Tommy Fleetwood Congratulates Rory McIlroy On Regaining World No.1 Spot

Tommy Fleetwood has congratulated Rory McIlroy after the Northern Irishman successfully defended his CJ Cup trophy to reclaim the World No.1 position in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).

McIlroy produced an impressive back nine in the final round to move back to the summit for the first time since July 2020 as he got his PGA Tour season off to a dream start. Fleetwood also participated in the event at Congaree, finishing tied for fourth to give a boost to his own position in the OWGR, leaping seven places to World No.24.

The 31-year-old expressed his satisfaction with his performance on Twitter and also took the time to congratulate McIlroy. He said: “Really happy with my progress this week at the CJ Cup. A great tournament and venue so a big thank you to everyone there. Finally congrats to @McIlroyRory! You’re a great ambassador for our sport and you deserve this position and role as World Number 1!”

McIlroy has been in superb form of late. Since missing the cut in the FedEx St. Jude Championship in August he has produced top-10 finishes in each of his following six tournaments. As well as his latest win, he also won the Tour Championship at East Lake for a third FedEx Cup victory and finished tied for second on the DP World Tour’s flagship tournament the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

McIlroy’s consistency means he has ended Scottie Scheffler’s run as World No.1 after 30 weeks to claim the position for the ninth time in his career. Following his latest win, McIlroy said: ”If someone had told me on the Friday night of the Valero Texas Open, when I missed the cut, that I would be World No.1 by October, I would have asked them what they were smoking because I would not have believed them. Yeah, it's just been a wild six months. I figured a few things out with my game and I've just been on a really good run.”

That poor performance at TPC San Antonio in April saw McIlroy at World No.9. However, top-10 finishes in the year’s four Majors following his early exit in Texas, plus a win in the RBC Canadian Open to add to the other successes he has enjoyed more recently, have ensured his return to the summit, much to the delight of Fleetwood.