PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA | What a convenient bit of timing it is that this week when the calendar year’s first superpower convention takes place at the Genesis Invitational at timeless Riviera Country Club, Rory McIlroy has supplanted Brooks Koepka as the top-ranked golfer in the world, ending a run of 38 consecutive weeks at No. 1 for Koepka.
It happened with all the ceremony of digits turning over on a gas pump because the world ranking, while based on the numbers on the course, is ultimately a mathematical equation that allowed McIlroy to slip from second to first while taking the weekend off as Koepka did.
Suffice to say it involves a 104-week calendar, strength-of-field rankings and something called a divisor to sort out who ranks where these days.
Enough of that, however. Let’s get to the good stuff.
Rory McIlroy clinches his four-stroke victory at the 2019 Tour Championship as Brooks Koepka looks on. Photo: Keyur Khamar, PGA Tour via Getty Images
Remember late last season when Koepka was asked about a buddin...
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