the years and has interviewed some big names in sport, including Premier League managers, All Blacks Coaches and Grand Slam tennis superstars. He has also worked on some huge sporting events, including the 2021 Australian Open and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. And when he's not writing for Golf Monthly, you'll find him producing news and feature articles for the MailOnline's sports desk, where he covers everything from football to rugby union. 

During his weekends off, you'll likely find Ed heading out for a round at one of his local golf clubs with his friends, and was, up until recently, a member at the Leatherhead Golf Club in Surrey. Ed also plays the saxophone, can tell you some pretty terrible dad jokes and can knock up a very tasty carbonara!